Amazon Kindle smartphone becoming more of a reality

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon’s rumoured Android smartphone is already in its testing stage. The device, presumably to be a member of the Kindle family with a 4-5 inch screen, is not expected any time soon, according to “Amazon’s parts suppliers, who [obviously] declined to be named.” Production is expected to start sometime later this year or early 2013.

It’s also expected that the device will be sold at close to cost price, like the Kindle Fire, and closely integrated with the Amazon network. Android Authority are predicting that the device may be sold directly by Amazon similar to Google’s decision to sell the Nexus 7 (along with other devices) directly through the play store.

The likelihood of the device coming to Australia is of course low, considering Amazon’s reluctance to bring the Kindle Fire tablet here after over six months since its US release. However, rumours are always fun and it’ll be interesting to see how Amazon approach an already flooded Android smartphone market.

Source: Wall Street Journal
Via: Android Authority