Confirmation of Amazon’s 7-inch Android tablet, set to be released in November for $250

By Mike Dunn September 2, 2011

We have been hearing rumors about the upcoming Amazon tablet for months, but now we finally have some solid information according to TechCrunch. They have had hands-on contact with a 7-inch tablet which resembles BlackBerry’s PlayBook that is simply called the Amazon Kindle, no fancy code names here. The tablet is reported to be released sometime in November for just $250.

The $250 price point will put it in direct competition with Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color, and come in at half the price of Apple’s cheapest iPad. The article did not give any real tech specs so we aren’t sure how it matches up performance wise against the Nook, but we do know that both devices have 7-inch screens and highly modified versions of Android. The Kindle does not have a camera, or any buttons on the front of the device.

The version of Android on the Kindle is based around Android 2.2 Froyo, but is completely done-over by Amazon. The whole interface has been changed, and there is no sign of any Google applications on the device. Services go through Amazon for your reading, music listening, and app shopping needs. It also sounds like if the tablet receives any software updates that the end user most likely wouldn’t be able to notice due to how much the interface has been changed.

All rumors to date have predicted that Amazon would be releasing both a 7-inch and a 10-inch version as early as October. The fate of the larger tablet will be based on how well the first one sells, and if it matches Amazon’s expectations they will release the 10-inch tablet in early 2012.

We finally have confirmation of the existence of an Amazon tablet, but it isn’t exactly what we might have expected. Will the low cost of this tablet propel it to success, or will it’s overly modified version of Android make it dead on arrival?

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Mobile

BlackBerry releases BBM for Android and iOS, available from September 21

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Mobile

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