The problem for Amazon is that the web browser will be stifled, and side loading may hit snags when google API's are needed.
That means they have to compete to match the likes of what Safari and Chrome offer. Could be good for competition spurring Chrome and Safari onto even better things.
Yes that's right, Google apps like Gmail etc are not available on the Amazon Appstore. Kindle Fire users would have to access that stuff using the web browser.
Tech savvy users can install the Google apps on their own of course but I doubt your average user would.
I don't understand the advantage of this over a normal android phone or tablet with the kindle app.
Market watchers expect Amazon to take a similar approach with a smartphone, selling the hardware essentially at cost in hopes of tying users into its Kindle ecosystem for books, movies, TV shows, applications and other digital content.
There's only room for one ecosystem per device. And that means the Kindle ecosystem for an Amazon device.
And that means the Amazon smartphone, if there really is one, will run the Amazon fork of Android.
This seems to be the ultimate fate of Android: catastrophic fragmentation among the generic also-rans,
and proprietary forking among the few profitable Android hardware makers (Amazon, Samsung.)
Google's problem is that the also-rans and forkers alike will strip out Google's profit layer and replace
it with their own. Kiss that ad revenue goodbye, Google.
How do you differentiate your phone so it's not just another Android device with your logo slapped on it?
Personally I wonder if this isn't really good news for Apple. If many players can create their own little ecosystems, maybe it helps the idea of having those multiple ecosystems, rather than just one big Android World.
The Kindle is selling so well that Amazon refuses to release sales figures. Nobody needs or wants an Amazon phone, are you kidding? And is it better than the TargetPhone, the WalmartPhone, or the KmartPhone? Absolutely stupid story, even dumber idea.
I use Google only for "Search." The rest of the stuff is crap, i.e., gmail, Android, docs, etc.
I use Amazon to check prices and order some stuff. But the rest of their offerings are crap and I include the Kindle!
I use Sprint b/c I have to. I used ATT and gave up on them when I bought an iPad and if I tethered would lose my grandfathered in unlimited Data. WTF!
I would never sign up with Verizon.
Sprint was the lesser of the three evils.
I cut the Cocks' cable 4-5 years ago. I don't mind watching commercials if the TV is free. I don't mind paying $100/mo if there are no commercials. But I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $100/mo and have to endure inane commercials as well.
I have the cheapest internet thru Cocks cuz I have to.
I love Apple and have respect for Honda, Toyota and Porsche and that's about it for large corporations!
P.S. I love Apple for a lot of reasons, build quality, excellence, etc. But I really like their efforts to create a seamless eco-system. This is where every other tech company falls down and will never catch up with Apple. It's not in their DNA. E.g., Sony, Nokia, MS, Dell, HP, Blackberry, Motorola, Google, Amazon, Samsung, ATT, Verizon, Sprint, and on and on.
One thing that Amazon may have going for them would be the price. Their tablets are very competitively priced and if the phone was cheap and good quality then I suspect it would be popular. A lot of folks, especially the pre-paid set would likely be into this. If they could offer something like this for $200 w/o a contract it could very well be a big seller.
Let's do it for existing products then: why would I want to buy a kindle fire over a nexus 7 with a kindle app?
No idea. But I once heard Google fans talk glowingly about "choice." I've discontinued using e-Ink Kindle after I bought a Kindle book that would not load on e-Ink Kindles! It could only be viewed with the Kindle Apps.
No idea. But I once heard Google fans talk glowingly about "choice." I've discontinued using e-Ink Kindle after I bought a Kindle book that would not load on e-Ink Kindles! It could only be viewed with the Kindle Apps.
Doesn't mean all of the choices make sense though
Sticks about the book; if only current tablets could last as long as eink displays...
I use Google only for "Search." The rest of the stuff is crap, i.e., gmail, Android, docs, etc.
I use Amazon to check prices and order some stuff. But the rest of their offerings are crap and I include the Kindle!
I use Sprint b/c I have to. I used ATT and gave up on them when I bought an iPad and if I tethered would lose my grandfathered in unlimited Data. WTF!
I would never sign up with Verizon.
Sprint was the lesser of the three evils.
I cut the Cocks' cable 4-5 years ago. I don't mind watching commercials if the TV is free. I don't mind paying $100/mo if there are no commercials. But I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $100/mo and have to endure inane commercials as well.
I have the cheapest internet thru Cocks cuz I have to.
I love Apple and have respect for Honda, Toyota and Porsche and that's about it for large corporations!
P.S. I love Apple for a lot of reasons, build quality, excellence, etc. But I really like their efforts to create a seamless eco-system. This is where every other tech company falls down and will never catch up with Apple. It's not in their DNA. E.g., Sony, Nokia, MS, Dell, HP, Blackberry, Motorola, Google, Amazon, Samsung, ATT, Verizon, Sprint, and on and on.
Does anyone know if the Google apps are available on the Amazon Android App Store? If not, I wonder if Google will submit them. Otherwise, Amazon will need their own mapping solution to try to compete?
I can potentially see why Amazon would want to try this, but not sure why consumers would buy into it.
EDIT: Did a quick search for Google Maps and did not see an official app from Google on the Amazon Appstore for Android.
In a default configuration, no, you don't get to the google Play Store. This can be easily remedied, but most users won't know how to/bother. Amazon's own store is a subset of Google's.
One thing that Amazon may have going for them would be the price. Their tablets are very competitively priced and if the phone was cheap and good quality then I suspect it would be popular. A lot of folks, especially the pre-paid set would likely be into this. If they could offer something like this for $200 w/o a contract it could very well be a big seller.
The problem is that a phone is not as good a device to read books on as a tablet, so the content you can consume on it will be restricted/different.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by kkerst
Yawn....who cares. Amazon should stick with being an app....forget the hardware. They're loosing their a$$ on hardware profit margins anyway.
Loosing their a$$??!!
Hmmm... doesn't sound good.
That means they have to compete to match the likes of what Safari and Chrome offer.
Could be good for competition spurring Chrome and Safari onto even better things.
I don't understand the advantage of this over a normal android phone or tablet with the kindle app.
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Market watchers expect Amazon to take a similar approach with a smartphone, selling the hardware essentially at cost in hopes of tying users into its Kindle ecosystem for books, movies, TV shows, applications and other digital content.
There's only room for one ecosystem per device. And that means the Kindle ecosystem for an Amazon device.
And that means the Amazon smartphone, if there really is one, will run the Amazon fork of Android.
This seems to be the ultimate fate of Android: catastrophic fragmentation among the generic also-rans,
and proprietary forking among the few profitable Android hardware makers (Amazon, Samsung.)
Google's problem is that the also-rans and forkers alike will strip out Google's profit layer and replace
it with their own. Kiss that ad revenue goodbye, Google.
It's a huge problem if you're Samsung or Amazon.
How do you differentiate your phone so it's not just another Android device with your logo slapped on it?
Personally I wonder if this isn't really good news for Apple. If many players can create their own little ecosystems, maybe it helps the idea of having those multiple ecosystems, rather than just one big Android World.
The Kindle is selling so well that Amazon refuses to release sales figures. Nobody needs or wants an Amazon phone, are you kidding? And is it better than the TargetPhone, the WalmartPhone, or the KmartPhone? Absolutely stupid story, even dumber idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
Why is this a bad idea?
Amazon Kindle has been successful if not profitable.
The main indicator of being successful is being.....profitable, no?
Determining the value proposition of a non-existent, unannounced product is usually fraught with difficulties.
I use Google only for "Search." The rest of the stuff is crap, i.e., gmail, Android, docs, etc.
I use Amazon to check prices and order some stuff. But the rest of their offerings are crap and I include the Kindle!
I use Sprint b/c I have to. I used ATT and gave up on them when I bought an iPad and if I tethered would lose my grandfathered in unlimited Data. WTF!
I would never sign up with Verizon.
Sprint was the lesser of the three evils.
I cut the Cocks' cable 4-5 years ago. I don't mind watching commercials if the TV is free. I don't mind paying $100/mo if there are no commercials. But I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $100/mo and have to endure inane commercials as well.
I have the cheapest internet thru Cocks cuz I have to.
I love Apple and have respect for Honda, Toyota and Porsche and that's about it for large corporations!
P.S. I love Apple for a lot of reasons, build quality, excellence, etc. But I really like their efforts to create a seamless eco-system. This is where every other tech company falls down and will never catch up with Apple. It's not in their DNA. E.g., Sony, Nokia, MS, Dell, HP, Blackberry, Motorola, Google, Amazon, Samsung, ATT, Verizon, Sprint, and on and on.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
I believe Kindle runs on Android. Can't they access PlayStore? I dont know.
I think they forked themselves out of the Google Play Store.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SockRolid
There's only room for one ecosystem per device. And that means the Kindle ecosystem for an Amazon device.
And that means the Amazon smartphone, if there really is one, will run the Amazon fork of Android.
This seems to be the ultimate fate of Android: catastrophic fragmentation among the generic also-rans,
and proprietary forking among the few profitable Android hardware makers (Amazon, Samsung.)
Google's problem is that the also-rans and forkers alike will strip out Google's profit layer and replace
it with their own. Kiss that ad revenue goodbye, Google.
Amazon is not, by any stretch a profitable Android hardware maker. That is, unless you count <100MM (big maybe) in profits profitable.
One thing that Amazon may have going for them would be the price. Their tablets are very competitively priced and if the phone was cheap and good quality then I suspect it would be popular. A lot of folks, especially the pre-paid set would likely be into this. If they could offer something like this for $200 w/o a contract it could very well be a big seller.
Heh. Touche.
Let's do it for existing products then: why would I want to buy a kindle fire over a nexus 7 with a kindle app?
No idea. But I once heard Google fans talk glowingly about "choice." I've discontinued using e-Ink Kindle after I bought a Kindle book that would not load on e-Ink Kindles! It could only be viewed with the Kindle Apps.
Doesn't mean all of the choices make sense though
Sticks about the book; if only current tablets could last as long as eink displays...
Quote:
Originally Posted by christopher126
I use Google only for "Search." The rest of the stuff is crap, i.e., gmail, Android, docs, etc.
I use Amazon to check prices and order some stuff. But the rest of their offerings are crap and I include the Kindle!
I use Sprint b/c I have to. I used ATT and gave up on them when I bought an iPad and if I tethered would lose my grandfathered in unlimited Data. WTF!
I would never sign up with Verizon.
Sprint was the lesser of the three evils.
I cut the Cocks' cable 4-5 years ago. I don't mind watching commercials if the TV is free. I don't mind paying $100/mo if there are no commercials. But I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $100/mo and have to endure inane commercials as well.
I have the cheapest internet thru Cocks cuz I have to.
I love Apple and have respect for Honda, Toyota and Porsche and that's about it for large corporations!
P.S. I love Apple for a lot of reasons, build quality, excellence, etc. But I really like their efforts to create a seamless eco-system. This is where every other tech company falls down and will never catch up with Apple. It's not in their DNA. E.g., Sony, Nokia, MS, Dell, HP, Blackberry, Motorola, Google, Amazon, Samsung, ATT, Verizon, Sprint, and on and on.
You, sir, have a way with words
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUnfetteredMind
Does anyone know if the Google apps are available on the Amazon Android App Store? If not, I wonder if Google will submit them. Otherwise, Amazon will need their own mapping solution to try to compete?
I can potentially see why Amazon would want to try this, but not sure why consumers would buy into it.
EDIT: Did a quick search for Google Maps and did not see an official app from Google on the Amazon Appstore for Android.
In a default configuration, no, you don't get to the google Play Store. This can be easily remedied, but most users won't know how to/bother. Amazon's own store is a subset of Google's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrustyMcLovin
One thing that Amazon may have going for them would be the price. Their tablets are very competitively priced and if the phone was cheap and good quality then I suspect it would be popular. A lot of folks, especially the pre-paid set would likely be into this. If they could offer something like this for $200 w/o a contract it could very well be a big seller.
The problem is that a phone is not as good a device to read books on as a tablet, so the content you can consume on it will be restricted/different.