Amazon may show multiple Android tablets

Amazon's tablet plans could include more than one model at the same time. A "trustworthy" source immediately familiar with the project said Friday that an "entire family" of tablets was coming. Android and Me also understood that Pixel Qi's outdoor-friendly 3qi displays were candidates and that the software side had been contracted out to an "embedded systems company" using the most recent version Android by the time the tablets are ready.

Whether that meant Android 3.0, 3.1, or Ice Cream Sandwich wasn't determined. Google is supposedly working directly with Amazon, which might imply a device closer to stock Android than a heavily customized tablet like the Nook Color.

A chance exists that all of the models could be due in the summer. Earlier tips had at least one tablet designed by Samsung and made by Quanta.

Amazon has long claimed publicly that it's focused on reading and saw its CEO Jeff Bezos imply that the Kindle would stay even if tablets arrived. The launch of its own app store and encroachments by iPads on e-reading may have pushed the company to make its own Android hardware and keep a share of the tablet market.

By Electronista Staff