Amazon has quietly dedicated an entire company to producing its Kindle Fire and future tablets. Five US trademark filings (one, two, three, four, five) for the Kindle Fire and its Silk browser are attributed to Seesaw LLC, a company based in Delaware for what's likely legal reasons. The attorneys who filed for the trademarks are the same as those who have filed for many of Amazon's own.
Dana Stalder of venture capital firm Matrix Partners posted this weekend that there was talk of Amazon suddenly leasing much more office space for its Lab126 team. The capacity would give the hardware team behind the Kindle much more space in Cupertino, California, and would be virtually "across [the] street" from Apple. The timing and exact nature weren't mentioned.
Amazon is exploring making devices beyond the Kindle e-reader for the first time, multiple insiders explained on Tuesday. The online store purportedly wants to go beyond e-books and would make devices to ease "simple purchasing" of its content, such as from Amazon MP3 or Video On Demand. Music players and "other electronics" were discussed by the NYT sources, though which would be made wasn't definite.
Amazon has been talking to game developers to support a new version of the Kindle, leaks from the bookseller pointed out on Monday. The publishers weren't named but would be providing titles in sync with the new e-reader. Amazon hasn't commented on the NYT claims.
Amazon plans a larger role for the web browser on the Kindle, the company has let slip through a job listing for its e-reader division, Lab126. A position for a Software Development Engineer has been specifically tasked with improving on the Kindle's basic, "experimental" browser with new features. While no hints exist of new features, the engineer would be part of a dedicated web browser team, suggesting Amazon is now taking the software more seriously.
