Few companies would look for any association with BlackBerry's PlayBook at the moment: shipments of RIM's debut tablet more than halved during the last quarter, coming in at a total of 200,000 units.
A report by gdgt, however, suggests one of the reasons Amazon's Android tablet has made the transition from concept to (near) reality in such quick fashion is because its core is anything but original.
Fuelling the fire
The website cites unnamed sources who claim the tablet which has recently been dubbed Kindle Fire is essentially a modified PlayBook.
The firm's Kindle department was reportedly unwilling to develop a tablet in its own right choosing instead to focus their attention on 'next-gen E-Ink based devices' - so Amazon looked to pick up a device off the shelf.
However, unlike retailer GameStop, which recently revealed it will simply re-brand an existing Android tablet with its own colours, Amazon turned to PlayBook's manufacturer Quanta, who - according to gtgt co-under Ryan Block - helped the company "shortcut the development process" by using RIM's device as a template.
Starting with a stopgap
"Of course, it's never quite that simple, and as I'm told Amazon ran into trouble, and eventually sacrifices were made - like using a slower processor," adds Block.
"Although Amazon did refresh the ID of their PlayBook derivative, I'm told that this first tablet of theirs is 'supposed to be pretty poor' and is a 'stopgap' in order to get a tablet out the door for the 2011 holiday season."
Quanta is likely to be grateful of the business. Owing to PlayBook's slow take up - amongst other issues - it's been reported by DigiTimes that the firm is about to let 1,000 workers go from its production lines in Taiwan.
[source: gdgt]
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Related Articles
Top Stories
News
7 hours, 44 minutes ago
Supercell’s Squad Busters ranks No. 1 for App Store game downloads in all soft launch countries
Feature
Apr 23rd, 2024
King’s Trevor Burrows on the power of art: "We could see our numbers literally dropping"
Feature
Apr 22nd, 2024
Tjodolf Sommestad talks AI, tips for indie devs, and a day in the life of King's president
Events
App Promotion Summit London | Europe | Apr 25th |
Esports Future Summit | Middle East | Apr 27th |
Dubai GameExpo Summit 2024 | Middle East | May 1st |
The MENA Games Industry Awards 2024 | Middle East | May 2nd |
GameDev Atlantic 2024 | May 4th | |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
Popular Stories
News
Apr 17th, 2024
Monopoly GO! celebrates its first birthday and shares its behind-the-scenes story
News
Apr 23rd, 2024