Rumour mill fired up about new Kindle

APPLE MAY have scored a momentous victory in its US patent battle with its rival Samsung last week, but the iPad creator still…

APPLE MAY have scored a momentous victory in its US patent battle with its rival Samsung last week, but the iPad creator still has plenty of challengers snapping at its heels.

For one, there’s the world’s largest ecommerce retailer Amazon, which is rumoured to be launching a snazzy new piece of gadgetry at a mysterious press event in an airport hangar in Santa Monica on Thursday.

The general consensus seems to be that Amazon will unveil a new version of the Kindle Fire, its hugely popular low-cost tablet.

Within six months of being launched in the US last November, the Kindle Fire (below) had won more than half of the Android tablet market. The next generation version is expected to be thinner and lighter, with a new processor.

However an alternative theory doing the rounds on the rumour mill is that Amazon may be launching its first ever phone this week. Earlier this year Amazon said the Kindle Fire was its most popular device, so perhaps it may try to build on this success with a foray into the smartphone market.

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Listen to the Inside Business podcast for a look at business and economics from an Irish perspective

  • Sign up to the Business Today newsletter for the latest news and commentary in your inbox