Kindle Phone incoming: Would you buy Android without Google?

The Gadget Show  Thursday 06 September 2012

We’re expecting lots of new Kindle devices to be revealed this evening, including the eagerly awaited Kindle Fire 2. But there might be a surprise in store too: according to sources, a Kindle Phone may make its debut as well.

The Verge is reporting today that Amazon has been working on a smartphone running similar software to the Kindle Fire tablet, and that it is likely to be shown off at the online retailer’s big press event, scheduled to take place in California this evening.

There aren’t too many details, but it makes sense. Amazon already has an app store for Android phones, called AppStore (pictured above), which it released in Europe just last week. And last month, Reuters reported that Amazon was teaming with Nokia to provide maps for its next tablet – could this be the Google Maps replacement for a Kindle Phone as well?

Kindle Fire 2: Amazon’s five step plan to slay the Google Nexus 7

The software is already most of the way there too, since the Android operating system is what already underpins the Kindle Fire tablet. But importantly, apart from the apps, it almost certainly wouldn’t be Android as you know it from Samsung and HTC phones.

You see, Amazon took the open source code for Android on the Kindle Fire and changed it, providing its own services like Amazon videos on demand in place of Google’s own. Amazon would very likely do the same with a Kindle Phone, so it could make money off all the apps and media you buy – and so offer it to you at a a rockbottom price.

We’ll let you know as soon as Amazon announces anything. In the meantime, are you excited about a Kindle Phone? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Check out our video review of the Kindle Fire below