If HTC is really going to get involved with Amazon, it sounds like they may be cannonballing into the deep end. A Financial Times report suggests that HTC will be producing three devices for Amazon, all ready for release in 2014.
The report goes on to note that one of the three devices is in an “advanced stage of development”, though it offers no timeline for release. We also don’t know about hardware specifications, or if the device has passed through the FCC. We also don’t quite know if they’re smartphones or tablets… or something else entirely.
There is also the lingering question of HTC’s involvement with the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). Their membership in the OHA suggests they can’t develop for a competing Android platform, as Acer saw last year with the Aliyun dustup. In that situation, Google threatened to remove them from the OHA, should they develop for that platform. Google’s response was that Acer couldn’t work on “non-compatible Android” versions and be part of the OHA.
While Amazon‘s mobile OS is technically Android, their severely hijacked version of the open source software may not be “compatible”. It’s also not clear what Amazon’s strategy with any new devices. We’d like to think they’re smartphones, but without official word, we’re hesitant to say. It’s a very precarious position for HTC and Amazon, so we’ll be interested to see how it plays out.
VIA: Android and Me
They did such a great job with the Facebook phone, how can this miss?
probando