Amazon Hiring Binge Signals 'iPad Killer' Coming

Amazon appears to be working on a killer of its own to take on the "Kindle-killer" iPad. The division of the company that cooked up the Kindle has gone on a major hiring spree recently, and its job listings—from Software Quality Assurance Engineer to Software Development Test Engineer—suggest that a new device is in the later stages of development, the New York Times reports. Insiders say that Amazon has been meeting with developers to discuss loading games onto Kindle.

The company announced this week that it plans to launch a version of Kindle for Android smartphone users, suggesting a two-pronged strategy to tackle the iPad threat is at work. The future for its Kindle platform probably lies in either a multi-functional direct competitor for the iPad, a gradually improved Kindle, or a reading-focused "Superkindle," predicts Harry McCracken at PC World, who goes on to describe what he wishes the latter would be: the lightweight, picture-laden e-reader of the future.
(More Kindle stories.)