Amazon Hires Kindel, Presumably to Work on Phone

It's been a while since there's been any news surrounding Amazon's upcoming smartphone, but now the company has apparently hired a smartphone specialist, which has kicked rumors about the device back into full gear.

Amazon has hired Charlie Kindel, who used to work at Microsoft and was a big player in the development of the Windows 7 phone. He left the company in 2011 to work for a startup, but now finds himself at Amazon.

According to Kindel's LinkedIn profile he's "working on something wonderful" at his new job, which many are speculating to mean working on Amazon's phantom phone. His profile lists his job description as "building a new team going after a totally new area for Amazon."

Other signs that Amazon might be moving into the mobile phone market include a new development group the company is putting together in Palo Alto, Calif., to build client side applications. In December, Taiwan Economic News reported the device would be released this spring or summer and priced somewhere between $200 and $300. Whether that cost comes with a two-year contract or not is unknown, as are most other details of the rumored smartphone.

Source: Washington Post