Amazon to develop a new smartphone with Foxconn

LONDON (ShareCast) - US online retailing giant Amazon is developing a new smartphone with Chinese group Foxconn in order to compete with Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) and Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG - news) , according to reports. The firm is studying the possibility of complementing this new strategy with the purchase of patents that cover wireless technology and thus defend itself from potential accusations. According to Bloomberg, experts believe that the device would run on Google's Android operating system. The firmware for Amazon's Kindle tablets is based on a version of Android. "The notion that Amazon would move into the smartphone business can hardly be considered a surprise. Amazon already has many of the pieces in place to offer a handset with a supporting app and entertainment content ecosystem," said Ian Paul of PCWorld. It has also been reported that Amazon's Kindle Fire 2 may go on sale on August 7th. By 10:06 on Friday morning in New York (Frankfurt: A0DKRK - news) , shares were trading more of less flat at $226.96. SC