Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, is giving its Web site a new “airy” look, with fewer product photos and a larger search box. The new homepage also pushes more digital goods–books, music, video and software, according to The Wall Street Journal, which says the redesign correlates with Amazon’s new 7-inch tablet, expected next month.
The new tablet is expected to make waves on several levels.
CNET’s Eric Mack says it will be the first successful Android tablet in large part because of its price, which is expected to be around $250. “Throwing in Amazon Prime for free also makes perfect sense to get customers streaming and shopping from their new device right away. Such a total package would blow all other Android offerings out of the water and give some Apple fans pause as well.”
FierceCable says it could shake up the pay TV business if tablet computers make their way into the homes of millions of pay TV subscribers, opening a new distribution outlet for content owners, and creating new advertising and subscription revenue streams for pay TV distributors.
And The Guardian gives two reasons why the Kindle tablet will challenge Apple in a way that Google can’t: It has a ton of content and it already holds millions of credit card numbers on file. Google, however, “…has almost no relationship in financial terms with the average person.”
Read more at The Wall Street Journal, Fierce Cable, The Guardian and The Los Angeles Times, where you can see a screen capture of Amazon’s new look.
