In the run-up to Amazon's big launch event through the week, one of the hottest rumours doing the rounds was that the Big A would announce a smartphone to go with its second-generation Kindle Fire tablets.
That didn't happen in the end, so does that mean Amazon doesn't have designs on the smartphone market after all? We're not altogether sure, to be honest.
What is clear, however, is that Amazon is in the mobile hardware business to stay. Thursday's launch event saw the company's tablet range expand from the 7in Kindle Fire base model to also include a higher-specced Kindle Fire HD in both 7in and 8.9in variants.
And speaking to AllThingsD, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos promised it planned to diversify its product range even further, though “not any time soon”. He wouldn't be drawn any further on the subject, saying it would be “premature” to talk of the company's plans at this stage.
That's not giving very much away, but with Thursday's launch event making it clear that Amazon sees mobile devices mainly as content vehicles, applying the Kindle Fire model to a smartphone-sized device makes a lot of sense.
In hindsight we were never likely to see a prototype Amazon phone on Thursday as the rumours had been suggesting, It would have watered down the impact of the new products that were being unveiled on the night, and robbed the device of its own moment in the spotlight down the line, not to mention alerting Amazon's rivals as to just what it was up to.
