Amazon CEO says more hardware is in the pipeline

Amazon is fresh off a successful media event yesterday where CEO Jeff Bezos introduced the world to multiple products including the all-new Kindle Fire HD tablet. The online retail giant has certainly set itself up for another big holiday season but some tech enthusiasts were hoping for another surprise announcement yesterday – an Amazon smartphone.

The rumored handset never made its debut alongside Amazon’s other new hardware despite some sources reporting that it was a lock. Either way, a phone no-show doesn’t necessarily mean Amazon won’t eventually release a smartphone at some point down the road.

In an interview with All Things D following yesterday’s media event, Bezos said Amazon is most certainly planning to build more devices but he stopped short of confirming or denying a phone. Instead, he said new products will be ready next year that they hope people will enjoy but it was premature for him to talk about them right now.

Interview aside, the publication points out that Amazon is gathering all of the necessary ingredients needed to enter the phone business. For example, the new Kindle Fire HD tablet now has sound input and mapping capabilities, two things that are vital for a smartphone. Other features include 4G LTE connectivity and Bluetooth - two more important pieces of the puzzle.

It all seems to be lining up perfectly and perhaps by this time next year, we’ll be talking about the new Amazon smartphone alongside revised Kindle e-readers and tablets.