Amazon is building a secret 'breakthrough' device in Apple's back yard

Emily Parkhurst

Staff Writer-Puget Sound Business Journal

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Amazon’s secret California device laboratory is up to something.

Lab 126 – its name is a nod to Amazon’s “everything from A-to-Z” motto, where 1 is A and 26 is Z – has posted a number of positions at the Cupertino, Calif.-based lab and is doing recruiting events around the country, including an upcoming one in Boston.

The positions seem to point to a new high-profile device in development. One job is a “senior camera systems engineer” that will “perform analysis and testing of complex opto-electronic assemblies using advanced simulation and experimentation tools and techniques.”

Another position is for global supply chain manager, which certainly hints at a big project in the works.

There have been rumors for some time about Amazon developing a set-top device for streaming television and a smartphone, but neither has materialized yet.

These postings could be related to a device like that, although that seems a bit too predictable for Amazon. Some have suggested it could be a smartwatch or some other kind of wearable device.

The Boston event refers to Amazon’s “Kindle New Initiatives Team” and makes it clear that the company is recruiting talented product developers in offices from Boston, to Cupertino (technically, Sunnyvale) and in Seattle.

And Amazon isn’t being subtle about the impact of this potential device. The job postings all contain this tag-line:

“Work hard. Have fun. Make history.”

I guess you need to be a bit hyperbolic to attract the best developers to your team when you're sitting in Apple's back yard.

Emily Parkhurst covers the technology industry for the Puget Sound Business Journal/TechFlash.

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