A report indicates that Amazon is abandoning its proprietary tablet software in favor of Android. This change could start impacting Fire tablets next year.

By Greg Bensinger SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Amazon is plotting a big change to its Fire tablet lineup following years of escalating gripes from consumers and app developers over the company's homegrown operating system.

Since debuting the Fire tablet in 2011, Amazon has relied on a forked version of Android that required developers to build separate apps for its own store, limiting app availability. Analysts say the shift to Android could make Fire tablets more attractive to consumers who want full compatibility with mainstream Android apps and devices.