Lab126, the Amazon division responsible for research and development of the Kindle line, is seriously staffing up. As reported by EETimes, the division's recruitment page currently lists over 250 separate vacancies, mostly for Silicon Valley positions but also ranging as far as India, China, and Japan. Just as Amazon has expanded both the range and footprint of its Kindle line, its R&D house has doubled in size from just over 500 employees to over 1,000 over the past year and a half, and the extra 250 positions represent another significant expansion.

The positions range in scope from industrial, UX, and accessory designers, to software, hardware, and antenna engineers, as well as a number of management roles, but seem heavily skewed towards the development of new software. Lab126 also looking to hire a new recruitment team to pursue further expansion. Of course, it's difficult to know what all this hiring is for — EETimes speculates that Amazon may be looking to spin the division off into a standalone company, but that's unlikely to require a bevy of new software engineers. Is Amazon looking to further expand its range of e-readers? Tablets? Or something else? One thing we can say for certain is that the retail giant isn't resting on its laurels.