Bezos on Android: We Like It!

When it comes to operating systems, Jeff Bezos is pretty darn pleased with Android.

The Amazon CEO said that Android is accomplishing everything that Amazon needs it to and, at the same time, giving the company flexibility to customize things.

“We treat Android like Linux, and so it’s a base OS layer,” Bezos told AllThingsD in an interview on Thursday. “We have a large dedicated team that customizes Android and that’s what you see on the Kindle Fire.”

Amazon will also be using a customized version of Android on the new crop of tablets, albeit the more recent Ice Cream Sandwich flavor of the operating system.

On top of Android, Amazon has created its own user interface along with a suite of software and services, including the Amazon App Store. With the new Kindle Fire, the company has also licensed map data from a third-party service, widely believed to be Nokia’s Navteq.

Bezos shrugged off the notion that Amazon had any plans to shift away from the Google-created operating system.

“No,” he said. “We like it.”

Here’s what Bezos had to say about some of the other products that his company is cooking up. And check back later for more from his interview with AllThingsD.