What Next for Amazon's Kindle Reader?

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There has been a great deal of speculation regarding the release of the next upgrade of Amazon’s hugely successful Kindle e-book reader. The original Kindle reader was released in November of 2007 and the updated Kindle 2 followed in February of 2009. If a similar gap was to be maintained, then the Kindle 2 which is now a little over a year old, would be due for replacement at some point in the near future.

Since the Kindle, assisted by the DX version which was released in June of 2009, was launched, a lot of new readers from a variety of manufacturers have hit the market and user choice has increased. Apart from other dedicated e-book readers like Sony’s Daily Edition and the Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple’s new iPad is also seen as a potential threat to the Kindle as it has, amongst its many functions, the capacity to be used to read e-books. In short, considering both its age and the increased competition from new readers, many of which boast additional features and functionality, the Kindle 2 is due for an upgrade fairly soon.

Which prompts the question – what new functions and features will Amazon incorporate into the new enhanced version? In all probability Amazon have some surprises in store – that Amazon’s latest business acquisition may well provide a clue to at least one of the new features which may be included in future Kindle models.

Amazon has very recently procure a small start-up company by the name of Touchco. Touchco are a company who specialise in touch sensitive displays. The technology is quite different to that used in other touch screen displays currently on the market. It is resistance based rather than the more common capacitive beast technology. It may be used with colour displays and E ink displays. According to the New York Times, it is cheaper than the capacitive type of touch screen display used by such devices as the iPod.

Touchco were a spin off from a project at New York University’s Media Research Lab. They are believed to have no more than half a dozen employees. The technology, although well advanced, was still very much a research project and no commercial application using it had been released at the time of Amazon’s take over.

The Touchco technology could be used to produce Kindles with both color screens and touch sensitive controls. The possibility of a more versatile Kindle, with a variety of different uses – not unlike Apple’s iPad – very definitely exists. Of course, this may not happen with the next release of the Kindle – it could be some way off in the future. Nevertheless, Amazon’s purchase seems to be a clear declaration of intent regarding the future direction of their Kindle reader technology.

Find out more about the Amazon Kindle e-book reader – and check out the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you protect and customise your reader.

categories: ebooks,electronics,computing,technology,gadgets,personal electronics,science,product reviews,shopping

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