Is A New Version Of The Kindle Likely Anytime Soon?
|
|
There has been a lot of speculation as to when Amazon will release the next update of its hugely successful Kindle reader. The Kindle 2 launched in February of 2009, a year and 3 months after the release of the original Kindle in November 2007. If the gap between upgrades was to be maintained, then the Kindle 2 which is now small more than a year ancient, should be due for an update in the honestly near future.
Since the Kindle, helped 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 summary, looking at both the increased competition from new readers (many of which incorporate added features and functionality) and the age of the Kindle 2, it seems that an update may be due honestly soon.
Which prompts the question - what new features are Amazon plotting to include in the new enhanced and upgraded model? Amazon will nearly certainly have a few surprises up their sleeve - but this acquisition gives a clear indication of at least one new feature that we may expect to see in future editions of the Kindle.
Amazon has bought the company by the name of Touchco, whose area of expertise is touch sensitive displays. The technology is a small different to other touch screen technology currently on the market. It uses interpolating force-sensitive resistance technology – which, unlike other touch screen technology, can be completely transparent. It can be used with e-ink displays and colour displays. It is also, according to the New York Times, considerably cheaper than the capacitive type of touch screen used in the iPod and the iPad
Touchco are 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. Although the technology was well advanced, it was still very much a research project - at the time of Amazon’s takeover no commercial application had been developed.
The Touchco technology could be used to produce Kindles with both color screens and touch sensitive controls. The possibility of a more versatile Amazon Kindle, with a variety of different uses – not unlike Apple’s iPad – very certainly exists. Perhaps this will not be included with the next release of the Kindle - but it is a distinct possibility at some point in the future. All the same, Amazon’s buy looks like a clear indication of the way that they see the Kindle developing in future.
Tags: amazon kindle, ebook readers, ebooks, electronics, Reading, technology
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.