Posts Tagged ebook readers
Is It Time For A New Amazon Kindle?
Posted by 0845 Telephone Numbers in General on March 8th, 2010
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 reader launched in February 2009, a year and 3 months after the release, in November 2007, of the original Kindle. If we were to assume that gap between updates would stay pretty much the same, then the Kindle 2 – now just over a year old – is probably due for an upgrade sometime in the near future.
Since the Kindle launched in February 2009, a large number of new features by different manufacturers have hit the market, increasing the amount of user choice. 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 fairly soon.
Which begs the question – what new features might Amazon consider including in a new upgraded model? Amazon will almost 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 somewhat different to other touch screen displays currently available. 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 were a spin off from a project at New York University’s Media Research Lab. They are thought to have no more than 6 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 possibly be used to produce Kindles with touch sensitive controls and colour screens. The possibility of a more versatile Amazon Kindle, with a variety of different uses – not unlike Apple’s iPad – very definitely exists. Of course, this may not be included with the next release of the Kindle – it may be an option for the future. Even so, this purchase by Amazon looks like a clear declaration of intent regarding the direction that the Kindle reader technology may take in future.
Amazon Enjoys A Great Year -Thanks To The Kindle Reader
Posted by 0845 Telephone Numbers in General on December 12th, 2009
When Amazon’s management team get together to review the company’s annual results this year, they will have plenty justification to feel content – but not smug. It’s been a very good year for the internet retail giant – and a lot of the credit must go to the Amazon Kindle ebook reader.
Amazon released the Kindle 2 in February of 2009. It was widely perceived as a step in the right direction. Amazon had obviously paid close attention to customer feedback on the original Kindle, released in 2007. Wireless connectivity and the huge choice of Kindle books remained and faster pages changes, longer battery life and increased storage capacity were among the improvements which were introduced.
Best selling author, Stephen King wrote a special novella to mark the launch and the Kindle 2 rapidly became the “must have” gadget amid a blaze of publicity.
In June of 2009, just a few months later, Amazon launched the Kindle DX. The DX featured a larger display and was developed dpecifically for readers of magazines, newspapers and academic textbooks. Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, it was the staid world of academic publishing that helped to gain the DX a lot of publicity.
The academic community was quick to realise the potential benefits the Kindle offered. Not only would it be very much easier to update textbooks but interactive eduction – pop quizzes and tests for example – would be possible. As well as saving money by using electronic textbooks, academic bodies would also be more environmentally friendly – a very important factor for these institutions which have both financial budgets and environmental targets to meet today.
As well as establishing partnerships with a number of colleges and universities, Amazon benefited from a lot of publicity generated by political bodies such as the New Democratic Leadership Council and Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – both of whom waxed lyrical on the educational potential of e-book readers in general and the Amazon Kindle in particular.
Nevertheless, although things were looking bright for Amazon, there were some early signs that trouble was looming. Competing manufacturers, having watched Amazon develop the e-book reader market, were now becoming aware of the huge potential of this nascent sector. A long list of competitors, including such names as Microsoft, Apple, Sony and Barnes and Noble, wanted their share – and suddenly they all had readers of their own under development.
In a way, it’s a huge compliment to Amazon that almost every ebook reader under development which shows the slightest promise is immediately given the title of the “Kindle Killer”. Nevertheless, right now, in spite of all the development work by other manufacturers, the Kindle is still pretty much the only show in town. The Nook reader from Barnes and Noble and Sony’s Daily Edition reader have both had their releases dates shifted back. To tell the truth, it begins looks increasingly probable that the most likely source of the long awaited Kindle Killer is, in fact, Amazon itself. The Kindle 4 is the most probable contender. Will we see it in 2010?
When Will We See The Kindle 4?
Posted by 0845 Telephone Numbers in General on December 9th, 2009
2009 has been an important year for e-book readers – substantially as a result of the efforts of Amazon. The Kindle 2 was launched by Amazon in February 2009, which was an improved version of the first Kindle, originally launched in November 2007.
Amazon followed up with the Kindle DX in June of 2009, which was a large format version of the Kindle 2. It was specifically targeted at readers of newspapers, magazines and academic textbooks – and it created a bit of a stir.
The possibilities in the academic world – from interactive textbooks to constantly updated texts, and not forgetting the opportunity afforded to academic bodies to save a good deal of money – attracted a good deal of attention. In addition to entering into partnership with various colleges and universities, Amazon received plenty of free publicity from the political scene – such as the New Democratic Leadership Council and Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his capacity as Governor of California.
Thanks to Amazon’s foresight and innovation – helped by all the free publicity – the Kindle reader has now become Amazon’s top selling product. The Kindle currently has an incredible 60% share of the U.S. e-book reader market and recently brought out an international version. The Kindle has, to all intents and purposes, become synonymous with e-book readers.
It’s probably worth pointing out that Amazon didn’t enter the e-book reader market until fairly late in the day. The first e-book reader, the Franklin eBookman, was launched in 1999 – a decade ago. The Sony PRS reader was launched in 2007, before the launch of the original Kindle.
Amazon may not have been first to launch – but by combining clever marketing with technical innovation and addressing customer needs, Amazon has secured its current number one position. The vast choice of books available for the Kindle on Amazon’s website (360,000 titles at the last count and growing daily) and the wireless connectivity (with no monthly fee) were every bit as critical to the success of the Kindle as were the technical aspects of the device.
However, now that Amazon has – practically single handed – established the market, it seems that there are a whole bunch of other manufacturers who all want their share. Sony, Microsoft, Apple, Barnes and Noble, iRex, Plastic Logic, Asus – the list goes on – all have their own readers ready for launch or in the final stages of development.
Amazon’s current unique selling point – wireless connectivity – will become the norm and Barnes and Noble will allow users of their new Nook reader the choice of over 1,000,000 titles. Sony’s new Daily Edition reader will allow users to download e-books on loan from participating lending libraries. 2010 will probably see some industry standard e-book format agreed upon, which will allow users to lend e-books to family and friends or move them over to other readers if they wish.
Currently, a lot of industry analysts are checking out the line up of new readers and trying to predict which of them is the Kindle Killer. Neverthelss, Amazon has been commercially aware up until now, so they won’t surrender their leadership position without a fierce struggle. It took them less than a year and a halft after the launch of the original Kindle to release the much improved Kindle 2. The DX was launched just a few months later. Amazon almost certainly has big plans for the further development of their e-book readers. Could it be that the Kindle killer will actually be the Kindle 4 and that could we see this sometime in 2010?