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.