It comes as no surprise that Amazon is a long way down the track towards preparing the next generation (4th isn’t it?) of its Kindle device ‘ what does come as a surprise to some is that it is nothing like the iPad.
Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos discussed the project at the company’s annual shareholders meeting, saying that the device remained an e-ink screen, which means no color, and it will not have touch capabilities or search the internet.
Bezos told shareholders that a color version of the screen is not yet ready, but by that he obviously means the color version of the e-Ink screens. e-Ink has no backlight and relies entirely on light falling on the screen in order for someone to read, rather like a book. The iPad has a backlight and consequently its battery life is compromised ‘ 10 hours with a huge heavy battery, compared to two weeks for some Kindle models, with far smaller batteries. Color e-Ink or hybrid screens are expected in the next two years ‘ and will offer backlight in other applications but e-Ink when reading books.
Committed Kindle fans say that backlit tablets like the iPad give them eyestrain if they read for too long.
But this strategy by Amazon makes sense. It’s not trying to win a technology war for the next generation portable device, it just wants to offer a pure reading device that will continue to drive customers to its ebook store, instead of Apple’s iBookstore or anyone else’s.
This new Kindle version is due in August, and will be lighter says a Bloomberg article which reported on the speech Bezos gave. It will also be more responsive and have a sharper image, but as we said no touch screen or color.
Interestingly e-Ink specialist Pixel Qi is working on a multimode screen (e-Ink and LCD) and multi-touch currently and Amazon recently invested in a pre-commercial touchscreen specialist, Touchco, which will be merged into the retailer’s Kindle hardware division. So clearly a color touch screen is on the agenda, but not for this generation.
The problem for the Kindle is that the iPad can be bought for many reasons, and anyone who only wants to read on it for a couple of hours (instead of one of those people who consume three books a day) can also use it to browse the web, watch video and manage email and the iPad will also give life to rivals that will also do all those things ‘ consequently the Kindle could be reduced further and further in reach, down to dedicated marathon readers ‘ on the other hand it may also come down in price more rapidly than tablets like the iPad.
Sony which has pushed ebook readers for years has already introduced a touch screen reader last year and added the ability to download books wirelessly, the same as the Kindle.
Sony announced its third Reader Daily Edition last August and delivered it in December, and the cellular capability was thought to be added so that it can be used to deliver newspapers on a daily basis, something Kindle already did.
The market for dedicated ebook readers is expected to be around 6 million this year say US market researchers, but expect it to broaden and take in iPads, new tablet devices from rivals using Android and new two screen designs for networks.