Amazon is set to broaden the range of gadgets it offers, with each new device class aimed at driving purchases of some form of content ‘ books and newspapers now with Kindle, mainly movies in future. This came from internal sources quoted in a story this week by The New York Times, The new devices will be designed in Amazon’s R&D unit, Lab 126, and could include a smart phone.
Some of these may be prototypes for demonstration purposes or for license to partners, but Amazon’s aim is clear ‘ to make its integrated store and immersive reading experience the dominant platform for electronic reading, therefore boosting its content sales. It has already pushed the Kindle app to a wide range of devices and extended the choice of its dedicated ereaders, with new low cost and Wi-Fi options.
Now the NYT report says that Lab 126, which was responsible for the Kindle, is considering new hardware that could give consumers easier access to digital books, music and movies. Lab 126 has recently posted job adverts for a hardware and RF engineer.
The source said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos originally wanted the lab to ‘build a range of other devices ‘ There was talk of music players and other electronics.” A phone was considered ‘possibly out of reach’ but not ruled out altogether.
The retailer has been extending Kindle’s reach, with applications for PCs and phones, and by turning it into a fully blown content creation platform. In February, Amazon sparked intense speculation that it would broaden its device range when it acquired Touchco, a touchscreen specialist. This was a six-person start-up, spun out of the New York University Media Research Lab, which has developed a “sensitive surface that detects multiple pressure levels of unlimited simultaneous inputs”, a technology it claims is also low cost.
A touchscreen is not necessarily essential for an ereader ‘ the E-Ink used by Kindle supports truly comfortable reading. Indeed, Sony has had touchscreens on ereaders for 18 months, and has already discontinued the first ereader to sport one, the PRS-700. So it seems likely that Amazon will retain its optimized e-ink reading experience for conventional Kindles, at least until multimode comes along, and will use Touchco to extend the brand into other content types.
As one analyst said when faced with skepticism that Amazon would move into portable media players and tablets – “who ever expected the retailer to launch a hardware device for reading, or that it would be any good?”
Some observers think Amazon will go further in reducing the price of the Kindle ereader to encourage uptake and book sales. It is widely expected to push future models below the magic $99 level that triggers a mass market, but some commentators think it must eventually offer the devices for free. This would be like the smart phone subsidy model, though with the retailer rather than the carrier offering the deal. A free device would possibly accompany a subscription or a minimum content purchase commitment, or Amazon might just assume a free gadget would drive purchases. The economics would be better for the retailer than for a cellco, since it controls the whole supply chain.