Benjamin Higginbotham of Technology Evangelist takes a look at the
Amazon Kindle after 12 hours of use. More in-depth reviews as he uses it more
and more will be coming:
Amazon
rumored to introduce Kindle
2.0 next Monday
By Kasper Jade & Zach Spear found Tuesday,
February 3, 2009 at appleinsider.com
Speculation is mounting that Amazon could announce a new version of
its Kindle next Monday, a move that one analyst
believes will help propel the e-book reader into a $1 billion dollar business
for the online retailer by next year.
Last week, Amazon
sent out invitations to a Monday, Feb. 9 press event at the Morgan Library in
midtown New York. The Seattle-based company's last New York event, in November
2007, was used to introduce the inaugural Kindle
device, leading observers to conclude next week's event will help usher in a
new product dubbed "Kindle 2.0".
In a report to clients this week, Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney estimated
approximately 500,000 Kindles were sold last year. He based the figure on a
filing by Sprint, which partners with Amazon for the device's cellular wireless
service.
Based on his research, Mahaney expects the Kindle (review)
to become a $1.2 billion business (and generate 4% of revenues) for Amazon by
2010, assuming its adoption will follow in the footsteps of the Apple iPod,
doing for e-books what the iPod did for digital music. The estimate also assumes
every owner of the $359
device will buy an average of one e-book per month.
As for the future of Kindle, Mahaney expects the "new device will be longer
and thinner than Kindle 1.0, with a more user-friendly keypad and device
side-buttons that are less prone to accidental hits/accidental page turns.
"We don’t expect the device to have touch-screen capability, nor do we
expect the device to have a color screen," he said. "We also expect
the device to incorporate faster page-turning functionality."
Rumors have also surfaced about an upcoming education
model that would feature a larger screen and be marketed to students as an
alternative to textbooks. Large publishers like McGraw-Hill already publish 95%
of their books electronically. However, the education version, while possible
for a Monday introduction, is expected to hit the market sometime in the first
half of this year, while the updated version of the base retail model is rumored
to arrive in the current first quarter.
Photos leaked to the Boy Genius Report are believed to represent the
new retail model, as the screen isn't noticeably larger than the one employed by
the existing Kindle. According to the associated description, Kindle 2.0 will
still utilize EV-DO for downloads, but sport a sleeker, wider and more elongated
footprint with a metal back and speakers at the bottom. It's also said to be
thinner, slightly heavier, but more robust than the model it will replace.
Kindle 1.0 (left) sits beside a Kindle 2.0
prototype (right) | Courtesy of Boy
Genius Report
Other reported changes include a new joystick user-interface input, more natural
keyboard layout, and a leather carrying pouch as opposed to the current
binder-style protective holder.
Those claims are mostly consistent with ones published a few months earlier by BusinessWeek,
which noted that Amazon is believed to have tapped renowned global innovation
firm frog design to craft the enclosure
and hardware interface for the new model. The business publication also spoke
with a person familiar with prototypes of Kindle 2.0 who praised many of its
design improvements.
"They've jumped from Generation One to Generation Four or Five," that
person said. "It just looks better, and feels better."
The same report claimed that Amazon may also slash the price of the new Kindle
to $299 or $249 in a bid to boost adoption.
The backsides of Kindle 1.0 (left) and a
Kindle 2.0 prototype (right) | Courtesy of Boy
Genius Report
When asked to comment on the Kindle last year, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs
downplayed the device, saying it was destined to fail because it was based from
the top down on an aging concept.
"It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people
don't read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S.
read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top
because people don't read anymore."
That said, many industry watchers believe that the much-rumored Apple Newton
tablet -- due whenever it's deemed fit for consumption -- will indirectly give
the Kindle a run for its money, serving as a digital slate capable of accessing
every newspaper published online and any digital books that turn up on the
iTunes and App stores
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