I received a note from
Nick Hampshire of Afaics Research today about Amazon's rumored plan to launch
their own e-book reader. From the note:
Quote:
It would appear that the Kindle is being made for Amazon by Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co. Ltd. of Taiwan (one of the largest manufacturers of barebones PCs), and judging by the specs we can expect this to be priced at a level that will probably undercut Sony’s new EBR-500 reader set for launch in the US at the end of this year.
The submission also outlined a proposed Kindle Store within Amazon that would allow Kindle owners to buy and download e-books. This is obviously aimed at being a direct competitor to the SonyCONNECT store.
Not surprisingly Amazon are silent upon the subject of the Kindle, but the arrival of an Amazon branded e- reader and associated store will inject a lot more competition into the marketplace, something that should be welcomed by readers and publishers alike.
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I put off writing about this because I wasn't ready in my heart to accept it, but did you notice that Nick mentioned "end of this year" as the new launch date for the Sony Reader?
Totally unrelated: Some evil doers
have defaced the Website of Afaics' sister Website
Digital Publishing News.