Bloomberg: new Kindle in August

[wallcraft]

Bloomberg reports in Amazon.com Said to Introduce Thinner Kindle in August:

The device will be thinner and have a more responsive screen with a sharper picture, the people said, who didn’t want to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The new Kindle won’t include a touch screen or color, they said.

A more responsive screen is already possible with the new display controllers, but I wonder what "sharper picture" means?

EDIT: See also Kindel goes a diet.

[m-reader]

This is a very good news indeed! I think the whole e-reader device scene got kind of hijacked by the iPad craze. In terms of electronic reading technology Apple brought absolutely nothing new to the table.
I am holding my fingers crossed for some advancement on the e-Ink (or similar) field. There is a lot of R&D being done out there, but it would take somebody like Amazon to package the product and bring it to the market.
Do you think they'll be going with some other non e-Ink technology for the screen? Also, they did buy that touch screen setup a while back, right?

[Teddman]

Good to hear them sticking to their guns. Interestingly, August/September is when Sony usually announces their new reader models. Whose design will be better???

Remember when Sony & Amazon were the two major "mainstream" readers on the market?

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by Teddman

Good to hear them sticking to their guns. Interestingly, August/September is when Sony usually announces their new reader models. Whose design will be better???

Remember when Sony & Amazon were the two major "mainstream" readers on the market?

I haven't heard anything about Sony coming up with new gear, but I'd love to

Sony and Amazon (and the likes) are in the category of heavyweights who can actually set some new trends in the market. Although I love Sony gadgets, my money is on Amazon. They have more invested in the e-reading technology than Sony. Furthermore, Amazon does not have the cultural baggage that Sony has in designing products. Sony does it "Sony Style" which is uniquely different (for better or worse).
Amazon is able to be a lot more agile and innovative.

[SameOldStory]

" a thinner version of its e-book reader in August, and the new workout regiment will also enhance its screen sharpness and responsiveness."

This is about as exciting as a "New and Improved" box of Kleenex. Yes, it's a good reader (if you don't mind the extra length for the keypad). And ,yes, it IS a new model. But they have to have something more than this? Don't they?

[SensualPoet]

Leaks of a new Sony reader for the early fall will happen son if they are going to happen. The "retail calendar" for big box stores like Best Buy has very significant lead times. Final decisions are being made and bets placed on what will or will not drive Christmas holiday sales. Factories are booking final orders for shipments beginning in late September now.

So, if Sony has anything substantial coming, the electronic retailers will be having discussions and inking deals in the next few days. That's also why we're likely hearing about the news through Bloomberg re: Amazon Kindle 3.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

But they have to have something more than this?

What if it is thinner, sharper, faster-refreshing and *cheaper*?

That is one "feature" that can make an instant difference and explains why no touch or color.

Features are nice but Kindle has a decent-enough feature set already--for its target audience--so the question now is how do they want to grow their ecosystem; aiming for a bigger slice of the hardware market and fighting for the affluent buyers that Apple is targetting or by undercutting other dedicated-reader vendors to bolster their online store?

Amazon is in this to sell books, not just readers; that makes the Adobe Adept ecosystem their primary near-term target, not Apple. Apple actually helps because it fractured the unity of ePub DRM schemes beyond what B&N did, *and* because iPad can sell Kindle books just fine.

I'm thinking Amazon woudn't *at all* mind a market split almost exclusively between Kindle and iPad, so hitting Nook and Kobo where they might hurt is likely a higher priority than going after the iPad. Of the two, I suspect Kobo is more worrisome because of its pricing so I woudn't be shocked to see K3 come in at something close to US$200 if not under it.

[dmaul1114]

Doesn't sound like anything that would make me want to ditch my K1.

Maybe if it REALLY speeds up page turns etc. dramatically.

[JSWolf]

This new Kindle will be using the new ink screen that has higher contrast and is faster. Somewhere on MR is a link to a video showing off one of these new screens.

[The Old Man]

Are standalone e-book readers doomed?

[rogue_librarian]

It's a different device. I could read books on my laptop or desktop, of course, but I don't want an LCD: e-ink is so much easier on the eyes, no way of going back. And as an avid reader I can easily justify a standalone device for that purpose.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

Are standalone e-book readers doomed?

As I've said many times, such articles are just non-sense.

There's clearly a sizable niche of readers that just want simple gadgets that do nothing but read and offer no other distractions.

We live in a capitalist world, as long as that niche is there, there will be a few companies making products to serve them. Very few niches go ignored, as that means every company turning down a chance to make money.

I do think Tablets are really going to catch on, and I'll probably drop my Kindle for a Tablet when there's one that fits my needs as I'm not an avid reader so I don't need e-ink. So I'm not some biased e-ink lover when I say that.

[The Old Man]

I agree pretty much with the article. Dedicated ereaders will have to be low in price, able to read epub, pdf, doc, and as many other formats as possible. It doesn't need wifi or 3G or computer connectivity. Just an SD slot to load protected and unprotected books.

[dmaul1114]

Price will of course have to drop--but that had to happen without tablets etc. There's only so many people who both read enough, and are willing to try reading on a gadget, to pay $200-300+ for a dedicated reader.

I don't think format etc. matters that much. Most people in the mainstream aren't going to bother with that stuff--unlike the informed users here. Most will just buy a Kindle or Nook etc. and only get books from the attached story anyway. They'll never come to a site like this and learn about the other options etc.

[NNolan]

I was hoping the K3 would be a Kindle version of the Alex. No such luck, I guess.