The Irex 1000 line: add white for Kindle of the future?
(Credit: Irex)Back when the rumors of a Kindle 2 started last year, there was also some chatter about a larger form factor Kindle that would be designed partially for the educational market. Well, now that the Kindle 2 has arrived, the rumor mill is churning again with blog posts about a larger form factor Kindle 3 that has a touch screen.
The initial report comes from DigiTimes, which says sources within Prime View International (PVI), the makers of the Kindle's electrophoretic display (EPD), claim Amazon's next Kindle will launch by the end of this year and will be "larger in size and equipped with touch functions."
Such a product actually exists already; it's made by Irex, it has a 10.2-inch touch screen, and I wrote about it way back in September of last year. The Irex Digital Reader 1000S is currently available for a whopping $859.
We assume Amazon would be able to come out with a model that carries a lower, more reasonable price tag. But there are probably some serious challenges to get the price down anywhere near to where the current Kindle 2 sits--and already a lot of people think the Kindle 2 is expensive at $359.
It's worth noting that in its post, Engadget cites a Plastic Logic 8.5 x 11-inch touch-screen eBook reader as a potential partner for Amazon (see image below with Photoshopped logo). That type of device seems more in keeping with Amazon's thinner, slicker Kindle 2 design.
Personally, I think all this stuff is a long way off. End of the year maybe, but most likely 2010.
Comments?
Digitimes via Mobile Read via Engadget.
A fantasy mock-up of Plastic Logic's Kindle 3.
(Credit: Engadget)
Could we soon be seeing a beefed-up iPod with a bigger screen?
(Credit: Apple)Apple is expected to release an iPod Touch device with a 7- to 9-inch screen in the fall of 2009, according to a report on TechCrunch that cites three independent sources.
One of TechCrunch's sources claims to have actually handled one of the prototypes, and Apple is talking with manufacturers in Asia about mass production of the device, according to the report.
Certainly at that size, the device would be more of a tablet than an iPod, and tablet rumors have been floating around Apple for years.
There was a fury of speculation in August after a number of Mac sites pointed to a U.S. patent application granted for what appeared to be the mythical Mac tablet. AppleInsider published a description of the device discussed in the application, which appears to bring a lot of the iPhone's multitouch functionality to a slate-like tablet computer.
Earlier this year, CEO Steve Jobs implied Apple was watching small-device categories like tablets and Netbooks to see if they actually take off as a mega-trend. But Jobs has also quickly shot down talk of an Apple-produced competitor to Amazon's Kindle, which has been interpreted as a sign Apple was doing just that.
However, tablet PCs in the Windows world haven't sold very well, and the concept has almost completely fallen off the radar screen of the PC industry.
Samsung's 61-inch LED-powered DLP TV.
(Credit: Samsung)Around the holiday season we get a lot of e-mails from readers agonizing over what TV to buy. With the economy the way it is, consumers aren't completely shying away from buying new TVs, but they're on tight budgets and appear to be predominantly interested in screen sizes 52 inches or smaller. The big problem with going bigger is that you jump into a whole new price class when you start looking at the Panasonic 58-inch plasma--and it gets worse when you check out Pioneer's 60-incher.
The exception to all this is DLP-based rear-projection HDTVs, where Samsung and Mitsubishi are the only real remaining players. Remarkably, Best Buy is selling our editors' choice Samsung HL61A750 for $1,600 and the 67-inch inch model in the same line goes for $2,000. Meanwhile, Best Buy has the 65-inch Mitsubishi WD-65735 for a mere $1,500.
But rear-projection is a dying breed, right? Or, as one reader commented, "Everyone seems to be getting out of the rear-projection market. What happens if Samsung completely kills it? What happens then? Will they service my TV?"
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