Get Kindle 3, WiFi, DX
Guessing the Amazon Kindle 3 release date.
By Best-eReaders, April 14, 2010
Amazon has never announced any plans with regards to a next generation Kindle. Instead, the company leaves hints around that it is heading towards a big announcement this year. The strategy, it seems, is to keep the Kindle in the news and to build the excitement by announcing one action at a time.
When it comes to the Kindle 3, then, what we have are predictions/speculations/rumors than hard-boiled facts from Amazon itself. The biggest rumors going around include:
- Amazon is planning to add touch and color to Kindle 3. It seems to be the most logical move for the company since its closest electronic reader rivals (Sony and B&N) as well as the Apple iPad have touchscreen. If Amazon doesn’t upgrade its input technology, competition will leave it in the dust.
- Instead of glass-based panel, Kindle 3 will have unbreakable, more flexible screen based on metal foil.
As for the next question, When will be the release date of the Kindle 3?, we’re in for more guessing games.
Buy The Kindle 3G + WiFi Now. Free Shipping!
No 2010 Q1 release
After Steve Jobs introduced the iPad in late January, the excitement for Amazon’s response to the Apple device was high. Many were sure we will see the Kindle in February or March, or else Amazon’s hold on the eReader market will go cold. Analysts have been clamoring that the Amazon Kindle 3 is long overdue. The Nook and the Sony Daily Touch Edition have already upstaged it. Then the iPad came and stole its spotlight, too. February or March would have been the perfect release date.
Amazon is in the right in not rushing a February/March release date.
- Its competition now includes tablets and other multi-purpose devices, not just eReaders. It has to plan its strategies well.
- To be able to come up with better response to its stiffest competition to date, the iPad, Amazon has had to wait until it has completely seen Apple’s cards.
- But now that it has seen the iPad, Amazon may be waiting a bit until the iPad hype slightly slows down.
- Amazon would not want to release a device that doesn’t have truly compelling apps and killer features.
In other words, Amazon is taking its time to create a device that will exceed all expectations. A February/March release didn’t happen because Amazon understod the Kindle wasn’t ready.
Buy The Kindle 3G + WiFi Now. Free Shipping!
Probability of a 2010 Q2 release
There were rumors that Amazon acquired TouchCo, a touchscreen start-up, in February to provide touchscreen interface to the Kindle. If successful, Amazon display will have an edge over the iPad because TouchCo screens work with e-paper displays. If Amazon will push for a touchscreen device that has good writing capabilities, there’s around 60% chance that Kindle 3 will get a summer release. Amazon will announce the device in May (as it did with the DX), and release it in June.
Probability of 2010 Q3 release
But touch technology is not enough. To better compete with a growing class of color eReaders and tablets, it has to bring color, video, faster refresh rate, and features such as library lending feature or support for Copia-like social feature. Amazon may go for dual screen to integrate full web browsing capability.
According to reports, TouchCo will be integrating the Mirasol color display technology, which can make the Kindle more flexible and even more power efficient than eInk.
All of Amazon’s recent moves – building of SDK, acquisition of TouchCo, etc suggest that it is building some sort of “super” Kindle. Not rushing the device for a February or May or June release will be worth it. Yet with other eReaders planning to release color eReaders this year, Amazon understands it cannot keep the waiting game running till 2011 if it wants to meet competition. The only way for the company to maintain its market lead is to release an improved and more technologically competitive Kindle this year.
There’s a big probability that Amazon will release the Kindle 3 in October, just in time for the holidays.
While i think this article is ok. i have many issues. first being the fact that Kindle unlike any other (except the nook) is the only device with free 3G for direct download of books to the device. and then we have the fact that Kindle 2 is the only device that has free 3G in over 100 countries.
as far as touch and color screens are concerned the nook is horribly slow compaired to the kindle simple because of its color touch that the proccesor cannot handle. this, of cause, will simply mean that there will be a reduction in battery life. not something that Kindle users will be happy about giving up. as far as a full color touch screen is concerned (again battery levels) this will turn Kindle into a tablet. this will make things more complicated for the older folk and it will simply take away the feel of a kindle. the fact that it is not actually a “real screen” and has a much more friendly feel of real ink on paper. it is a simple device that makes reading as simple as picking up a real book. add to that free wikipedia and basic web browsing along with a huge selection of ebooks and there you have it. frankly i think it’s still going to be a while till we see a new kinlde as the sales figures show… the Kindle 2 is still leaving everyone in the dust even after the realese of the nook and iPad
Hey Tyler
Thanks for your detailed comment. However, I disagree. I think Amazon is feeling the pressure following the iPad release and the Nook popularity (surprising as it may be…)
All numbers and facts are showing that a big market share of potential Kindle buyers went to the Nook and iPad. I agree that the Kindle is the best eReader around and cannot be compared to the iPad (Personally, I will take the Kindle over iPad any day). But reality is most people are looking for more than an eink screen and basic features. They also want to read their emails, check the latest news and connect with friends on Facebook Etc.
I’m a big fan of technology and I’m sure that soon, very soon, there will be a color screen available that is energy efficient and could last for hours.
I thought about buying a Kindle in December, but wanted to wait for the iPad. After seeing the iPad, I am probably the only person on Earth who wants a Kindle instead! I need a device to read books — period! It has to be a small form factor like the present Kindle. As far as color is concerned, I don’t really care about that, since I will be using it to read books – novels mainly.
The major reason for wanting an iPad — NO BUTTONS. I want a device that is touch screen only, with no breakable buttons. However, I also want something that I can actually read. The iPad is not very good for reading books at night. That glaring white background is an eye sore. In addition, the iPad is a lot heavier than I thought it would be.
If Amazon can come out with a Kindle that is touch screen, no buttons (except maybe the on/off button), e-ink, with the option to add background lighting and a small form factor that is light and not easily breakable, I will buy it in a minute.
The iPad is a utilitarian device, doing many different things. I really don’t need that. I want an eReader to carry all of my books. That’s all. No games, videos, web surfing, music. Just books.
LDD.
fair enough. but i’ll still hang onto the kindle 2 for now. and without getting into too much detail i still think that a netbook is cheaper, better and more feature filled than the ipad for emails, news, facebook ect. (but that is another topic all together) i really like Kindle 2 and i cant see myself moving to anything else for my book reading. we’ll just have to see what Amazon can do with it’s next release?
just another thought. Most iPad users are using the Kindle software. Is this not killing Kindle 2 sales?
I’m sure it has some effect on Kindle sales. But then again, the Kindle and the iPad are 2 completly different devices. So I don’t think the iPad will kill the Kindle. But again, it is effecting sales for sure.
I don’t think that Kindle sales are being affected by the iPad either. I have patients who come in with Kindles all of the time. Not one iPad yet. Cost is a major issue and every single one of the Kindle patients are avid book readers, not really caring about surfing the web.
I think that Amazon should cater to this niche audience and forget about the rest. They have the best ecosystem for books. Spreading the love to other devices will only add to their revenue over time.
Just my 0.02 cents.
LDD.
Predictions are always dicey, but I’m going to make one here: update 2.5 will be the last firmware update for the K2 wave of Kindle products (K2, K2i, KDX, KDXi). We have seen similar behavior in the past where recent K2 wave firmware updates have not been retrofitted to the K1 devices.
There are limits to which enhancements can be made given the hardware constraints of the existing K2 wave products. Amazon at some point will decide to devote its limited developer resources to a new more open hardware platform. That time is probably now.
The elapsed time since the original K2 wave announcements, and the plethora of new e-book reader announcements stemming from CES 2010 lead me to believe that Amazon will be announcing a new wave of hardware products somewhere around the end of calendar year 2010. Associated with this K3 announcement will be, I believe, significant price reductions in the K2 wave of products. I believe that the K3 wave of products will be priced at or about the current K2 pricing level. The recent decision on the part of Amazon to distribute the K2 wave of products via Target (albeit with manufacturer-controlled pricing — nevertheless target can effectively discount these, if they choose, by pairing a Kindle purchase with a “free” gift card) augurs well for this scenario, and will give them distribution and pricing “headroom” to facilitate any K2 wave price reductions they choose to make.
I would expect the K3 wave of products to be compelling, although I don’t think color will be part of the equation (I hope multi-touch will be). All kinds of hardware-based user interface improvements are possible as well as support for non-Western alphabets, epub support, a pdf reader as good as Adobe’s, and user customizations(fonts, screen savers, etc.). Of course much of what happens in this arena will revolve around whether Amazon looks at the Kindle as a viable long-term product line, or rather as an interim step they have taken to “pump prime” the e-book marketplace. I am sure that even inside Amazon, you can find groups arguing for either or both of these viewpoints. Certainly the Amazon decision to support the iPad as a viable eReader within the Amazon e-book storefront is interesting.
Whether they decide to announce the K3 wave in advance of the 2010 Christmas selling season, or defer it until just after (as they did with the K2 wave) is also open to question. I could argue it either way; with perhaps giving a slight nod to a pre-Christmas announcement driven by all the hoopla surrounding the iPad release, and the fact that there will be many more choices for e-book reading devices during the Christmas 2010 selling season.
So, if price is one of the factors holding up a potential eReader purchasing decision, then waiting to see if potential K2 wave discounts appear, might be a good option. If having the latest and greatest gadget is important, then waiting may also be your preferred path.
It’s a bunch of speculation mostly, so who knows what will happen.
I am thinking of buying an e-reader. I tried the Nook and I didn’t like it at all. The touch screen interface was too confusing. I suspect a Nook version 2 will be much better.
My dad has a kindle and I find it much more intuitive to use than the nook. However I like to read textbooks and quite often they have color diagrams where the color is an aid that helps in understanding it. So I need color. I don’t need millions of colors like an LCD or high quality magazine style, but I need color like in a newspaper/textbook which as I understand E-Ink is now capable of. The battery life is nice, and also the Kindle 2 seems easier on my eyes than my computer LCD. Also the kindle not supporting e-ink standards and adobe DRM is an issue for me. If I’m going to spend a small fortune on an e-reader I want a wide selection of books from different publishers… Also the 3G is from Spring and their network doesn’t work everywhere. So unless you have a WIFI enabled DX (which is not financially viable to me with the iPad being a general purpose device so close in price) you are SOL. I would probably have bought a Kindle 2 with WIFI.
I have played with an iPad in the apple store. Mostly iBooks seems to not have that many books. Also I’m not a super big fan of the iBooks interface. I haven’t seen the kindle app though. The iPad is also a lot of money. And it is pretty locked down for that money. A Netbook can be more functional cheaper. Basically the only appeal of the iPad for me is as an e-reader. If all the publishers that have been holding back from Amazon go to Apple, then it is a no brainer. It seems like a lot of the publishing industry is interested in the iPad. If all the textbooks become available for the iPad, then there is no contest and I will get an iPad. But if the iPad interest and different prices result in the publishers coming to all devices (kindle, nook, etc.) then I would prefer a color e-ink like reader.
Basically if the kindle had color e-ink, wifi, support for adobe drm ePub/general ePub, there would be no contest and I would have bought it. I know a lot of people who buy the Kindle, use software to strip the DRM off of ebooks bought in other stores (as well as amazon) and then use their books as they want. Overall Apple and Amazon did a great job of transitioning the music industry to unlocked mp3s. So hopefully somehow they can transition the book industry into unlocked epub or something. Although it certainly seems like Amazon is into locking people into its proprietary format, while Apple/Nook support several formats. And with an iPad you can get the amazon app to have the open formats, apple’s format, and amazon’s format.
[...] also announed that the Kindle will stay a dedicated reader moving forward. Is this a sign the Kindle 3 is on it’s [...]
I own an iPad but really want a Kindle because with the iPad its just too heavy to carry for long and the backlighting is just too much for extended periods of reading. The only thing I liked about it on the iPad was the ability was to swipe my finger across the screen to turn the page (probably the only argument I have for touch screen so could easily go without). So I think the eReader market is still strong and will continue to do so because people like me will just want a device that is light, easy to read and only does the limited functionality of holding my books.
By the way a previous commentator wanted to read ePub books on his Kindle I suggest check out Calibre which converts ePub books to the Kindle format. Not ideal that the Kindle does not support ePub natively but at least you can convert and then read them
[...] or because Amazon are getting ready to launch the Kindle 3. There were a lot of rumors about the estimated launch date of the new Kindle and most of them pointed out to August. Well, we’re only 3 days away… [...]