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Are new Kindles on the horizon?

by Alistair Lowe on 13 August 2012, 12:00

Tags: Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)

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We knew that there would be some Kindle releases this year, after all, as with many consumer electrical devices today, Amazon likes to issue a yearly refresh. This time around, there have been suggestions of a Kindle Fire 2, with an improved display and all-round specs, Kindle e-readers that may feature LED front-lighting and, we know that colour e-ink displays are now widely available, should the firm wish to make use of them.

Front-lit Kindle?

What we didn't know was exactly when some of these products may be released, however, recent changes on the Amazon US and UK websites signal that a release may be immanent. It has been noted that over the weekend, the Kindle Keyboard WiFi has disappeared completely from existence and that the 3G variant has been heading in-and-out of stock, suggesting a winding-down of production.

There's no exact science to Amazon's Kindle release dates, only that they take place around this time of year, typically ranging from any time now, up to October. The real question for us here in the UK is, will we see the Kindle Fire 2, or receive leftovers of the original Kindle Fire from the US? Only time will tell, though hopefully it'll spill its beans fairly soon.



HEXUS Forums :: 17 Comments

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It would be nice if they offered a trade-in for a new keyboard kindle with LEDs, I would be interested in trading mine in because during the winter it is a pain to read in energy saver light.
This time around, there have been suggestions of a Kindle Fire 2, with an improved display and all-round specs, Kindle e-readers that may feature LED front-lighting and, we know that colour e-ink displays are now widely available, should the firm wish to make use of them.
Kindle Fire 2 would have to be either very good or very cheap to make any headway against the Nexus7 as far as I'm concerned.
LED front lighting sounds good in theory, but surely unless they bulk the battery up to compensate then there's going to be complaints that the battery life takes a notable hit.
A colour Kindle sounds like a good idea to me - mainly because it'd surely make it possible to do magazines on a Kindle (yes I know there's magazines already available, but I can't see the publishers of something like T3 being happy to downgrade to monochrome). Technical books might also be more accessible if there was colour available. So if Amazon want offer a trade-in deal for some of the current Kindles against the new colour one, then put me down for a pre-order! ;)
Just hope that the new variants don't insist on touch controls, since I prefer not to have grease marks on the screen I'm trying to read from. :surprised:

How about a “Kindle Max” - A4 size? Not so good for books, but ideal for magazines. :) So the possibility of a nice subscription revenue stream.
recent changes on the Amazon US and UK websites signal that a release may be immanent
Typo at the end of that.
I'd like a Colour A4 Kindle for technical docs and magazines/news papers. As for reading novels, I don't see any reason to upgrade from my Kindle Keyboard 3G, it's a super little device.
I'm not surprised the Kindle Keyboards are disappearing. They are older models and have been superseded by the Kindle Touch. I expect there will be new Kindle's out soon but I'm not sure this really is an indication that they are imminent because the Keyboards are not even the current latest generation models.

My Kindle keyboard got stolen about a month ago but I'm holding off on replacing because I want one with lighting built in for reading in bed so I'm really hoping the refresh this year introduces this feature.
I've got 2 e-readers at the moment. A 3g Kindle Keyboard and a iRiver Cover Story. Both have advantages.

My personal wishlist is a bit of a mish-mash of readers. :D

7-8" screen
Touch screen
Hardware keyboard
Hardware page turn buttons *the single most irritating thing about the Touch*
Wifi, 3g & bluetooth
Open epub, CBR, doc, docx, ODF support, better PDF support
Ability to take written notes on it *kind of like the iRiver Cover Story can*
And the most unlikely one - MicroSD card

The one thing I'm not overly fussed about is a built in light. My kindle case has one and I've rarely used it. If it's too dark to read without the light, then I wouldn't normally be reading anyway.