Next up for Kindle: touchscreen, color, flexible displays?

At Amazon.com's shareholder meeting earlier this year, I asked Jeff Bezos if the company plans to launch more Kindles, and if so what kinds of features they might have, and got one of his famous loud laughs. Now two Forrester analysts say they expect Amazon to roll out a new suite of electronic readers in 2010 that feature touchscreens, color and flexible displays.

That could help Amazon compete with new devices coming onto the market, including Barnes & Noble's Nook which has touchscreen and color elements. Once the Nook gets over its holiday supply issues, it could be a bigger threat to Kindle in the new year.

Forrester's Sarah Rotman Epps and James McQuivey write in a blog post:

Awkward Kindle keyboard, begone! We think 2010 will bring several entirely new eReaders from Amazon, featuring touchscreens, color (by the end of the year), and flexibility (e.g., displays that don't require a glass backpane, so they'll be less prone to breakage). These new devices will keep Amazon in the news and top-of-mind for consumers who are considering buying eReaders.

The two analysts make some other predictions, including that single-function e-readers will face stiffer competition from mobile phones and netbooks with "reading-optimized" screens; that new technologies will challenge the ubiquitous E Ink displays for e-readers; and that Barnes & Noble's efforts in the e-reader market will start to gain traction against Amazon and Sony.

They also say they "wouldn't be surprised to see Amazon launch a Kindle app store." Opening up the Kindle platform to third-party developers would be a big change of pace for Amazon, which has kept its Kindle development process closed until now.

Third-party apps could turn Kindle in something more than an e-book reader. Amazon applied for a trademark this summer that seems to position Kindle as a social networking platform — a sign perhaps that it's at least toying with that concept.

Follow my updates on Twitter.

About Eric Engleman

ERIC ENGLEMAN is senior technology staff writer for TechFlash and the Puget Sound Business Journal, covering online retail giant Amazon.com. Engleman tracks Amazon's increasingly complex business, spanning ecommerce, Kindle, cloud computing, and more. He's been covering technology and other industries for the Business Journal since 2003.

READ FULL BIOGRAPHY

206-876-5430

@ericengleman

Recent Sponsor Posts

Seattle University Software Engineering

Chinwe Okeke (MSE’08) pursued her graduate degree while working as a developer and technical analyst for the Boeing Company. She picked the SU-MSE program for small class sizes and real world learning opportunities offered through the academic service-learning and capstone projects.

The MSE program at Seattle University is geared for working professionals with classes offered in the evenings. The program builds upon the computing experience of its students and offers courses in a variety of technical and management areas of software engineering, with an emphasis on teamwork and a disciplined approach to problem solving.

MORE INFORMATION

Marchex is Hiring!

Marchex is one of Seattle’s largest ad technology companies with 300+ employees providing call and click based performance marketing products, and managing over $100m in ad budget for tens of thousands of advertisers. Our customers range from local businesses to the Fortune 500.

Our talented and creative product engineering group is hiring.

If you are an innovative software design engineer interested in solving difficult problems at scale, across a wide array of technologies from Lucene to Hadoop to Asterisk and SIP then we’d love to hear from you!

Apply now.

MORE INFORMATION

Technology Tax Planning – Did You Take The Deduction?

Technology companies require professional advisors who can assist in all aspects of the business. The BDO Technology Practice provides a full range of services tailored to help address the changing needs of domestic and international companies. In addition to core audit and tax services, BDO professionals can assist technology companies with:

· Revenue recognition

· Business combination accounting

· R&D tax credits

· Compensation and benefits

· Business valuations

Backed by 38 national offices and an international network in 110 countries, we have the domestic and global footprint to serve growing technology companies. Contact sphilpott@bdo.com (audit partner), mreeves@bdo.com (audit partner), psmith@bdo.com (tax partner), tzambito@bdovaluation.us.com (valuation), tfiscus@bdo.com, Director, 206.624.2020

MORE INFORMATION