Posted 08/25/08 at 10:13:17 AM by Paul Lilly

Rumblings that Amazon is working on a revised Kindle eBook reader have been coursing through the web since July, and it's believed the new version will come in a variety of colors to appeal to a larger audience. We'll have to wait and see, but at least one analyst sees an opportunity to cash in with college students and believes a collegiate version could make a debut in the not too distant future.

"There are already several new, improved versions of the Kindle in the works," said Tim Bueneman, an analyst with McAdams Wright Ragen.

Bueneman also predicts that one of the new features might include improved interface operating controls, which he notes has been issue with some buyers. But if Amazon is to target the collegiate crowd, the biggest issue might come down to price - $360 buys a lot of Ramen noodles.

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Posted 08/02/08 at 12:22:11 PM by Paul Lilly

By all accounts Amazon's Kindle eBook reader appears to be a resounding success. Despite the gadget's shortcomings -- no PDF support, closed eBook format, poor batter life when using the wireless service, limited magazine selection -- the $359 device sold out almost immediately after going on sale, fetching as much as $1,500 in Ebay auctions. Fast forward to today and the Kindle pushes over 12 percent of Amazon's book sales. And rumor has it that Amazon will soon release a new model, Kindle 2.0, a bigger version of the original in a multitude of colors.

Book sales aside, just how successful has the Kindle been?  Because Amazon won't disclose how many of its eBook readers it has sold, nobody knows for sure, but TechCrunch claims to have the inside scoop. "240,000 Kindles have been shipped since November, according to a source close to Amazon with direct knowledge of the numbers," TC reports.

If true, that puts Kindle sales close to the $100 million mark and well over that amount after factoring in book sales, subscriptions, and so on.  But that's only the tip of the iceberg. TC notes that Scott Devitt, an analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., has Amazon on track to sell 500,000 to 750,000 more Kindles within the next four quarters, with a total revenue of up to $355 million after tallying up additional book sales. This, he says, values the Kindle as a $1 billion business for Amazon.

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Posted 07/16/08 at 01:48:35 PM by Paul Lilly

Amazon's Kindle is fast becoming a runaway success, and the eBook reader looks to get even more enticing this fall with two new models. Crunch Gear claims to have the inside scoop on two new Kindles, saying the first one will maintain the same size screen as the original but in a smaller form factor. As the un-named insider puts it, Amazon has "skipped three or four generations" with the new models compared to the original. The second of the new Kindles will reportedly come shaped like a standard 8.5 x 11-inch piece of paper, making it noticeably bigger than first run units. 

Both models are expected to come in a variety of colors in an attempt to appeal to a larger audience. But what the insider didn't say is whether or not Amazon plans to implement PDF support and better battery life when using the wireless functionality. If so, will it be enough to get you interested in jumping aboard the eBook scene?

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Posted 03/31/08 at 12:53:41 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

The complete PDF archive of the March 2008 edition of Maximum PC, every article included, every page posted! Download it now!

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Posted 02/21/08 at 03:37:51 PM by Will Smith

We’ve long appreciated the concept of the eBook, but we’ve been disappointed in its execution. The old Franklin readers ate batteries, had small screens, and included only a meager selection of books. Sony’s Reader has a better battery life, but the selection of first-run books leaves much to be desired. Amazon’s new Kindle solves many of these problems but introduces an even thornier one.

Click Read More for more. 

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