The Kindle Color Touch

Another prediction that I made for 2012 looks to be close to fruition as well, and this is one I'm very excited about. DigiTimes is reporting that Amazon plans to launch their first Kindle with a color eInk screen in the latter half of this year, most likely in September. According to supply chain sources, orders have been placed for color touch screen panels from TPK Holding, with components to begin shipping this month.



The new Kindle model will feature multi-touch capacitive displays rather than the infrared panels used currently. Both have pros and cons, but the capacitive panels are generally less sensitive to dust and dirt or interference caused by hovering a finger just above the surface. However, they cannot be used with gloves on as infrared displays can, so reading while waiting at a bus stop in January will be much less pleasant. The main advantage of capacitive touch panels is their faster response time, although they are slightly less clear due to patterning in the glass, with a slightly lower light transmission rate than infrared displays.



With the Nook Touch now sporting the nifty Glowlight feature, Amazon's eInk reader line needs a boost to keep up with the pace of progress. Barnes & Noble have been ahead at every step in device development, putting out the first eInk touch screen reader last May (with Amazon following in September), and now the first with a built in backlight, released just last month. BN also launched the LCD screen Nook Color back in October of 2010, with Amazon following their lead a full year later with the Kindle Fire. This is somewhat surprising given that Amazon was two years ahead of Barnes & Noble getting into ebook readers in the first place (although Sony beat them both, releasing the first eInk reader back in 2004, three years ahead of the Kindle). But Amazon could leap ahead again with the first full color electronic paper display (EPD) launched in the U.S. (Ectaco's Jetbook Color launched in Russia last September, while Hanvon released the first color eInk reader in China back in November 2010).





Ectaco JetBook with Triton Color E-Ink screen

According to E Ink Holdings chairman Scott Liu, the company will unveil new EPD screens soon, which presumably will be the ones to be adopted by Amazon for the "Kindle Color" line. Look to see the fifth generation Kindle this September with a full color eInk touchscreen and built in backlight. Due to the higher cost of components for color screens my guess is it will retail in the $149 range, with the 4th generation black and white devices staying in production as the low-cost entry level models, the bottom end dropping down to around $49 by Christmas.



This, of course, is all speculation.