Kindle 3 rumor with touchscreen 8.5 x 11-inch display returns

Now that the Kindle 2 is out, it's time to get back onto the Kindle rumor mill. You might recall that in addition to the early leaks of the device that become the Kindle 2, a bigger screened Kindle mimicking an 8.5 x 11-inch sheet of paper for students was rumored. According to DigiTimes' sources apparently within Prime View International (PVI), the makers of the Kindle's electrophoretic display (EPD), Amazon's next Kindle will launch by the end of this year and will be "larger in size and equipped with touch functions." Of course, that's no big stretch to the imagination -- Plastic Logic has been kicking around its 8.5 x 11-inch touchscreen eBook reader ('Shopped with a Kindle logo above) for months now with a plan to launch in 2010. Let's just see if Amazon can get this out in time for the back to school selling season.

[Via Mobile Read]

[skyblaze @ Feb 27th 2009 8:25AM]

good morning, engadget

[skyblaze @ Feb 27th 2009 8:27AM]

meh. not much of a reader but... thatd be kinda hot. a touch screen and all

[Mobius_1 @ Feb 27th 2009 8:28AM]

http://xkcd.com/548/

[Epignosis @ Feb 27th 2009 10:54AM]

When I saw your comment, first I pressed the green button, then I checked to which comic your link gonna take me..

[L @ Feb 27th 2009 8:34AM]

*drool*

Well, a little at least. Full TS, handwriting recognition and annotation/sketching capabilities, big screen, less bezel compared to K2 = instant WIN!

[Jonathan @ Feb 27th 2009 8:38AM]

I still remember the first time I saw an e-book reader at a store. I remember showing it to my girlfriend and commenting how the screen image was "simulated" until it changed. It really is a nice screen for reading.

I was a bit off topic there... I'm an engineer who has a ton of documents and technical books on pdf. An 8.5 x 11 screen that can handle pdfs would be ideal.

[Phoenix @ Feb 27th 2009 9:10AM]

Yeah, I was amazed at what the screen looked like O.O

[Jonathan @ Feb 27th 2009 9:23AM]

I think a lot of people haven't ever seen one - at least the people who are saying that they would rather just read an e-book on their iPhone.

[Jon @ Feb 27th 2009 9:58AM]

what they need to do to make it perfect is to minimise the frame/border of the display... Because the smaller the frame the more user friendly it will be (it'll fit in your bag with all the other books/papers).

[dubya @ Feb 27th 2009 11:56AM]

Agreed. Something like this that could show PDFs would be ideal for keeping up with technical reading, especially if you could add annotations. But that bezel has got to shrink a bit for 8.5x11-- it looks to be about 12x15 or so, which isn't so portable.

[Jonathan @ Feb 27th 2009 12:02PM]

Good point about the bezel. Is there a reason why it is so big? I mean, is it ignorant for me to think that there could be a near-zero bezel at the expense of a slightly thicker form factor (maintaining the volume, essentially).

[loosely_coupled @ Feb 27th 2009 7:54PM]

Yep, I agree. large screen thin E-Ink panel (color would be even better), PDF reader, and web connection for stuff like Oreilly's Safari "online book renting".

[Mike10010100 @ Feb 27th 2009 10:18PM]

I remember my first time seeing the Sony Reader, back when this stuff was completely new. I saw a display for the readers and picked up one of the models and thought to myself, "Rats, I guess these are non-working display models" since it was so light weight and there were no flashing lights or buttons. Then I pushed a button and BAM! the screen changed. I was floored.

Then I got a Kindle 2 months before the Kindle 2 came out. lol. Still happy.

[AMiSH PiRATE @ Feb 27th 2009 9:00AM]

I heard from a reliable source that the kindle 3 can handle pop up books and teach you dragon feet.

[PixelHustler @ Feb 27th 2009 3:37PM]

Yes, this comment is win. But, what if I want to learn Stone Hands?

[cmil1212 @ Feb 27th 2009 9:04AM]

Looks ok but i can't see a lot of students using this or publishers offering texts this way.

When i buy a textbook, i want a real one. If i want to write in it, i can. It's in color. The tech just has to be much better before i'd use something like this.

The kindle 2 on the other hand is fine. It's for reading regular books. If you don't read a lot, then save your money.

[sesse @ Feb 27th 2009 9:11AM]

I read a lot but I would still not consider buying a kindle. There is a lot of junk that I read, i.e. some fantasy novels, and with hardcover/paperback editions, I just put 'em on sale on amazon, after I am done reading them, to recover some of the cost. AFAIK, you can't do this with ebooks, although I may be wrong.

[Kevin @ Feb 27th 2009 9:17AM]

The main problem I see is that nobody will want to cut into their profit margins by offering textbooks this way. The prices are outrageous, and unless they cut them, everyone will just torrent the pdfs and never buy a textbook again.

Of course, this is probably coming regardless, since scanning a book and sharing it isn't very hard and is already done in a more clunky way (printing out copies).

[Richard @ Feb 27th 2009 9:27AM]

I go to school online with American Military University and most of my textbooks are becoming Ebooks... part of why I bought a Kindle 2 (we use regular documents as well for classwork).

You'd be surprised how many companies are switching.

[samuelmoffatt @ Feb 27th 2009 5:51PM]

I have dozens of text books and dozens of technical manuals sitting on my shelf. Most of them are not in color. Would love a large screen E-book reader for them. Then I can fill the shelf up with something else.

[samuelmoffatt @ Feb 27th 2009 6:04PM]

I also forgot to mention many publishers already offer electronic versions of their books. Some are web based others are in varying drm formats for download. If the book industry does not move on with new technology they will die like the newpapers or fight an endless uphill battle like the music industry. You don't see people writing hand written books anymore do you?

How about K-12 students? They can't write in their text books anyways. I'm sure many of them would love to not have to lug around 20+ pounds of books.

[AVG @ Feb 27th 2009 9:15AM]

FIX THE FUCKING BEZEL. Christ, the Kindle 1 and 2 have more bezel than screen, and this 3 mockup barely changes that!

[bluestate @ Feb 27th 2009 9:30AM]

I agree it ain't pretty, but the bezel on a touchscreen Kindle would be a necessity for holding it without touching the screen. Same (sorta) goes for the current Kindle - the smaller the bezel, the less comfortable it is to hold. It replicates a book. You don't just want to be pinching a small corner of the thing. And if you've ever read a book, you don't just hold one small part of it - you're constantly changing where you hold it, adjusting for comfort, etc. The bezel is here to stay.

[rcappo @ Feb 27th 2009 9:57AM]

That bezel doesn't look too bad. It could be 1/4" to 1/2" smaller, but I don't see the big deal with this device.

Bezos said on Charlie Rose last night that he wants there to be color, with the option of some motion animation. If there is a 8.5"x11", color e-ink, with the ability for me to send my own documents/or other pdfs (Can the current one do this?). I would get one for $459.

Newspapers need this device, and should embrace it like their best option for surviving. Magazines could also benefit from a color one too. I would've loved to have this in college and not need to carry around all of my textbooks. Publishers could constantly update and fix any errors as well.

The only other question will be if Apple will release something to compete with it, or in partnership with Amazon. I use an tablet hackintosh and it works great.

[Plothole @ Feb 27th 2009 1:57PM]

The point of the bezel is to give you a place to actually hold the thing naturally and without getting finger prints on the screen.

[AVG @ Feb 27th 2009 2:26PM]

Have any of you ever read a book or sheet of paper? There isn't three miles of space between the text and the edge of the paper!

[Plothole @ Feb 27th 2009 3:33PM]

Of course not. But my thumb does still tend to overlap the text. Fingerprints are a lot more obvious on a plastic screen than paper.

[Connor @ Feb 27th 2009 10:30PM]

I think someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

[Dave Fanning @ Feb 28th 2009 7:41PM]

That is not the amazon kindle. Someone rather cheekily stuck the words "amazon kindle" on a promotional picture for the plastic logic reader coming early next year

[Richard @ Feb 27th 2009 9:28AM]

Wow... that's not actually the Kindle 3. Calm down.

[Richard @ Feb 27th 2009 9:29AM]

Eh, that was for AVG

[AVG @ Feb 27th 2009 11:00AM]

That might (might!) be why I used the word "mockup."

[Serryl @ Feb 27th 2009 1:22PM]

@ AVG

Umm...it's not a mockup of the Kindle 3 either. It's a protype reader made by Plastic Logic, as the article points out.

[John Doe @ Feb 27th 2009 9:47AM]

Now...Joshua Topolsky (in his review of Kindle 2) stated Kindle 2 to look like a large iPhone. What would this one look like, considering the fact that Kindle 2 has so many 'buttons' as the iphone (sarcasm) and this has none?

[absinthe party @ Feb 27th 2009 9:53AM]

Blackberry Bold.

[Ed T @ Feb 27th 2009 10:14AM]

Kindle 3? It's called the Apple iTouch tablet, coming soon to a retailer near you. Jeff Bezos won't be happy about it, but he will be selling them.

[Richard @ Feb 27th 2009 10:45AM]

Is that the same one people said was coming a few years ago? ha.

Either way, that backlight would kill the readability :/

[Skorpius @ Feb 27th 2009 10:33AM]

For the love of God already, make a black one!

[Jim @ Feb 27th 2009 11:00AM]

Now only if my newpaper would would get on board and give me it for free for a 3-5 year paid subscription.

[Darrell @ Feb 27th 2009 2:46PM]

That comes with the assumption that they'll last for 3-5 years.

[Serryl @ Feb 27th 2009 1:37PM]

I've been waiting for this type of device. It's the perfect size for textbooks (which generally have letter-sized pages), documents, magazines, comics/graphic novels, and newspapers. Another nice thing is that it probably wouldn't take away sales from the Kindle2, since it's so large and will likely cost a lot more. I could easily foresee having one of these for all the above uses and a Kindle2 for reading fiction, non-fiction, and manga. All they'd need to do is offer battery replacement service, and I imagine you'd be set for at least a decade.

Depending on how many books, magazines, and periodicals you buy, you might even save enough on electronic versions to break even. Addtionally, you wouldn't need to find room to store all those books. (^_^)

[keithwwalker @ Feb 27th 2009 2:20PM]

more screen, less frame!

[AVG @ Feb 27th 2009 2:27PM]

Whaaaaaaatever, it's not the real Kindle and I know it's not. That's the point here.

[Steven @ Feb 27th 2009 2:34PM]

I wish I could buy this and have all my college textbooks on it. Man that would be sweet. It would make everything a whole lot lighter on the load. Also touch screen kindle would be sick. I really think this is the future of Books. I wonder how many books could it hold.

[Darrell @ Feb 27th 2009 2:48PM]

Yeah, it would be cool, but unfortunately no one is going to sell the e-books for a cheaper price in the same way that software developers sell you a digital download for like 30 bucks less than the packaged version. That's what would kill an e-book textbook for me, since you can't really sell the e-book back when your done with it.

[Steven @ Feb 27th 2009 5:29PM]

Darrell I agree with you, but I am just saying how cool it would be, plus easier for students. I wish they would lower the price. A lot of my classes have given me CDs with the book on it, but I dont want to carry around my laptop with me all the time. If they would allow students to get ebooks, and cheapen the price, then they would make bank, since writing docs on a computer is free. they would take away the costs of making the books and paying the workers, but the thing is that will they let that trickle down to us.

[Ernie Oporto @ Feb 27th 2009 5:22PM]

I will wait until they have a color version that also does native PDFs. This seems like something Adobe would be jumping on.

[HereAndNow @ Feb 27th 2009 6:53PM]

I bet in a couple of years, schools will make something like this mandatory. In addition to your text books, teachers would be able to distribute soft copies of assignments, supplemental reading material, etc. Perhaps student assignments could also be "handed in" wirelessly from this device to the teachers device. No more wasted paper, ink & printing time!

[TareX @ Feb 27th 2009 6:59PM]

The Kindle 3 should have a true color display and run CBR files.

[Cray @ Feb 27th 2009 10:43PM]

CBR is NOT a picture format. Its just a ZIP file.