Amazon job postings ask for display and wireless experts, hint at Kindle things to come?
By Paul Miller 
posted February 8th 2010 2:39PM
posted February 8th 2010 2:39PM
So, we already assume Amazon's thinking touch for the Kindle, what with that recent Touchco acquisition and word of similar behind-the-screen touch tech being on PVI's roadmap. PVI owns E Ink, and is naturally bullish about its upcoming products, but what about E Ink in the new Kindle? If you're into reading the tea leaves of job postings, Amazon might be telegraphing its intentions. It's looking for a "Hardware Display Manager" who, among many other things, is supposed to have "Significant exposure to high volume manufacturing environments; you will know the LCD business and key players in the market." That might have you thinking the next Kindle will go LCD, but the requirements also mention a "deep knowledge of current display technology and potential future technologies," and nothing about the role seems exactly prescriptive of an LCD expertise -- more of a general focus on displays and product design, whatever tech might come. Pixel Qi or Mirasol, anybody? Amazon's also looking for all sorts of software expertise, including a "Software Design Engineer" who will be responsible for radio stacks "including but not limited to" 3G and WiFi. Again, these are requirements (among many) for a role, not necessarily implications of a Kindle 3 spec sheet, but there's one thing clear: Amazon's gearing up for something.
Yeah. eInk had a good run. But until it gets cheaper and goes color with support for full motion video, it will have to compete with the likes of LCD and AMOLED.
@roxics eInk doing video would defeat the purpose.
@werty1432k
Not at all. eInk doing video would be incredible. It would be like those newspapers in the Harry Potter movies.
@roxics I know it would be cool but the point of eInk (from what I know) is that it is very low power because it is only using power for the screen when the page refreshes which makes good for ebooks. If you play a movie on it then the screen is constantly refreshing and constantly using power which would defeat the purpose of eInk. Correct me if I'm wrong :)
@werty1432k
No one said you had to constantly be playing video. But the option to do so would be beneficial.
Looks like the next Kindle is going to be a big step up from previous gens. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.
Pixel QI is the best of both worlds and would give Amazon a really amazing edge over the iPad. At any rate, it sounds like Amazon is gearing up to play hard ball.
"including but limited to"
From https://sub-amazon.icims.com/jobs/112238/job?in_iframe=1
It says "including but not limited to"
I think this isn't the Kindle we're talking about. Rather a completely new device which will compete on the tablet market.
I think Kindle will remain a separate device. This is just a hunch really.
This is just like that Full House episode when Stephanie dresses all skanky so she can fit in with the popular girls.
Don't subcumb to peer pressure Kindle, you're fine just the way you are! You don't have to be like that slutty iPad with all its seductive features to be cool!!
@Virus Cannon lol +1
@cherryboom
Yes, because there is only room for one kind of device out there and the iPad solves everyone's needs at an ideal price.
Bigger hint: Amazon is panicing and scrambling to compete on this front. Doesn't look good for their leadership to be caught so off guard. They should have been on top of this and releasing better models way before Apple and Sony jumped into the e-reader pool.
Why i would not expect a Mirasol display in a Kindle:
History: Qualcomm bought Iridigm (the iMod, aka Mirasol startup) 5.5 years ago with expectations of products coming quickly. They chased their tails for years with only a very small monochrome display coming out. Qualcomm has pumped hundreds of millions of $ into Mirasol. One might have expected them to cut their losses by now.
Rumor: The Kindle was supposed to have Qualcomm chips, but they switched to something else at the last minute (Broadcom I think?). The CEO of Qualcomm is pissed and want Mirasol to be a Kindle killer.
That's what I heard anyway... from people who used to work there...
Guys and gals, the iPad is a tablet computer that happens to be an e-reader as well. The Kindle is a 100% e-reader, easy to the eye, with long battery life, and a hugh depository of books and publishers.
Although both products share some characteristics, they are very different in their target audiences. If I read books and newspapers the old way, I would probably prefer the Kindle, if I like to have my multimedia as well, the iPad.
It's good to see Amazon working on a new device, but I hope they don't forget the real advantages of E-Ink.
@Kensai
Agreed! I have a tv (w/ xbox 360), laptop, and ipod touch. ALL OF THEM let me watch tv, movies, listen to music, and play video games.
I don't need another device that does all those things.
I do need a dedicated reader that's easy to read from and won't have a low battery if I forget to plug it in before bed! So I got a Kindle a couple weeks ago (just after apples announcement of the ipodXL)
@roxic
werty is right, e-ink isn't meant for video. Color will be good when it's available, but video defeated the purpose.
Color eInk isn't all that Important on a 6" ebook device. All that would do it jack up the prices even higher when they need to get into the $199, or better yet $99 price point!!! The IPAD can't compete at those prices. On a larger eInk display, color may be more Important. I really like the nice eInk display, but more Important, the LONG, LONG battery life of the Kindle!!! If they can get Color without jacking up the price a bunch, great. Could care less about Video and other B.S., It's to read books, and it does that quite nicely!!! I actually like to read from my Kindle much more then a real book.