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Amazon’s Kindle E-reader will seemingly soon get a new coat of paint. Thus, the online retailer has acquired the New York start-up Touchco, which specialises in touch screens. With the technologies and employees of the company, the Kindle is to be enhanced as the direct answer to the Apple iPad, US media have reported, quoting informed sources. Thus, Amazon would not only respond to the latest Apple newcomer in terms of the pricing of its E-reader, as was the case in the past. The attack could also take place on a technological level.

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Through the Touchco technology, Amazon gegenüber has obviously secured itself a price advantage in the form of lower production costs. According to the information provided, the pressure sensitive and completely transparent touchscreen sheets are produced at comparatively low costs compared to those used in Apple products such as the iPad or iPhone. As well as a new generation of the E-Reader, Amazon could also soon present a range of additional touch products.


Touchco’s technology supports colour LCDs and Multitouch, which means that a Kindle with a colour touch screen may soon be possible. At the same time, the model could be equipped with additional functions and applications. The Amazon product would once again be "up to date", branch experts say. In addition, further developments could use the latest trend towards tablet PCs.

It is not yet known how much the Touchco takeover has cost. Before the acquisition, the company employed fewer than a dozen workers and had not yet implemented its technology in a marketable product. Employees will now be transferred to the Kindle hardware department at Amazon, Lab126. Touchco began as a spin-off project of the Media Research Lab at the New York University as an independent business. On thecompany website, the visitor is merely informed that the company is no longer in business as of January 2010. (Pressetext.de)