Kindle 4

Well of course for now it is all conjecture.  But we do know that color e-ink displays are a possibility.  Hanvon released on onto the Asian market late in 2010 and the makers of e-ink have been boasting about their great color technology all year.    We also know that a touchscreen is more than possible.  In fact Amazon bought a touchscreen display manufacturer early in 2010 so we did wonder if the third generation reader would have the capability.  Sadly not, but it looks like it could definitely only be around the corner since technically it is possible, and consumers are still in the grip of a real love affair with all touchscreen gadgets.

You only need to look at the latest Nook Color Reader to know that both color and touch are likely to play an important part in the future of the eBook Reader, and since the Kindle is perhaps the best around they are sure to fall in line with others.

So will consumers demand a Color Kindle?  We think yes.  Oh sure the Kindle is all about reading.  The fact that Amazon haven't compromised its brilliance at being used first and foremost as a way to enjoy electronic books is what makes the device so special.

Adding a color display could only help that really.  After all we all know children love gadgets almost as much as their parents and adding color would mean bed-time reading could really become part of the Kindle's appeal.  Children's story books simply need a brighter display than the very comfortable monotone e-ink Pearl one we have today.

Another reason why color will become so popular is that more and more newspaper and magazine subscriptions are becoming electronic.  Whilst your New York Times is fine in gray scale, your latest gossip magazine simply isn't the same without glorious technicolor.

So will we get a touchscreen with the next reader?  Well we certainly don't need one, but I do wonder if that easy to use, yet slightly old fashioned QWERTY keypad is a little dated now.  Add a touchscreen and that could be done away with giving a sleeker look to the whole thing.  The current Nook readers have a small touch-screen panel at the bottom, but I don't know if we really want the Kindle 4 to simply be an impersonator of the Barnes & Noble reader.  I think either go the whole hog and make the entire touchscreen, or simply don't bother with it at all.

I guess the fact that Amazon now own a touchscreen manufacturer is a heads up that they will certainly be releasing something using this technology.  But hey that could be a Kindle Phone rather than an eBook Reader.  The fact is gadget fans love the tactile nature of touch-screens so it might make their ebook reader more of a serious contender against the growing tablet market if they did go down this route.

Whatever else we get you can be sure we will see an even better memory and battery life.  Perhaps a slightly larger 7" display, and the tweaking of those foreign character displays.  In addition I reckon we will get an even slicker internet experience as the browser is updated, and a more multi-function style device overall.

The one thing that is critical though is that Amazon continue to prioritise the reading experience above all else.  This is why a dedicated ebook reader is so popular and I really don't want the new Kindle 4 to be any different!