There have been a number of rumors recently as to what the Kindle 3 is going to be and when it is going to be out. This time last year there was a bunch of rumors about the “Kindle 3”, most of which involved a larger screen. As it turns out, that was the Kindle DX, and that came out. As of late the rumor mill seems to have started up again with new talk of a Kindle 3 being released/announced at some point this month. The Kindle 2 was released in February of 2009, so if Amazon plays by the Apple rules and releases a new version around the same time each year, we’re looking to have the Kindle 3 here shortly.
I was surfing about looking at Kindle 3 rumors, most of which were from last year (and for what turned out to be the DX). I have combined these along with some thinking of my own and put together what I’d like from the Kindle 3. I kept it to the “big” items, meaning I’m not bitching about the desire for a new browser, enhanced MP3 player or other software tweaks. Yes, I do desire all those “niceties”, but they can be firmwared at anytime. If I’m gonna wish for something, I’ll wish big(ish), and hope that it is still reasonable.
Kindle 3 Wishlist
- Color Screen — While most of the books I read are standard black and white, it would be nice for textbooks and similar.
- Higher DPI screen (200-300 DPI) — This is the single limiting factor preventing the Kindle from being a great device for manga and graphic novels (Editor’s Note: Indeed, without greater resolution, color wouldn’t matter, at least for comics).
- Backlight — Something gentle. Something that would provide light while still keeping to the bookish feel (and not being harsh like LCDs)
- ePub support — Everyone else is doing it, and standards are good.
- Lending Books — This is one feature from the Nook that I do like. While my reading doesn’t cross over with my friends and family that much, from time to time it does. Recently “Heat Wave” was released and my mother wanted to read it. She ended up borrowing my Kindle for a few days to do so — which sucks for me.
- Better sorting/folders — While not a problem for me currently, collecting an ebook library is going to need better sorting. I’m not a huge reader and I already have more than 100 books on my account, and that is just the ones bought from Amazon.
- Private Reading Mode — Like private browsing for Firefox or IE. Something to let you read & hide those trashy porn-no-plot books we all snag because Amazon gives them away for free.
Kindle 4 Wishlist
I had a few more items that I wanted, but I didn’t think could realistically make it into a Kindle 3, so I thought another list for the next version was in order.
- Touch Screen — We’ve all seen the news, Amazon bought a touch screen technology firm. I don’t mind the joystick but a touchscreen would improve things like highlighting and note taking greatly.
- Flexible screen — The eventual move to “ePaper”.
- Near real time screen refresh — Super fast screen response would nice plus be extremely handy when combined with touch screen for actually writing of notes on screen.
Well… I can wish. I just hope a new version comes out with some new cool features. Don’t get me wrong, the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX were nice upgrades from the original Kindle, but they weren’t revolutionary. I’d love to see a new Kindle with some really new and cool features. Please, Amazon, give me a new Kindle. I want to spend my hard earned money on new Kindle toys (And to think at one point I hardly read).