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There has been a lot of speculation as to when Amazon will release the next update of its hugely successful Kindle reader. The Kindle 2 reader was released in February of 2009, about one year and three months after the release of the original Kindle in November of 2007. If the gap between upgrades was to remain the same then the Kindle 2, now just over a year old, is due for replacement in the near future.

Since the Kindle 2 was launched a large number of new readers from a variety of different manufacturers have been released and end-users have much more choice today. As well as dedicated e-book readers like the Sony Daily Edition and Barnes and Noble’s Nook, Apple’s new multitasking iPad is also considered to be a strong competitor to the Kindle given that it can, among other things, be used to read e-books. All things considered, it does look as if the Kindle 2 may be ready for an update in the near future.

Which prompts the question – what features might Amazon decide to incorporate in an upgraded version? Amazon will doubtless have a few surprises up their sleeve – but their latest business acquisition could give a clue to at least one new feature that we can expect to see in future versions of the Kindle.

Amazon has very recently procure a small start-up company by the name of Touchco. Touchco are a company who specialise in touch sensitive displays. The technology is quite different to that used in other touch screen displays currently on the market. It is resistance based rather than the more common capacitive beast technology. It may be used with colour displays and E ink displays. According to the New York Times, it is cheaper than the capacitive type of touch screen display used by such devices as the iPod.

Touchco where a spin off from New York University’s Media Research Lab. They are believed to have no more than half a dozen employees. These will now be absorbed into Amazon’s Kindle laboratory. The technology, although well advanced, were still in a research phase at the time of the Amazon takeover. It was not being actively used in any commercially available product.

The Touchco technology could be used to produce Kindles with both color screens and touch sensitive controls. The possibility of a more versatile Kindle, with a variety of different uses – not unlike Apple’s iPad – very definitely exists. Of course, this may not happen with the next release of the Kindle – it could be some way off in the future. Nevertheless, Amazon’s purchase seems to be a clear declaration of intent regarding the future direction of their Kindle reader technology.

Learn all about the Amazon Kindle e-book reader – and check out the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you protect and customise your reader.