Amazon will reportedly launch a new version of its Kindle eBook reader later this year that features a color display with a capacitive touch panel. Citing multiple unnamed sources within Amazon’s supply chain, Digitimes on Thursday reported that Amazon is currently beginning to place parts orders for the new Kindle, which will launch some time in the second half of 2012. The site also claims Amazon will likely make use of new color display panels from E Ink, and TPK Holding Company will supply the multi-touch panels. Digitimes reported in February that Amazon’s color eReader would launch as soon as March, however the company has yet to unveil any such product.

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Barnes & Noble may be looking to beat Amazon to the market with an eReader that includes a front-lit E Ink display. The Digital Reader on Wednesday posted an image of a purported advertisement for an unannounced Nook Simple Touch that features screen technology Barnes & Noble highlighted as “GlowLight.” The new Nook is said to have a lighting mechanism embedded over its E Ink screen that will evenly distribute light across the display surface. Further details regarding price or a release date are unavailable, however The Digital Reader suggest a Thursday, April 12th launch is possible. The full Nook Simple Touch advertisement seen below.

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Amazon may bring three new versions of its Kindle Fire tablet to market in 2012, according to a report from Taiwan Economic News. Matching up with earlier rumors that have suggested the retail giant would introduce a larger device, the site reports that Amazon is readying an 8.9-inch model with a screen resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. The publication also suggested that Amazon will introduce a low-end 7-inch model with a resolution of 1,024 x 600 pixels, as well as a medium to high-end 7-inch model that will include a 1,280 x 800-pixel display. While Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed that Amazon’s tablet had no impact on iPad sales, the Kindle Fire managed to capture 14% of the tablet market in its debut quarter.

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BGR exclusively reported nearly a year ago that Amazon was working on two new devices that would push the retail giant beyond eReaders and into the tablet space. The first, a dual-core Tegra 2-powered slate, would launch six months later as the Kindle Fire and propel Amazon into the No.2 spot among global tablet vendors after just half a quarter of availability. The second tablet was said to be a 10-inch offering powered by NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 chipset, but we have yet to see it materialize. Numerous reports have suggested that the larger Kindle Fire was pushed back from its originally scheduled debut, and the tablet will now launch in the second quarter this year. While Amazon has yet to reveal any plans for a larger Kindle Fire, DigiTimes reported on Thursday that the company placed initial chassis orders with Taiwan-based Catcher Technology for a new Kindle Fire tablet, suggesting production could begin soon. The report did not specify the size of the chassis on order.

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Kindles and iPads have moved into the mainstream, and by the end of 2012 it is predicted that more than 40 million eReaders and 60 million tablets will be owned in the United States. When it comes to traveling, unfortunately, consumers are often forced to use traditional forms of entertainment — physical books and magazines – due to the dated rules enforced by the Federal Aviation Administration. Those rules, however, may be about to change. Laura J. Brown, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs for the FAA, told The New York Times on Sunday that the agency has decided to take a “fresh look” at the use of personal electronics on planes. The last time the administration performed testing was in 2006, long before the iPad was introduced, and it does not plan to include smartphones in the possible revisions. Read on for more.

“With the advent of new and evolving electronic technology, and because the airlines have not conducted the testing necessary to approve the use of new devices, the FAA is taking a fresh look at the use of personal electronic devices, other than cellphones, on aircrafts,” Brown said. The FAA said it’s trying to work with electronics vendors as well as aircraft and avionics manufacturers to figure out a way to allow passengers to use these new devices during takeoffs and landings.

According to Abby Lunardini, vice president of corporate communications at Virgin America, for a device to be approved each model must be tested at separate times on an empty flight with every plane in an airline’s fleet, and again for every airline that wants to allow the use of personal electronic devices. With thousands of different smartphone models, it is no wonder why the FAA has no plans to include them in the possible revisions — testing would take years and at completion, the phones tested would likely be obsolete.

Virgin America would like to perform these tests, but the current guidelines make it “prohibitively expensive, especially for an airline with a relatively small fleet that is always in the air on commercial flights like ours,” Lunardini said.

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Amazon on Thursday updated its official Kindle app for iOS less than 24 hours before Apple’s new iPad launches. The Kindle 3.0 update adds a number of improvements, including a new eBook library design, cloud view and support for the new iPad’s Retina Display. The new library design facilitates easy access to a user’s books no matter where they are stored, with a new grid view and two tabs labeled “Device” and “Cloud” much like the layout on Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The update is available now for free in the App Store.

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Amazon’s popular Kindle Fire is seen as having a huge impact on eReader shipments in the first quarter of 2012. The 7-inch Android tablet burst onto the scene in November and with less than seven weeks of availability in the fourth quarter, it managed to secure Amazon 14% of the global tablet market according to IHS iSupply. Demand for the Kindle Fire has remained strong in the first quarter — the slate is still Amazon’s best-selling electronics device for the 16th week running — and according to DigiTimes Research, eReader shipments will take a huge hit this quarter as a result. A seasonal decline from the holiday quarter to the first quarter is always anticipated, but DigiTimes’s research arm sees global eBook reader shipments dropping from 9 million units in the December quarter to just 2 million this quarter, a 78% decline. DigiTimes Research still projects solid eReader shipment growth in the coming years, however, as sales into channels jump from an estimated 22.82 million units in 2011 to more than 60 million units by 2015.

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Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch a new 6-inch color E Ink eReader as soon as next month, followed by a 10-inch Kindle Fire tablet some time in the second quarter this year. E Ink Holdings has received initial orders for Amazon’s a 6-inch color eReader according to DigiTimes, a device that would be Amazon’s first eBook reader to feature a color E Ink display. The retail giant is reportedly looking to have more than 3 million color eReaders built each month, and shipments are scheduled to begin in March. In a separate report, DigiTimes reaffirms recent rumors that a 10-inch Kindle Fire will begin shipping in the second quarter this year. The report states that Foxconn has been awarded the manufacturing contract for Amazon’s 10-inch Fire while Wintron will begin ODM production of a Nook Tablet for Barnes & Noble around the same time. It is unclear if the Barnes & Noble tablet mentioned in the report is a new model or the current tablet.

Read [color eReader] Read [10-inch Kindle Fire]

Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch a follow up to the company’s wildly successful Kindle Fire. The specs have not yet been finalized, however Amazon is expected to deliver samples to manufacturers by March, according to the China Times. The publication states that a 10-inch OEM device from Foxconn could be the final product. The report comes just after Pacific Crest analyst Chad Bartley claimed that Amazon plans to release an updated 7-inch tablet and a brand new 9-inch slate in mid-2012. BGR exclusively reported last May that Amazon was working on a 10-inch tablet, although a later report would suggest that Amazon was focusing on launching a new 8.9-inch device first. The next-generation Kindle Fire is expected to launch by the end of the second quarter.

[Via Engadget]

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Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch an updated 7-inch Kindle Fire alongside a brand new 9-inch tablet this summer. Pacific Crest analyst Chad Bartley on Thursday raised his full-year Kindle Fire shipment forecast to 14.9 million units, up from his earlier estimate of 12.7 million. “We believe there is an upward bias, particularly from the new 7- and 9-inch models, which we expect to launch in mid-2012,” Bartley wrote in a note to clients. BGR exclusively reported last May that Amazon was working on two tablet models, the 7-inch “Coyote” that ended up launching at the Kindle Fire last November, and the quad-core 10-inch “Hollywood.” A later report would suggest that Amazon tweaked its tablet roadmap, however, pushing the release of its 10-inch model back in order to first  launch a new 8.9-inch tablet. Bartley also lowered his shipment estimates on Amazon’s E Ink Kindle eReaders from 28.6 million units to 24 million units.

With great power comes great responsibility — and a flurry of advertising campaigns that target your wares. Samsung tried to make its name a verb in a recent round of anti-Apple ads where senseless iPhone owners got “Samsunged,” and the South Korea-based vendor’s campaign culminated with a $10 million extravaganza that aired during the Super Bowl. Amazon is next up to the plate, and the company’s recent commercial takes aim at Apple’s iPad. A woman sunbathing and reading a book on her Kindle is approached by a passing iPad owner who is intrigued by the fact that she can read in the sunlight. When the man mentions the Kindle’s inability to play movies, she points to a cabana where her two children are sitting, each with a Kindle Fire tablet. As a final jab, the woman points out that her three Kindles — one $79 eReader and two $199 tablets — are still cheaper than a single iPad. Amazon’s full commercial can be viewed below.

Amazon is preparing to open a retail store in Seattle within the next few months, according to a report from Good eReader. Amazon is apparently looking to open a small boutique rather than a large shop in an effort to test the market. The store would feature the Amazon Exclusive book line and the company’s popular eReaders and tablets most prominently according to the rumor. Amazon’s headquarters is located in Seattle, which is known as being fairly tech savvy and may be the perfect location to gauge interest in such an endeavor. The company has reportedly already contracted the design through a shell company and it is expected that the first location will open ahead of the holiday season this year.

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Pew Research conducted a pre-holiday survey among people age 16 and older between November 16th and December 21st, and two additional surveys of adults age 18 and older in January. The data found that during the holiday gift giving season, sales of tablets and eBook readers nearly doubled from 10% to 19%. In the same time frame, the number of Americans owning at least one of these devices jumped from 18% to 29%. More than 33% of those living in households earning more than $75,000 a year own a tablet, with almost a third of those with college educations or higher owning the device. The eReader data revealed that more woman own the devices than men and those with both a high level of education and income showed the highest percentage of ownership.

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Amazon’s new web-based Kindle Store for the iPad reportedly helps the online retailer dodge Apple’s fee that it would otherwise pay through a native Amazon Kindle Store iOS application. Amazon’s subscription program typically charges retailers 30% of all generated revenues, which has caused retailers like Amazon to create new ways for customers to purchase goods without having to pay a fee. The Financial Times also recently pulled its application to avoid the same subscription charges, and we would not be surprised if other magazines, newspapers or retail app developers follow suit. It’s unclear if Apple will tweak its terms in an effort to hold on to subscription providers.

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Amazon announced on Thursday that the 2011 holiday season was the best ever for sales of its Kindle devices. While the online retailer didn’t specifically say just how many devices were sold by model, it did say Amazon customers purchased “millions of Kindle Fires and millions of Kindle eReaders” and more than 1 million devices per week during the month of December. The company also noted that its #1 and #4 best-selling eBooks released this year were published by independent authors through its Kindle Direct Publishing platform. “We are grateful to our customers worldwide for making this the best holiday ever for Kindle,” Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos said.  “And in a huge milestone for independent publishing, we’d also like to congratulate Darcie Chan, the author of ‘The Mill River Recluse,’ and Chris Culver, the author of ‘The Abbey,’ for writing two of the best-selling Kindle books of the year.” The Kindle Fire was the most popular device followed by the Kindle Touch and the Kindle. Amazon also said that gifting of Kindle eBooks jumped 175%, between Black Friday and Christmas Day, compared to last year. Amazon’s full press release follows after the break.

2011 IS THE BEST HOLIDAY EVER FOR KINDLE

Amazon customers purchased millions of Kindle Fires and millions of Kindle e-readers

#1 and #4 best-selling Kindle books released in 2011 published independently by authors using Kindle Direct Publishing

Businesses selling on Amazon have record-breaking holiday sales

SEATTLE, Dec. 29, 2011 – (NASDAQ: AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that 2011 was the best holiday ever for the Kindle family as customers purchased millions of Kindle Fires and millions of Kindle e-readers.  Authors also continue to benefit from the success of Kindle — the #1 and #4 best-selling Kindle books released in 2011 were both published independently by their authors using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

“We are grateful to our customers worldwide for making this the best holiday ever for Kindle,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO.  “And in a huge milestone for independent publishing, we’d also like to congratulate Darcie Chan, the author of ‘The Mill River Recluse,’ and Chris Culver, the author of ‘The Abbey,’ for writing two of the best-selling Kindle books of the year.”

More Kindle holiday facts:

·         Throughout December, customers purchased well over 1 million Kindle devices per week.

·         The new Kindle family held the top three spots on the Amazon.com best seller charts – #1: Kindle Fire, #2: Kindle Touch, #3: Kindle.

·         Kindle Fire is the #1 best-selling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 13 weeks ago.

·         Kindle is also the best-selling product on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es and Amazon.it this holiday season.

·         Gifting of Kindle books was up 175 percent between this Black Friday and Christmas Day compared to the same period in 2010.

·         Christmas Day was the biggest day ever for Kindle book downloads.

·         Kindle Fire is the best-selling product on Amazon.com’s mobile website and across all of Amazon.com’s mobile applications.

Additional Kindle Direct Publishing successes include:

·         December’s #1 best-selling Kindle Direct Publishing book “Wife by Wednesday” was also the #5 overall best-selling Kindle book in December and has appeared on both the USA Today and Wall Street Journal best seller lists. Author Catherine Bybee was formerly an emergency room registered nurse, and has now left her job to focus on writing full-time.

• In 2011, KDP and CreateSpace author CJ Lyons reached #2 on the Amazon best seller list, #2 on the New York Times best seller list, and #4 on the USA Today best seller list. As a former pediatric ER doctor, CJ has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels, and she quit her job in medicine after 17 years to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time novelist.  Her latest work includes “Face to Face” and “Hot Water.”

Businesses Selling on Amazon

2011 was also a record-breaking holiday season for businesses that sell on Amazon.  Third-party sellers experienced record holiday growth: the number of sellers who exceeded $5,000 in sales during the holiday season increased 44 percent year-over-year.  For the year, businesses on Amazon sold hundreds of millions of units worth billions of dollars worldwide.

Scharf Industries, an office supplies and electronics provider, increased its sales on Amazon by over 500 percent this holiday season compared with last holiday season.

“We greatly value the cooperation that we have developed with Amazon,” said Andrew D. Scharf, CMO of Scharf Industries.  “They have provided us with the tools necessary to grow our business in a rapid and efficient manner.”

Ken Reiss, the owner of Reiss Innovations, LLC, started with one Amazon Webstore, selling five to 10 mouse pads for the year. Six years later he has a successful eCommerce business, selling through multiple Amazon Webstores.  Just this year alone, Reiss saw a 21 percent increase in sales compared with the holiday season last year. He has also increased the number of product listings by 50 percent over 2010 and recently extended his business to Canada.

According to Reiss, one of the most beneficial aspects of his relationship with Amazon is that “It allows me to scale in efficiency. I can devote my time to building vendor relations and growing my inventory, rather than worrying about logistical aspects, such as shipping products.” Reiss currently stores 90 percent of his inventory in Amazon’s warehouses, up from 75 percent last year.

Other seller successes include:

·         Amazon’s third-party sellers sold enough cameras for every fan at the next 10 Super Bowls to snap their own shots of the winning touchdown.

·         Amazon’s third-party sellers sold enough toys in 2011 to give a toy to every resident of Chicago.  In fact, they sold as many Lalaloopsy Dolls as there are lights on the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York City.

·         Debra Keyes, CEO of The Internet Department Store, which sells costumes for both adults and children, began utilizing Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) – the Amazon service that stores, packs and ships orders for third-party sellers – as soon as it launched.  By January 2011, she had 1,300 products listed in FBA.  That number has now grown to 7,800 products by November 2011. During that same time period, the company’s sales increased by 34 percent.

Holiday Fun Facts

 Shipping:

• The last One-Day Prime order that was delivered in time for Christmas was placed on Dec. 22 at 11:59 p.m. PST and shipped to Ballwin, Mo. The item was “The Cook’s Herb Garden,” a book by Jeff Cox and Marie-Pierre Moine.
• The last Local Express Delivery order that was delivered in time for Christmas went to Seattle, Wash. It was a Sony Rechargeable Battery Pack that was ordered at 2:35 p.m. PST on Christmas Eve and delivered at 6:15 p.m. PST that same evening.

• Earlier this year, an Amazon customer called with an urgent request for large volume of a single book, which they needed at the airport the next day before they boarded a flight. The books were special gifts and no other retailer had them available in such short notice.  Even though the cutoff time had passed for all traditional delivery methods, Amazon was able to arrange a delivery to the customer’s hotel just prior to their departure for the airport.

Customer Purchases (Amazon.com only; holiday timeframe-specific):

·         Amazon customers purchased enough copies of Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs” book to create a stack taller than Mt. Everest.

·         The cumulative weight of the Bowflex 552 Adjustable Dumbbells purchased by Amazon customers would outweigh more than 70 adult elephants.

·         If you unfolded and stacked each pair of jeans purchased by Amazon customers this holiday, the height would be 2,500 times taller than the Statue of Liberty.

·         Amazon customers purchased enough sweaters to outfit each of Santa’s reindeer during Christmas Eve deliveries for the next 14,000 years.

·         Amazon customers purchased enough copies of Just Dance 3 to give 15 copies to each person who participated in setting the world record for simultaneous dancing.

·         Amazon customers purchased enough HeatMax HotHands Handwarmers to give a pair to each resident of Iceland.

·         Amazon customers purchased enough Rory’s Story Cubes to give a cube to each person watching the New Year’s Eve ball drop live at Times Square.

Holiday Best Sellers (Amazon.com only; based on units ordered):

• Electronics: Kindle Fire; Kindle Touch; and Kindle
• Toys: Rory’s Story Cubes; Qwirkle Board Game; and Perplexus Maze Game

·         Video Games: Just Dance 3; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3; and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

• Sports & Outdoors: Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation DVD Set; Emergency Fire Starter; and Flexible Flyer Snowball Maker
• Home & Kitchen: Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler; Fred M-Cups Measuring Matroyshkas; and Pure Komachi 2 Series Hollow-Ground Santoku Knife
• Books: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson; “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever” by Jeff Kinney; and “11/22/63” by Stephen King
• Kindle Books: “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins; “Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins; and “The Litigators” by John Grisham
• CD: “Christmas” by Michael Bublé; “21” by Adele; and “Duets II” by Tony Bennett
• Amazon MP3: “100 Classic Christmas Songs” by Various Artists; “Mylo Xyloto” by Coldplay; and “A Very She & Him Christmas” by She & Him
• DVD: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2”; “Bridesmaids”; and “The Help”
• Amazon Instant Video: “Super 8”; “The Help”; and “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
• Watches: Timex 1440 Sports Digital Resin Strap Watch; LEGO Kids’ Star Wars Darth Vader Mini-Figure Alarm Clock; and XOXO Rhinestone Accent Gold-Tone Bracelet Watch
• Jewelry: 10k White Gold Round Diamond Stud Earrings; Sterling Silver Amethyst Butterfly Pendant; and White Peacock and Pink Freshwater Cultured Pearl Button 3 Pair Stud Earrings Set
• Clothing: Levi’s 501 Jean; Levi’s 505 Straight Fit Jean; and Levi’s 550 Relaxed Fit Jean
• Shoes: UGG Australia Classic Tall Boots; Crocs Classic Clog; and BEARPAW Emma Short Boot
• Beauty: Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift Eau de Parfum Spray; Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System; and NARS Orgasm Blush
• Health & Personal Care: Philips Norelco SensoTouch Electric Shaver; Philips Norelco Shaving System; and Philips Sonicare Essence Power Toothbrush
• Tools & Home Improvement: Streamlight Nano Light Miniature Keychain LED Flashlight; Smith’s PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener; and Black & Decker All-In-One SureGrip Laser Level
• Automotive: Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger; Wagan 12-Volt Heated Seat Cushion; and Mystic Industries Reindeer Vehicle Costume
• Baby: Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes; Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether; and Cloud B Twilight Turtle Constellation Night Light

·         AmazonWireless: Motorola DROID RAZR 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless); Samsung Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint); and Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

• Amazon Appstore for Android: Angry Birds (Ad-Free); TETRIS; and Pandora Internet Radio