Yesterday CNet reported that they have a ‘reliable source’ that said that there would be both a new Kindle tablet and new e-ink Kindle released on July 31st.
This basically matched my earlier estimate based on the cost of refurbished kindles. According to an earlier DigiTimes article the new Kindle Fire will have a higher resolution screen. CNet’s sources suggested it will have a camera and be released at $199. The current Kindle Fire will continue to be sold but drop in price to $149.
There were not any real rumors about the eink Kindles other than that the line would be refreshed and probably include a light. From what I have heard there does not seem to be any major improvement to the eink technology. So the refresh will probably be fairly minor.
Adding the light inside the Kindle doesn’t thrill me. I’d worry about the light having issues like flickering or only certain sides lighting (note: I have no idea how the light will work so that point may be mute) which would render the Kindle unusable IMHO.
Increasing the resolution on the Kindle Fire may interest me, though. I like playing apps on my current Fire but find the graphics a bit disappointing. I’m used to the beautiful graphics on my iPod Touch..lol.
I agree. Higher resolution fire (with a camera) will be a nice draw for people. But I only read on the eink. And if there isn’t anything other than a light, I won’t be getting one.