nextgen

New Kindle coming soon?

Most of the talk recently has been about Apple's looming event on January 27, where it's been widely reported that the company will unveil a tablet PC of some undetermined size. Whether this device is a game-changer along the lines of the original iPod or iPhone remains to be seen, but lost in the shuffle is the possibility that Amazon's breakthrough e-reader, the Kindle, may be on the verge of an upgrade.

To be clear, I don't have any inside information or anonymous sources telling me that Amazon's bought thousands of parts from some Taiwanese manufacturer. But let's speculate for a moment on the possibilities for a new Kindle and what it might look like.

For starters, the Kindle 2 (now called the Kindle, U.S. and international wireless, latest edition), was launched on February 9 of last year. That's relevant because in recent years Amazon has been doing its best to imitate Apple, and Apple tends to be fairly regimented in rolling out updates to its major products. For instance, new iPods tend to be announced in the fall, and new iPhones have been released in June.

You could argue that while Kindle has had upgrades to its wireless service (Amazon added an international option by moving from Sprint to AT&T) over the year--and the Kindle DX was released in May of 2009--the Kindle, now approaching a year old, is due for a bigger refresh in February, especially if Apple's slate proves to be the e-reader on steroids that many are positing it will. (As has been widely discussed, the potential big strike against the Apple tablet could be price. If it ends up being in $750-$1000 range, that's rather expensive for someone looking for a device you plan on primarily using as an e-reader).

In the last couple of days, Amazon has also made a few announcements pointing to the possibility that a new device is coming. In describing the terms of its new higher 70 percent royalty for authors using its Digital Text Platform for publishing content in the Kindle Store, Amazon said that it was planning on adding new features to both the store and the Kindle.

The next day it followed up with an announcement that it was releasing a new software development kit (SDK) so developers could create new apps for the Kindle. In its release, the company referred to the new apps being tested on the simulators for the current 6-inch Kindle and Kindle DX, but it's debatable how suitable the current Kindles are for running apps, particularly when you factor in the lag times of E-ink.

The release also has a quote from an EA Games executive talking about developing games for the Kindle platform.… Read more

Recession trips up the robot revolution

To combat a robot invasion in the movies, the hero may need some sort of high-powered superweapon. To slow one down in real life, a heaping helping of recession should do the trick.

NextGen Research on Tuesday eased back the throttle on hopes for a surge in the number of robots arriving on the home front in the near future. In its new "Personal Robotics 2009" report, the research company forecasts that the global market for personal robots will be worth more than $5 billion in 2015, up from just over $1 billion seen for this year.

Put … Read more

Images: Death to the beige box

Microsoft's fourth annual Next-Gen PC Design Competition put entrants to the task of dreaming up concepts that not only offer eye-catching aesthetics, but also cater to people's passions.

Check out News.com's gallery on the competition, featuring designs that tap into niches like travel, sports, fitness, cooking, and children. Winning concepts were inspired by everything from napkins to building blocks to the everyday book.

Kmart says it still supports Blu-ray

Although rumors have been swirling lately that Kmart has agreed to exclusively support the HD DVD format, they appear to be false.

When reached for comment, K-mart sent a rather defensive-sounding statement attributed to Jonathan Magasanik, vice president of home electronics for Sears Holdings, Kmart's parent company: "There have been numerous statements in the media (Wednesday), attributed to Toshiba, indicating exclusive support for the HD-DVD format in Kmart stores. These statements are false. Kmart intends to support both the HD-DVD and Blu-ray platforms, and has no plans to support either platform exclusively."

Kmart representatives didn't elaborate … Read more

Images: Microsoft readies 'Halo 3' beta

For fans of the hit Halo video game franchise, San Francisco is the place to be Friday. That's because Microsoft is hosting a hands-on press event where invitees will be able to play the game (click here for screenshots) for the first time.

Microsoft said it wouldn't be making any announcements at the event, but those in attendance will have a chance to get an advance look at the game before the company opens up its beta on May 16.

PS3 fans line up to make a buck

SAN FRANCISCO--All those people queued up for a chance to lay down $500 to $600 bucks for a shiny new PlayStation 3 aren't just gaming fanatics--many of them are entrepreneurs as well.

Mingling with the bundled-up fans under dark gray San Francisco skies, I was hard-pressed to find anyone planning to keep one for themselves. (Note to New York Craver Caroline McCarthy: We have long lines for the bathroom on the West Coast too.)

Several people balked when I asked if they wanted a PS3 to keep. As they cited the thousands of potential dollars to be made by … Read more

Next-gen gaming consoles go mano-a-mano

And then there were three.

The Xbox 360 has had the next-gen mantle to itself for a year, but it's about to get some major competition in the form of the Sony PlayStation 3 (November 17) and Nintendo Wii (November 19). We've compared the final shipping versions of the two newcomers with our tried and true 360, and we've posted our hands-on reviews of each.

Note to fanboys of all stripes: before you unleash venomous attacks that question our sanity (whoops--too late!), please keep a few things in mind.

With these reviews, we've focused on … Read more

One more Diitail

No big announcements stormed the Wii press event at Nintendo World Store in New York today, but I managed to glean answers to two Wiimote questions that gamers have been asking. Speculation has floated around various gaming blogs, but here's the truth, straight from the world of Nintendo:

Fact one: The Wiimote will have rumble. Yes, the remote itself it will have, and not the nunchuck. It wasn't the strongest feedback, but a good vibration could definitely be felt while playing some of the Wii games. Gunfire in Call of Duty 3 had the most noticeable effects, but … Read more