Goodbye Kindle Touch?

If you've been thinking about buying a Kindle Touch, you may have waited too long. Specifically, the 3G edition is now marked as Currently unavailable, which usually indicates a Kindle model has been removed as an active item (although you can still buy some refurbished units, at least, for now). The WiFi only model appears to still be available, with Ads, but is on a 8-9 day backorder (the no-Ads model is gone and no refurbs appear to be available, either).

Rumors have been swirling for some time of a new Kindle model, perhaps in reaction to the nook Glow (which I've seen comments on returns and hassles with the lighting - I'm not surprised, as my Sony with edge lighting wasn't that great, either and it caused glare on the eInk screen due to the added glass layer). In the Kindle Store, you'll see the new picture above, which claims the Kindle family has only two entries now - the low end Kindle and the high end Kindle Fire. Left out are the Kindle Keyboard 3G and Kindle DX 3G, both of which are still available. I expect that sometime this month, that family will grow again, with a new eInk Kindle that is WiFi only and has some type of side-lighting (Amazon often reacts to a perceived lack of product features, even if it does mean the new model is less desirable by current customers, pandering to press reviews, rather than it's customers). I do know one thing - it most likely won't be called the "Kindle Glow", not only because the NOOK already is using Glow in it's name, but also because there is an outdoor space heater of that name (which, I suppose, you could use to read your current Kindle while staying warm outside, at night).

There are also rumors of a new, larger Kindle Fire. I'd love to see it; I already see that Amazon now allows us to view their new Kindle Textbooks on Android, not just on Apple's proprietary devices. Now, we just need to be able to view our Enhanced Content Kindle Books, complete with the embedded music and videos, on our Fires and I'll have one less reason to upgrade to Apple's new iPad. Hopefully, too, Amazon will add both a camera and the ability to add an SD/microSD card to their new tablet - the 8GB Fire is extremely limited (especially if you have a large library, as it wastes space on thumbnail cover images for every book in your library, space you can't get back if you keep any Kindle books on it). It would put them one step up on features vs. the iPad, but just keep them even with all the other Android Tablets out there (most of which are far superior to Amazon's device, but lack the integration with Amazon's content, something the iPad has been catching up on, since you can now watch Amazon Instant Videos on it).

I do know that one of Amazon's cover vendors, M-Edge, is in on the secret - they have already announced the new Kindle on their Facebook page (if it hasn't been pulled) and are running a sign-up list for the date the new covers are available for sale. Their contest ends TODAY, so the release must be imminent.

Did you know a new Kindle device is coming soon? What do you think will be the new, prime feature?

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Update: One rumor mentions that the current $47.40 price on the Kindle (see coupon code on right sidebar) will end on Aug 15. It's very unlikely that a new Kindle model will ship before then and we may even see the 16th as the date that pre-orders begin. It will be a long time without a touch model available, but the mini-Kindle will fill the void for those that don't want to step all the way up to a Kindle Keyboard or who don't want the heavier and less reading-friendly Kindle Fire tablet.