A new version of Amazon's successful e-book reader the Kindle will not come out this year, according to press reports.
When asked about a strongly rumoured updated Kindle, a spokesperson for Amazon told The New York Times: "Don't believe everything you read. There is a lot of rumour and speculation out there about Kindle.
"One thing I can tell you for sure is that there will be no new version of Kindle this year. A new version will come out sometime next year at the earliest."
Made to wait
This announcement has prompted some members of the press to speculate that the UK will never actually see the old version of the Kindle; instead we will have to wait until next year when the update is released.
In his blog, technology correspondent for the Guardian, Jack Schofield wrote: "This could also mean that the UK launch is some way away, based on my assumption that Amazon will "go global" only when it has a revised and probably cost-reduced new model."
He does mention that his assumption could "be wrong", but this does seem an obvious step for Amazon, who will have to compete with two other e-book readers that are already sold in the UK, iRex's the iliad, sold in Borders bookstores, and Sony's newly launched Reader, sold in Waterstones.
We have contacted Amazon to clear up the rumour and speculation, and will update as soon as we receive a response.
The actual market for e-books is burgeoning at the moment, with just last week Random House announcing that sales of e-books for this year is almost double of last year – up 58 per cent.
But it's not just the likes of Sony's Reader and the Kindle that are pushing this market, as other media devices such as Apple's iPhone can be used to 'read' e-books.
