Touch screen Amazon Kindle makes big move on iPad and Nook

Amazon, in order to compete with the Barnes & Noble Nook and Apple iPad, has made incremental technological upgrades to its Kindle. Screen resolutions, model thickness, text-to-speech features, and new navigation options are among the many features that have kept Amazon Kindle followers intrigued. Small feature changes, however, were only going to keep people interested so long. A big change needed to happen.

The acquisition of Touchco, a small company that specializes in touch screens may be the big change that the Amazon Kindle needed.

The Amazon Kindle, with its current model, has positioned itself as the low-end e-reader. For the technology offered, Amazon had a choice: continue down the path of bargain shoppers looking for a cheap grayscale e-reader or upgrade to compete with the likes of Apple, who just introduced their full color, touch screen iPad.

Considering the launch of the Kindle application store last month, it is no surprise that Amazon has once again chosen to make a move at the Nook and iPad.

All along, Amazon has aimed at getting ahead of the market with the Amazon Kindle. Although it was not the first e-reader, it brought the marketing tools and resources necessary to get the paper-saving technology off the ground.

Unfortunately for Amazon, many big time players entered the competition with better screens and hardware.

With the Touchco acquisition, however, Amazon is now looking to bring even more resources to the table to compete. According to the New York Times, Touchco has a completely transparent screen that utilizes a technology called interpolating force-sensitive resistance. In other words, Touchco has developed a screen that can detect an unlimited amount of touch points with different levels of pressure at the same time.

The technology behind the screen could be the ultimate differentiator between the iPad hardware and Amazon Kindle hardware. At only $10 per square foot, the Amazon Kindle screen has limitless potential at an extremely competitive price point.

Imagine the fun developers would have with an unlimited number of simultaneous touch points that distinguish varying degrees of pressure.

Many believed Apple's unveiling of the iPad would torch all other e-readers and tablets, but considering the already noticeable pitfalls of the iPad (a weak processor, incompatibilities with Flash, no camera, no memory expansion) the door may be wide open for the touch screen Kindle.