Like casually spotting the Abominable Snowman behind a Christmas tree, Techcrunch recently confirmed rumors of an iPod Touch with a 7-to-9 inch screen–a revelation that could change the digital book market.
Those dimensions could bring the iPod and iPod Touch’s list of e-reading applications to a larger screen, rivaling the 7.5 by 5.3 inch screen on Amazon’s popular Kindle e-reader. It could use digital book readers like Lexcycle’s Stanza and ScrollMotion, and allow readers to surf the web while reading–powerful Kindle competition. According to the tech blogger’s sources, the device will hit stores this Fall.
TeleRead ponders this momentous development: “Will it be good or bad if Apple comes out with the tablet and maybe even dominates the e-book industry? We’ve seen how Amazon has tried to inflict the Kindle format on the world. Will Apple try to do the same with its own creation or with a DRM ally such as ScrollMotion? Might Apple try to lock out third-party products like Stanza that combine e-reading and distribution infrastructure? And about Apple’s censorship of Knife Music?”