Having just released the Kindle 2, Amazon may release a second model this year with the company's first-ever touchscreen display, Digitimes claims through its market contacts. PVI, the maker of the current Kindle's 6-inch e-paper display, is reportedly gearing up to make a version of the reader with a larger, touch-enabled display. The new reader would potentially arrive sooner than the second-generation did and may be ready by the end of 2009.

Other technical details of the reader aren't known, though Amazon has a short history of radically changing control schemes and interfaces for the Kindle since its debut in late 2007. The company first launched the Kindle with a touch-sensitive side strip but later switched to a five-way directional pad. It also faces added competition from the third-generation