Amazon has no plans to revamp the Kindle e-book reader before the end of the year, the online retailer's key spokesman Craig Berman told the New York Times on Thursday. The official doesn't deny the potential for a refresh but can say "for sure" that there will be no new versions of the device before the end of the year. He also declines to say when an update is likely but alludes to an update launching sometime during 2009 "at the earliest," pointing to a sequel still in mid-development. The denial if accurate will shut down previous rumors that would have had a refresh appear as early as the fall, with the most recent claims suggesting an iPod mini-like, near complete redesign of the reader as well as a possible larger model aimed at schools looking to replace paper textbooks with the digital kind. No clues are given by Berman as to Amazon's intended direction.
The Kindle has drawn attention for Amazon's conscious attempt to popularize e-books in the same way that the iPod affected digital music, and is estimated to have sold nearly as many Kindle readers in its first year of sales as Apple did the iPod.
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