The world’s largest online retailer of books Amazon.com has reportedly bought Touchco, a company which makes flexible touch screens. The move is seen as an effort to strengthen technology aboard its Kindle e-readers to make itself more competitive against Apple’s iPad.
The New York Times reported that Amazon.com would merge Touchco, a small startup company, with the Kindle hardware division, Lab 126, in California.
Touchco makes flexible, see-through, and pressure-sensitive touch-screens, which cost just $10 per square foot. The company’s touch-screen technology can reportedly make a distinction between the singular pressures applied by either a finger or stylus.
In contrast, the comparative touch-screens in the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad are more expensive. They are also unable to detect the unlimited amount of simultaneous touch points that Touchco screens allow.
The takeover of Touchco by the online retailer giant is significant at a time when the fight for supremacy in the e-books arena is intensifying. The Apple iPad tablet computer is scheduled to hit the stores in March.
“Amazon has been looking to compete with Apple on other fronts as well. Last month, it announced plans for a Kindle applications store and an effort to get developers to create the same breadth of programs for the Kindle that they have created for the iPhone and, soon, the iPad”, New York Times said.
The report added that the Touchco employees at the Media Research Lab of New York University, will be incorporated into Amazon’s Kindle hardware division in California.
Amazon currently uses screen technology from market leader E-ink, which was bought by Taiwanese manufacturer Prime View International last year. E-ink technology is used in a number of e-readers, including Sony’s Reader.
Along with the recent iPad, Apple also recently introduced the new iBooks application for reading e-books. The software includes the iBookstore, which allows users to buy content that will be displayed on their virtual bookshelf. Subsequently, Apple announced deals with five major book partners.
Both Touchco and Amazon have so far not commented on the newspaper report.