Amazon CEO Bezos hints at a higher end Kindle; reports hint at rechargeable cover with the Kindle

There hasn’t been much news regarding the Kindle, apart from the latest revamp of its user interface. But Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has just hinted at a brand new 8th generation higher end Kindle on his Twitter account.

Heads up readers – all-new, top of the line Kindle almost ready. 8th generation. Details next week.

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 4, 2016

Bezos has stated in no uncertain terms that a new Kindle is expected next week. But do the words such as ‘all-new, top of the line Kindle’ hint at something that is much better than the Kindle Voyage ? We will find out next week.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal , the new Kindle will probably come with a rechargable protective case for extended battery life. Some reports also state that Amazon is also developing a Kindle case with a battery that can be charged using solar power. The new cases are allegedly named ‘Whiskey’ and ‘Soda’ and the solar-powered case is called ‘Sunkiss’.

In the US, e-book sales have seen a stagnation  since 2014 thanks to maturing of the market and higher digital prices of books. According to Seattle Times, the higher prices are because of contracts between New York based publishers and Amazon which lets the publishers set the price at which the books will be sold, thereby bypassing Amazon’s heavy discounts.

India on the other hand is a different story. The Kindle India e-book sales have tripled in 2015 according to a report in Mint . According to Sanjeev Jha, director of Kindle content at Amazon, e-books business has been growing at a 200% year on year rate. One can say the heavy discounts on Amazon on Kindle titles is a major factor for this, as unlike the US, the e-book market in India is still at a very nascent stage.