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Top 10 Stories of 2011: #6 Speculating on the next Kindle to be released by Amazon

Kindle

When Amazon began slashing prices on its refurbished Kindle 3 models, tech sites began speculating that Amazon would release a new Kindle.  That’s when I started paying more attention to Kindle related domain names, as I quickly found out readers eat this type of news up.

My first big story days after speculation started in August, was Amazon acquiring KindleAir.com via MarkMonitor after the domain name had expired.  Engadget, PC Magazine and other tech sites ran with the story as well.

But it wasn’t this story that made the Top 10 in 2011…

The number six story in the Top 10 Stories of 2011 here on Fusible was predicting that Amazon’s next Kindle would be named after one of the elements.  And my prediction was right, as Amazon finally settled on the element of fire with its Kindle Fire

Unlike other stories, this one took a little more sleuthing.

As I wrote back then, KindleAir.com was the first hint, but I discovered that Amazon had also secretly acquired the domain names KindleEarth.com KindleWater.com on July 6, 2011.  Both were registered at Go Daddy and hidden behind its privacy service Domains by Proxy, but it was simple to reveal Amazon as the owner by using Go Daddy’s public Account Retrieval System, which in June finally addressed other privacy issues with the tool.

While I had correctly guessed the next Kindle would be named after an element, I hadn’t included “Fire” in the list.  Though I considered including it, Amazon hadn’t owned Kindle Fire just yet. 

Many of my top stories over the past six months dealt with what Amazon’s next Kindle might be, but most never panned out.   Names like the Kindle Ice and the Kindle Scribe, which even caught the attention of Time and other publications, have yet to materialize.   

Other stories that grabbed attention included Amazon possibly spinning off its Kindle line into a separate company called Seesaw (which went on to get a Techmeme headline) and even Amazon’s massive buying spree of 500 Kindle and Silk related domains, which hinted that a 3G Kindle Fire would be launched. 

(Image of Kindle Fire and Kindle DX Graphite via Amazon.com)

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Does Amazon’s KindleAir.com domain registration hint at the next Kindle?

Kindle Air

Rumors of a new Amazon Kindle have been brewing over the last week since prices were slashed on refurbished Kindle 3 models.

Now the company has made a few domain purchases in the past few days centered around the word Kindle.

Two of its purchases, kindlesocialnetwork.com and kindlesocialnetworking.com, come after news that Amazon quietly added social networking features to its Kindle support site, which can be found at kindle.amazon.com.

Amazon appears to also have acquired KindleAir.com via MarkMonitor after the domain name recently expired.  Although the registrant name currently lists MarkMonitor, Amazon regularly uses MarkMonitor the brand protection company for new domain registrations, including its latest social networking purchases. 

KindleAir.com used to be the homepage of a comic strip (view here) that hinted at a Kindle for the PC before it was released in late 2009.

While it’s entirely possible that Amazon registered the domain name as part of its overall IP strategy, the timing of the next generation Kindle rumors give it some possibilities, although it is a stretch to imagine Amazon calling its next Kindle something similar to Apple’s MacBook Air. 

Amazon’s legal department also registered amazonelasticache.org and awselasticache.org.

Discussions: SlashGear, electronista, Geeky Gadgets, Good E-Reader Blog, @9to5mac, Engadget and PC Magazine