CrunchGear predicts ”the new Kindle is thinner and has a nicer design and probably has a touchscreen,” and doubts the device will include a color screen because “Color e-ink is still in its infancy.”

The Los Angeles Times talks to analysts and concludes the new Kindle may have “a better battery life” and a “design that relocates the page-forward and page-back buttons so users would be less likely to hit them accidentally.”

The New York Times Bits Blog reports, “The new Kindle likely uses the new Broadsheet microchip from Epson and E-Ink” — technology that “breaks the screen into 16 pixel sets and can update them in parallel, allowing for faster screen refreshes and a generally more responsive screen.”

[via techflash]

Foxit Software are the folks behind Foxit Reader, a free PDF reader that is a great alternative to the standard Adobe Reader.  The folks at Foxit know text file conversion and formats and in a surprising twist are going to introduce an electronic ebook reader in January.

The eSlick will be short on bells and whistles but it will only set you back $229 in January and $259 shortly after that.  It’s a simple device with a built-in MP3 player, 128 MB of memory, SD slot (2 GB card included) and a 600 x 800 screen.  It appears to only read PDF files and Foxit is including software to facilitate creating your own PDF files to put on the eSlick.

Full specs:

Screen:6? E Ink® Vizplex screen 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 166 dpi, 4-level gray scale
Size: 7.4? x 4.7? x 0.4? (188×118×9.2mm)
Weight: 6.4 ounces (180g) battery included
Color: Black/Gray/White
Connectivity: USB2.0
Operating System: Embedded Linux
Supported Formats:
- eBook Formats: PDF, TXT, Any printable document(after converted to PDF using included software)
- Sound Formats: MP3
Internal Memory: 128MB
Storage Memory: SD Card (2GB included. Supports up to 4GB) [via salon.com]