Many of us already know that the Amazon Kindle isn’t the only e-book game in town and there are other offerings that boast the whole e-ink phenomenon. That said, the Kindle is certainly getting a lot more mainstream attention than something like the Sony Reader, largely because of its “free” wireless broadband connection and its deep integration with Amazon.com. But that’s not enough. That’s just the beginning.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the guy behind Fox and other media outlets, says that he is investing in a Kindle competitor. And it’s going to be even more powerful than Amazon’s offering. Murdoch was decidedly cryptic in the interview, not providing very much in terms of details, but the message was there.

More specifically, Rupert Murdoch was quoted as saying:

“We need new models. The first inkling of it is the Kindle. You can get the whole paper there. And you can get the whole of The Wall Street Journal on your BlackBerry. We’re investing in a new device that has a bigger screen, four-color, and you can get everything there.”

Murdoch did not say that News Corp. was creating a device of its own. Instead, they are in “exploratory” talks to invest in another company that can then develop new e-reader and e-ink technologies. This was later confirmed by a News Corp. spokesperson.

The bigger screen may take a little away from the convenience factor, but adding a splash of color can be a huge selling point over the grayscale Kindle. Remember when the first color cell phones hit the scene? Interestingly, Fujitsu already has an e-reader with 260k colors, but that thing costs $1,000. [via mobilemag]

Reducing paper use does more than save trees. Pulp and paper mills are also a major source of pollution. They release into the air CO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), carbon monoxide, and particulates, which contribute to global warming, smog, acid rain, and respiratory problems. In addition, bleaching paper with chlorine can produce dioxin, which is known to cause cancer. Paper mills also produce large amounts of solid waste and require a lot of water. The industry is trying to clean up, but anyone who’s driven past a paper mill has smelled the challenge.

The Amazon Kindle therefore saves 6,500 MJ and 690 kg of co2 a year. A gallon of gasoline has 131 MJ of energy and emits 8.8 kg of CO2, so switching to an e-book would be like saving 50 gallons of energy and 78 gallons of co2 emissions. A reduction of 690 kg of co2 is 3.5% of the average American’s 20 metric tons of yearly emissions. [via selfpublishingreview]

Ezra Klein discusses Amazon’s Kindle in print and video

The current issue of the Columbia Review of Journalism focuses on the future of writing and reading, offering up a spate of interesting writers examining various threads of that theme. Of particular note is The American Prospect associate editor Ezra Klein’s look at the Kindle, Amazon’s new digital book reader. Books may be in decline, he surmises, but people are still reading all the time – we’re glued to our computer screens. So surely the Kindle is onto something?

This may, ultimately, prove to be Amazon’s truly crucial role—not driving the future of reading so much as the future of writing. E-reading technology will push forward even without Amazon’s involvement. The Kindle will soon face stiff competition from a bevy of able competitors. […] But if the Kindle’s successor or competitors are to succeed, it will be because Amazon used its status as the world’s largest online bookseller to force authors to think seriously about creating content that works better than the book, that goes where the book cannot, that’s interactive and cooperative and open in ways that printed text will never be. [via cjr]