Although the announcment of the iPad was met with mixed opinions from the tech world, there are still plenty of people who believe in Apple’s power to market yet another popular product.

Whatever your opinion on the iPad is, there is no doubt that Apple knows how sell media, and their new iBook store for the iPad appears to have Amazon feeling a little uneasy… According the New York Times, the company behind the Kindle E-Reader has just purchased TouchCo- a startup focused on cutting-edge touchscreen technology that, unlike Apple’s, supports varying pressure sensitivity and more points of contact than traditional capacitive screens.

The plan, according to the article, is to create a new “Super” Kindle that has the most advanced touch technology available, finally doing away with the hardware keyboard and creating an much sleeker overall device.

But Amazon is not stopping there. Last month, they apparently announced plans to develop an application store, where developers could create dynamic new content and applications for their Reader similar to the iPhone and iPod Touch, and by extension the iPad.

While I doubt Amazon’s application store will reach the popularity of Apple’s anytime soon, I think that as far as real-world use, a Kindle-based tablet device could have a lot more appeal than the iPad. As I mentioned earlier, the iPad’s LED-backlight display is great for watching video and playing games, but a strain on the eyes for extended reading. The reflective screen of the Kindle will make E-Reading its flagship feature. Once you’ve already got it around for that, I think being able to casually check your email or tell your DVR to record something remotely would be a pretty convenient feature.

While I would never have predicted a Tablet without a computer OS would be a popular product, I’m now I’m starting to look forward to this new genre…