There are several rumors these days about Amazon.com’s plans to release a larger-screen model of its Kindle e-book player, which will target students. The base model might also be upgraded in September.

Analyst Tim Bueneman from the brokerage firm and investment advisor McAdams Wright Ragen, talked to the Seattle post-Intelligencer about Amazon’s intentions to address the student-segment: "There are several new, improved versions of the Kindle in the works," Bueneman said. "We guess the new version will have improved interface operating controls. This has been an issue with some buyers."

The device, considered a great success for the company, was launched in November 2007 and it is used to wirelessly download all sorts of digital contents from Amazon, such as books and newspapers. The Kindle has a 6-inch electronic display and uses a high-speed EV-DO cellular broadband network which allows the content download without the need to connect to a computer.

It retails for $359 and so far, even though the company did not disclose any figures, the Kindle apparently already sold a few hundred thousand units. Some say 378,000 units, others say around 240,000.

There are several features that would ensure a significant sales boost for the Kindle, if it will indeed focus on the student segment: first of all it should allow annotations on the text and it should also offer a clear display of graphs, photos and charts.

Until the company releases its official presentation, we will not know for sure what to expect from Amazon, but if the rumors are at least partially correct, it will not be a long wait.