By Edward Nawotka

Not willing to concede the “gee-whiz-that’s-awesome” PR to Apple, the news has leaked that Amazon has bought Touchco — a six-person start-up that was working to develop touch sensitive overlays for handheld electronic devices.

In its coverage, the New York Times interviewed Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Lazard Capital, who said the move “would suggest Amazon is looking to expand its platform perhaps beyond e-readers to encompass more functionality and more content,” and “It also could help them address some of the form-factor issues with the Kindle,” allowing it to, say, replace the physical keyboard with a virtual one, he said.

True, but it also means that Amazon, having helped establish the market for e-books is willing to invest money in an effort to keep an edge.