Despite being reportedly upbeat with regard to Kindle, at Amazon's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos put forth somewhat of a disappointing news saying that a color version of the popular e-reader is still a distant prospect.

Saying that a color-screen Kindle is at a development phase and would require "multiple years" for the making, Bezos elaborated: "I've seen the color displays in the laboratory, and I can assure you they're not ready for prime time."

During a question-and-answer session with the investors, Bezos also refrained from disclosing any details pertaining to the sales numbers of Kindle 2 - Amazon's February-launched updated version of its original Kindle. He said that the company feels there is a "competitive advantage" in keeping the numbers undisclosed, for building up curiosity about the device's sales.

Having taken the e-reading world by storm, Amazon's Kindle presently sits comfortably at the top of the e-reading stack. Trying to cash upon the unprecedented success of its Kindle, Amazon has been quick to hold up its advantages in the up-and-coming e-reader market, by releasing the large-screen Kindle DX for magazines, newspapers and textbooks.

In fact, taking its leading edge further, in the wake of the prospective competition, Amazon has also made an ever-improving Kindle application available for iPhone, thereby implicitly acknowledging the limited shelf life of Kindle as a dedicated e-reading device!