Amazon has a new Kindle available for pre-order from their website. The official release date is set for July 7th.
It’s an updated version of their entry-level Kindle. It has a new thinner and lighter design, and now it’s available in white as well as black.
The Kindle Paperwhite 3 is available in white now too. It’s about time; the white versions have been available in other countries for a long time.
Most of the specs on the new Kindle remain the same as the previous model, and so does the $79 price for the Special Offers version ($99 without ads).
The RAM has been boosted on the new Kindle from the last model so that it can run the TTS and VoiceView software that Amazon recently unveiled with the release of the Kindle Audio Adapter.
However, the adapter is not needed on this new Kindle because it comes with Bluetooth to connect speakers or headphones wirelessly (it still can’t be used for other audio, though, and the TTS is a pain to use because it only works with the VoiceView feature that is designed for visually-impaired people).
The new design looks like a definite improvement. I always hated the blocky design of the last model. This new version looks more like the Paperwhite’s design. They managed to make it 11% thinner and 16% lighter than the previous Kindle. For some real numbers, it’s 1 ounce lighter and 1.1 mm thinner.
The new Kindle still has the same 800 x 600 resolution E Ink Pearl screen as before, and it lacks a frontlight like the other Kindles, but it has the same exact software and the same Kindle features as the $289 Kindle Oasis.
Check back in a couple of weeks for a hands-on review.
I can’t imagine or remember how I ever used an eink device without front lights. Actually I do remember… the days of clip on LED lights! Ugh! Saved up the $40 extra for the Paperwhite!
I agree. How is the screen lit for reading in the dark? Wasnt that the whole draw of the Paperwhite?–front lit vs typically backlit tablets?
Kobo H2O still best all-round reader.
Larger screen, side load e pub books, sd card expansion and a bonus waterproof.
Why be stuck with Amazon books?
I don’t understand this kind of argument anymore. Where are all these places you’re buying ebooks from other than Kobo? The only other major ebook store left that sells regular Adobe ePubs is Google. Amazon has more ebooks than both, and their prices are often lower, so what’s the big disadvantage? Anywhere that has DRM-free ebooks offers them in Kindle format as well; Amazon isn’t the only source for Kindle ebooks.
First, there are still a bunch of other places to buy ebooks other than Zon; all in epub format.
Second, epub versions are more freely available than mobi
Third, azw3 & drm’d mobi are only readable with the Kindle app on other devices like your phone and tablet. That’s unnecessarily limiting.
Given my choice between a device limited to Kindle content in one way or another and a device allowing epub, I’m going with epub.
This argument used to make sense when there was more competition, but I’m just not seeing it standing ground anymore, at least not in the US. Show me a list of ebook stores that sell ebooks in DRM-free or Adobe DRM ePub format that aren’t also available from Amazon in Kindle format. I don’t see the advantage of shopping at a bunch of different stores to buy the same stuff that’s available from one, often for cheaper.
How are Adobe DRM’d ebooks any less limiting than Kindle ebooks? Sure they can be read using other apps, but only a few support Adobe DRM and then you’ve got to jump through Adobe’s hoops just to read them. It’s even more of a pain with an ereader because you have to sideload everything with a computer using Adobe’s software.
What happens if ePub bites the dust in 5-10 years and there are no more dedicated ePub readers being made (there are only a few left now)?
EPUB versus Amazon: I prefer the old page numbers, which very few MOBU/AZW books seem to have.
Amazon still needs to add expandable storage to their devices. Ok — I get it for their entry level model to keep the price down, but for their other models? Especially, their high end models. Ridiculous.
The epub v Mobi distinction is not relevant to most users. I use the H2O and prefer it to the Kindle. However, Kobo is hard to get in the US (took me several days to replace a broken one) and if you want lower price deals from Amazon you have to learn how to de-drm and sideload. Kobo has effectively given up the US market and with the exception of a few of us hard core e-reader fans who want the best hardware they and others are not even a slightly serious alternative to Amazon. Worse of all, the lack of competition keeps from provoking Amazon to provide better innovation. Shame.
we do not want one supplier Amazon?
Why just look at their very overpriced reader. Under cut the competition then charge silly prices. That’s what will happen with eBook’s if had their way.
That’s a good point but when it comes to ebook prices Amazon is known for trying to lower ebook prices more than raise them (of course if they were the only source it may be different indeed). For the most part it’s publishers and authors that have control over the prices of ebooks.