Any new info on the old rumors of a front-lit Kindle?

[twowheels]

I've been watching for any news related to the rumors back in May that Amazon would be releasing a new front-lit model in mid July. It seems that the rumor got a lot of attention for a few weeks, then just died away. Has there been anything said about it since? Any rumors from suppliers? Anything said in public financial disclosures?

My K3 is limping along, hoping to upgrade soon...

[AnemicOak]

Taiwan’s DigiTimes has a report today by Sammi Huang and Alex Wolfgram that Amazon is ‘currently facing problems with mass production due to problems with the device’s front light design, which may delay shipping of the device until later in the third quarter, according to industry sources.’

http://kindleworld.blogspot.com/2012...ch-may-be.html

[vxf]

Thanks for the link. I am waiting for this, impatiently.

[twowheels]

Just what I was looking for! Too bad, looks like I need to be patient a bit longer...

[jswinden]

I used to think BS stood for "bull scatterings" or something similar. I now think it stands for "blog scatterings"! It seems like every person who couldn't get a job writing has their own blog these days.

The latest generation of Kindle eInks were announced last September and released between then and November. Many blogs speculated on the new Fire, but few even got close and none were spot on. I suspect we will simply have to wait until Amazon calls a news conference in the Autumn to know the real story. But considering Amazon still hasn't even fully supported KF8 yet, I wish they would do that and fix the bugs in the current generation of Kindles before working on the next generation.

[Buran]

Looking forward to this myself because I tend to read when my husband's asleep, and the Kandle light I have is a pain to deal with. It works, but I'd rather be able to light the screen at any time -- say, while waiting for a movie to start (on a rare occasion when I do go to theaters) I might want a very dim glow that's just enough to read by. Or while riding in a car at night.

My touch would be perfect if it had lighting.

I'm not sure what the delay is -- the Nook with glow exists, proving that the components do exist and do work.

We'll have to see. Hopefully when the next Fire comes out, we'll get new eink kindles, like we did with the original Fire. I didn't see ANY rumors about those kindles before they were released. But I've seen more Fire rumors lately.

[WritePR]

Not interested in built in lighting. I think it would drastically reduce battery life.

[Buran]

Only if you turn it on, and at dimmer levels it wouldn't make that much of a difference. LEDs don't consume much power.

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I used to think BS stood for "bull scatterings" or something similar. I now think it stands for "blog scatterings"! It seems like every person who couldn't get a job writing has their own blog these days.

The original article is from Digitimes, which amongst other things has a 65,000/day circulation for it's printed newspaper within the Taiwanese IT sector. It's not a blog for people who can't get a job writing.

[dmin7th]

Originally Posted by WritePR

Not interested in built in lighting. I think it would drastically reduce battery life.

The Nook specs still claim over a month of battery life with the light on. It's half of what they claim with the light off, but still not bad at all.

With GlowLight on at the default brightness setting, a single charge will last over 1 month with wireless off based on ½ hour of daily reading and a 1 page refresh per minute. A single charge lasts over 2 months with wireless off and GlowLight off based on ½ hour of daily reading time and 1 page refresh per minute. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and many other factors.

[RainingLemur]

I have been looking forward to something like this from the Amazon camp for a while now. The Nook's lighting looked pretty good from what little I'd used it (Mom's man-friend has one), so I'd like to see Amazon fire one off.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by WritePR

Not interested in built in lighting. I think it would drastically reduce battery life.

The existing Kindles have the ability to power a light from the internal battery, which I take advantage of, and the battery life is still phenomenal. Not a concern to me, I just want an integrated light because it'd most likely be better than any external solution could be.

[TongueTied]

All the Reviews of the Nook Glowlight I've read mention how the Glowlight give a more even light on the page compared to an external light. An even lighting means a better reading experience. In addition, the Glowlight allows you to read in low light which you can't do with any of the current crop of ereaders with eink.

Considering the reviews and popularity of the Nook Glowlight, Amazon would be nuts to ignore it. When it does come out, I plan to buy one. However, I'd prefer they take their time and get it right rather than rush a product to market full of untested problems.

[Bookatarian]

The Kindle Touch lighted case works really well for light in both a darkened or dimmed area, with the convenience of being built in and always on hand. There are significant drawbacks:
1. The cost of the lighted case is quite high.
2. The cases aren't much in the way of colors/options for custom design.
3. The light is a pain to deal with when reading in a reclined position (like in bed).
4. The case adds some weight to the device (though I still easily can hold it in one hand).

Mostly though, I've loved the convenience of having the light when I needed it. When Nook Glow first game out, I was just a little bit envious and wanted that, especially for the even lighting across the screen. I'd definitely be interested in a Kindle device with glow type technology...then I can buy any case I want, while having the convenience of anytime lighting.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by TongueTied

However, I'd prefer they take their time and get it right rather than rush a product to market full of untested problems.

We just have to wait for somebody to do a key drop test before rushing out to buy one. ;-)