Amazon Announces 4 New Kindle devices...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

Too me it is not a big deal. I found using the web on my K3 to be so bad, I've only used it once or twice.

A painful experience to say the least; so I don't use it.

[elemenoP]

Tubemonkey, if you *never* see the ads, how did you take advantage of all those offers?? You already paid off your KSO in offers you took *used,* right?

eP

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I do think Amazon should have been a little more clear about their pricing with this press conference (and in general). The website and the various versions/prices are getting pretty confusing to keep straight.

Yes, it's all very confusing! I posted this elsewhere at MobileRead, but here's a breakdown (for U.S.):

NO KEYBOARD BUTTONS:

$79 – NEW Kindle with page buttons + 5-way (no touchscreen) wi-fi only with special offers (ads) – 6" e-ink display
$109 – NEW Kindle with page buttons + 5-way (no touchscreen) wi-fi only with no ads – 6" e-ink display

$99 – Kindle Touch wi-fi only with special offers (ads) – 6" e-ink display
$139 – Kindle Touch wi-fi only with no ads – 6" display/e-ink

$149 – Kindle Touch free 3G+wi-fi with special offers (ads) – 6" e-ink display
$189 – Kindle Touch free 3G+wi-fi with no ads – 6" e-ink display

$199 – Kindle Fire – wi-fi only – full color 7" multi-touch display

KINDLE WITH KEYBOARD:

$99 – K3 Kindle Keyboard wi-fi only with special offers (ads) – 6" e-ink display
$139 – K3 Kindle Keyboard wi-fi only with no ads – 6" e-ink display

$139 – K3 Kindle Keyboard free 3G+wi-fi with special offers (ads) – 6" e-ink display
$189 – K3 Kindle Keyboard free 3G+wi-fi with no ads – 6" e-ink display

$379 – Kindle DX free 3G only – 9.7" e-ink display

* * *

Also, here are links to two new Amazon press releases:

Introducing the All-New Kindle Family: Four New Kindles, Four Amazing Price Points

Introducing "Amazon Silk": Amazon's Revolutionary Cloud-Accelerated Web Browser, Available Exclusively on Kindle Fire

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

nio not the wifi. i heard that the Fire might actually have a whispernet connection for delivering books/media to the device. i was saying if that is true they probably wont allow too much(if any) regular browsing over that whispernet. it might be restricted to just the amazon media sites. like when you choose the store it might connect over the whispernet instead of the wifi but if you bring up the browser itself it may only connect over wifi.

Hey, Dulin. I made the exact same mistake as you. I heard WhisperSync and thought WhisperNet, but I think the posters here are right. It looks like the Kindle Fire doesn't have any 3G hardware.

[lunixer]

I'm a little upset with the offerings. I never cared about the tablet, but was banking on a new generation of Kindle. Unfortunately the new generation has:

1) No way to customize screensavers
2) no way to customize fonts
3) Shorter! battery life (yes, the battery life is now advertised at less than the Kindle Keyboard, which seems to be identical to the K3)
4) No upgraded e-ink screen
5) Only one option for bezel color
6) No Epub support. (Not necessary, but it would be nice)

Okay, 1.5 ounces lighter than Kindle Keyboard (K3) is nice.

And the touch-screen offerings can only turn the page in each direction from one side. They also don't appear to have hardware page-turn buttons.

So, I really see no reason to buy one of these. In fact, I might go ahead and buy 2 or 3 of the Kindle Keyboards (KK?) just in case they decide to discontinue them when nobody is buying them anymore.

Please correct me if I got any of my above points wrong factually.

[OtterBooks]

It's not gonna please everyone. Doesn't necessarily have to. Even I would have preferred a camera. Would that have really added to the price much? Not even a great camera, just one good enough for video chat. Front only, even. but..this is the first generation after all.

[blue_skies]

At the beginning of the video for the 3G Touch model, they say it has "always connected free 3G wireless". On the current keyboard version I have the 3G turned off most of the time otherwise it runs down the battery very quickly. Is it possible that they really don't allow you to turn the 3G off with the new Touch model? If so, I would expect battery life to be very poor in comparison to the keyboard 3G Kindle.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

At the beginning of the video for the 3G Touch model, they say it has "always connected free 3G wireless". On the current keyboard version I have the 3G turned off most of the time otherwise it runs down the battery very quickly. Is it possible that they really don't allow you to turn the 3G off with the new Touch model? If so, I would expect battery life to be very poor in comparison to the keyboard 3G Kindle.

They have to allow you to turn it off, if for no other reason that you couldn't take it on an aeroplane otherwise.

[madmaxmedia]

Software, content library, and delivery system are the main differentiators, just as for other types of devices. That differentiation is more than enough for Apple to succeed, and is more than enough for Amazon to succeed. I cannot imagine Sony or BN coming up with a more compelling total package for a multimedia tablet. I think the overall user experience on the Fire will be great.

Unless one of these companies invents a new e-ink display themselves, I think all the e-ink devices will likely feature similar hardware from here on out. The only one that could actually develop a new screen is Sony, and they would be competing against economies of scale of the existing screens everyone else uses. There is still the opportunity for alternative form factors, but as a general 1-size-fits-most device, the compact IR touchscreen format is pretty well optimized and will probably serve best for 90% of users. Amazon can get away with a sub-$100 price because they know they will sell millions. So from a hardware perspective, I think it will be hard for these companies to really differentiate this way.

Originally Posted by Ken Stuart

New Kindle Color Tablet hardware is almost a clone of the current Nook Color - only difference is dual-core processor (which is simply the current processor at the same price point paid by BN for a processor a year ago).

New Kindle E-Ink Tablet hardware is almost a clone of the current Nook.

It looks like Amazon is banking on the word "Kindle" as the Official Media Word for E-Reader (just as the media use "Tivo" instead of "DVR").

Software and "Sports Team" fanboy allegiance (Apple,Amazon,Sony,BN) seem to be the only differences in the future.

Obviously, BN will likely cut their prices by 20% to match Amazon...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Tubemonkey, if you *never* see the ads, how did you take advantage of all those offers?? You already paid off your KSO in offers you took *used,* right?

eP

I access them from the menu once every 4 days; and only long enough to send the promo code to my email account.

[tlrowley]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

So, it looks like the Kindle Touch 3G no longer has a web browser. Under Experimental they only list Read to Me and Listen to Music and Podcasts.

I'm glad I have the keyboard version which gives me free 3G internet access when I need it.

All of the Kindle models can browse the web:

[madmaxmedia]

Originally Posted by llreader

I'm in for the touch e-ink version (I don't want a tablet, and when I do it will probably be a more all-purpose one). The cheapest model looks good for casual reading of things like novels.

I need to do some research on how well the Kindle handles PDF files (I read a lot of journal articles in PDF format, unfortunately) and how easy it is to interface with Calibre.

On the current Kindle it's not too bad IMO (not ideal either but you knew that!) A lot depends on the layout size of the documents, but the Kindle interface for viewing in landscape and re-sizing is pretty good.

If your primary purpose for a reader is PDF, I think a color tablet would be better, here screen size matters. A $99 Touchpad would have been great deal.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by lunixer

I'm a little upset with the offerings. I never cared about the tablet, but was banking on a new generation of Kindle. Unfortunately the new generation has:
3) Shorter! battery life (yes, the battery life is now advertised at less than the Kindle Keyboard, which seems to be identical to the K3)

And the touch-screen offerings can only turn the page in each direction from one side. They also don't appear to have hardware page-turn buttons.

I too am disappointed that they seem to have gotten rid of the page-turn buttons. And I'm trying to figure out what the deal is with the battery life. In the detailed description section for the $79 model, they say:

One Month Battery Life
No battery anxiety - read for up to one month on a single charge with wireless off and a half hour of reading per day.

For the two touch versions they say this:

Two Month Battery Life
No battery anxiety - read for up to one month on a single charge with wireless off and a half hour of reading per day.

They obviously made an error here and I'm wondering if it's supposed to be one month or the two month battery life the keyboard models have.

Originally Posted by HarryT

They have to allow you to turn it off, if for no other reason that you couldn't take it on an aeroplane otherwise.

I hope so. I still think it's weird that they said "always connected" and adding to that the discrepancy with the advertised battery life, it really makes me wonder.

[madmaxmedia]

I think 'always connected' is meant to mean that you can connect via 3G from just about anywhere, as opposed to wifi where you need to be in range of a wifi network. So you can be in the middle of a desert and buy a book (hopefully there will be a cell tower within range...)

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by tlrowley

All of the Kindle models can browse the web:

I didn't notice that. They no longer list it under experimental though (like they do for the Keyboard model) or mention anything other than buying books with the wireless service... so I'm still not convinced.