Amazon Announces 4 New Kindle devices...

[pilotbob]

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:

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)

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

I'm not sure on 3. Kindle touch says:

A single charge lasts up to two months with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time. Keep wireless always on and it lasts for up to 6 weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store, web browsing, and downloading content.

Kindle Keyboard says:

A single charge lasts up to two months with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time.

Seems the same to me.

Is there even a new eInk screen out? I expect they are using the newest one available and in production.

I think your "not necessary but nice" would apply to everything you list above.

All the rest, yes, just as true for the new devices as the current K3.

Why you are "upset" about this I don't know. Doesn't seem to be something to get upset over.

BOb

[Dulin's Books]

Always connected is marketing speak for a 3g connection. its the way marketers like to differentiate from wifi. With wifi you have to be near a hotspot so are not "always connected". it has nothing to do with the ability to turn it off or not.

The thing would never make it through the FCC if the wifi and 3g couldnt be turned off.

battery life wont be noticeably different unless using one of the wireless connections. the Touch will have to power the IR so it would be less over all than the non touch version. all the eink kindles will get at over a month under the conditions they list.

[kaleissin]

No hardware buttons for turning the page on the touch-versions . Non-touch-version has buttons in hopeless place I'll stick with the one I have.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Regardless of how you feel about the ads, and how unobtrusive they may be... 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.

It is very clear on the webpage. If you go to order one you have two choices, with Special offers and without special offers and the price points are listed for both. The press conference is a place for Amazon to tout its lower prices. If you go online you can see the difference and make a clear choice.

[tubemonkey]

Under technical details for the Kindle Touch, Amazon says:

A single charge lasts up to two months with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time. Keep wireless always on and it lasts for up to 6 weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store, web browsing, and downloading content.

So I'm pretty sure it's two months and the at a glance description was a typo.

I bet the Button Kindle is only one month. It also has just 2GB of storage compared to the Kindle Touch's 4GB. A smaller battery and smaller flash storage lead to a lower price. $79 is a very aggressive price point.

[carld]

I could buy a Kindle Fire and a Kindle Touch 3G (either one), for less than I paid for my Kindle 1, 4 years ago.

[Graham]

I hereby predict that in 2 years time Amazon will have 40% of the global tablet market.

Right. Need to bookmark this.

Graham

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by kaleissin

No hardware buttons for turning the page on the touch-versions . Non-touch-version has buttons in hopeless place I'll stick with the one I have.

Grow new thumbs

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by kaleissin

No hardware buttons for turning the page on the touch-versions . Non-touch-version has buttons in hopeless place I'll stick with the one I have.

non touch version has buttons on the face AND on the sides in the same place as the keyboard version . you can see them in this picture

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by SleepyBob

I don't see how Nook and Sony can continue as more than marginal competitors in the e-ink field. Pretty much all of the Nook ST advantages have evaporated with the new Kindle and the introduction of Overdrive lending. I don't see anything left in its favor, aside from in-store reading and ePub, for those who want to support the open format ideal.

ePub And being sold outside the US Well, for sony.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by HarryT

are you suggesting that Amazon are going to restrict your WiFi usage?

They have that special browser, where all your viewed web pages get digested by their servers and modified for faster viewing on low-end Kindle Fire hardware.

I very much hope there will be ordinary browser available.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by kacir

They have that special browser, where all your viewed web pages get digested by their servers and modified for faster viewing on low-end Kindle Fire hardware.

I very much hope there will be ordinary browser available.

Sounds like the Amazon Andriod market and the Google Market are going to be supported, so you could install the Dolphin browser if you want.

BOb

[macminer]

I wonder what's behind the decision to remove keyboard from the basic Kindle. Does it really cost $20 (the price difference from current "Kindle keyboard") to put a hardware keyboard? Or is it in order to make the Kindle look as small and casual as possible?

Even if you don't use the keyboard for web browsing, making notes etc., you still need to enter text to search in the Amazon store, Wikipedia or inside the book, to create a new book collection etc. With the 4-d pad as the only option this is going to be really painful...
Is the basic Kindle meant to be just a device for reading fiction?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by macminer

I wonder what's behind the decision to remove keyboard from the basic Kindle. Does it really cost $20 (the price difference from current "Kindle keyboard") to put a hardware keyboard? Or is it in order to make the Kindle look as small and casual as possible?

Even if you don't use the keyboard for web browsing, making notes etc., you still need to enter text to search in the Amazon store, Wikipedia or inside the book, to create a new book collection etc. With the 4-d pad as the only option this is going to be really painful...
Is the basic Kindle meant to be just a device for reading fiction?

The touch will have a touch keyboard... but yea, entering stuff on the Kindle basic is going to be a PITA...

BOb

[grumbles]

No epub -- no sale!