New "top of the line Kindle" details coming next week

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by Jason90

But your only going to notice the wedge from behind,I don't know about you but I tend to read my kindles from the front and not the back.

The voyage looks better in comparison but I guess the in-hand feel of this device will be better,70g lighter is quite an accomplishment,this design seems to be function over form with the button placement.

Some are speculating this might be the paperwhites replacement and not the voyages ,although that seems more like desperate hope

People are saying it's ugly because of the asymmetrical front, not the wedge on the back. For me, the deal breaker is the lopsided way it would feel in hand, and the fact that I wouldn't be able to easily switch hands while reading.

ETA: For me, the best form for any ereader was the Nook Simple Touch. Some people thought that was ugly, but I liked the way it looked too.

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

People are saying it's ugly because of the asymmetrical front, not the wedge on the back. For me, the deal breaker is the lopsided way it would feel in hand, and the fact that I wouldn't be able to easily switch hands while reading.

I don't think it will feel lopsided in your hand. The extra bulge means the weight will be in our hand, not hanging out past your hand. As a result, it would be incredibly light feeling in your hand -- even lighter than the 20% weight savings.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

...I rather like the asymmetry - it give a way to hold it easily one-handed.

That's what some of us said in 2009 about our jetBook Lites!

[robko]

Originally Posted by emellaich

... -- even lighter than the 20% weight savings.

That of course assumes that the stated weight (131 g) is WITH the cover, which I doubt it is. I suspect that weight is the device with a smaller battery and no cover attached. Great marketing, but I'm willing to bet there will be either the tradeoff of less battery life but lighter (no cover) or more weight to get better battery life (when you attach cover)

[Conan46]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

That's what some of us said in 2009 about our jetBook Lites!

You stole my thunder. I just realized that it looks similar to my old Jetbook Lite, or the mini:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neQIaafxoUI

A six year old design
And my old Jetbook was a bit weird to hold.

[emellaich]

I am thinking about the cover. It looks like it snaps directly into the 'bulge'. As a result there actually will not be a bulge to hold onto? I actually like the bulge concept for holding, but it seems to me the back will look like this (excuse my kindergarten image skills).


Also, for reference I overlayed the Oasis with the voyage and eyeballed the screen sizes to line them up. The inside of the blue line shown represents the outer edge of the voyage.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

ETA: For me, the best form for any ereader was the Nook Simple Touch. Some people thought that was ugly, but I liked the way it looked too.

I agree on both counts. I was reading last night on my NST with Glowlight. I still like it. Barnes & Noble (itself) ... on the other hand... But it's no problem moving a Kindle book to the Nook via Calibre.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by emellaich

I am thinking about the cover. It looks like it snaps directly into the 'bulge'.

I think I read that it has 12 magnets to hold it in place. The Oasis looks small compared to the outline of the Voyage (which is already pretty small).

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by shalym

I don't care how it looks, but I do care how it works, and auto-rotate just won't work for me. I lie on me side to read in bed, and if I have a device that auto rotates it is constantly flipping. I also roll from one side to the other while I'm reading, so I need to be able to change pages from either side.

All of that being said, I'm hoping that there is more to the new device than we are seeing, because I would love real page turn buttons again!

Shari

There will no doubt be a setting to lock orientation.

[Atunah]

Didn't it say somewhere something about a weight gravity sensor to change orientation? I read so many different sites now I don't know where it said that. So it would have to point down all the way to change and so sideways shouldn't be a problem?

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Atunah

Didn't it say somewhere something about a weight gravity sensor to change orientation? I read so many different sites now I don't know where it said that. So it would have to point down all the way to change and so sideways shouldn't be a problem?

That depends on whether it will auto-orient to landscape as well as the vertical modes (and I hope that it would).

In any case, you're always going to want a way to lock the orientation (or to disable auto orientation), especially when you are in zero G environments, or reading while hanging upside down.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by tomsem

In any case, you're always going to want a way to lock the orientation (or to disable auto orientation), especially when you are in zero G environments, or reading while hanging upside down.

That'll come in handy for me

[FizzyWater]

In design, it's a newer-tech eBookwise!

A link for those who don't remember what those look like.

[Dazrin]

I don't think I will be regretting my Voyage purchase earlier this year unless there is something in surprising in the actual announcement.

With the info so far I can't say which way I would have gone between the Oasis and the Voyage. Oasis may have longer battery life, physical buttons (big plus) and come with a cover but the easier dual handed use of the Voyage and (potential) issues with reading while laying on your side of the Oasis offset that mostly. I don't mind the haptic feedback / page press system in the Voyage although I did prefer the physical buttons on my K3. (JSWolf, don't read this next sentence...) I also like that the Voyage appears to be narrower since I do put it in pockets from time to time and even 1 cm more might reduce the number of pockets it fits in.

This thread certainly has been several places I didn't expect when starting it but that is part of the fun of a speculation type thread.

[SWCaffeinated]

Wow. Another vote for the Nook Simple Touch as favorite e reader. The shape and contoured back, the buttons were just right. Perfect ergonomics for me.

Amazon has a long tradition of blocky-looking hardware, with hard angles and edges... the Oasis seems to continue in that tradition...