Praise for the Kindle 4

[Vmurph]

Originally Posted by Blossom

We are discussing this in another thread. We are pretty sure it's misinformation. That the K4 only change is the Black Bezel if the old one has 2GB. I just watch the Press conference. He did say they improved it. He was being vague.

Thanks. Yes, he was very vague. I agree, he definitely said it was improved, however, he neglected to mention that the original one was improved as well.

[Vmurph]

It's just a marketing tactic to boost sales of the one product that wasn't updated.

Apple did the same thing last year with the iPod Touch. For years it was only available in black. Every year they released a new model, but last year they only released a new iPhone, but no iPod Touch. So to avoid upsetting the masses, they threw us a bone (faked everyone out) and released the same old iPod in a new color...white...to match the color of the newly updated iPhone.

They remained suspiciously silent on it's status (changed or unchanged), knowing full well that everyone would assume it had updated hardware. It took some people months to confirm that it didn't.

Originally Posted by Vmurph

It's just a marketing tactic to boost sales of the one product that wasn't updated.

Apple did the same thing last year with the iPod Touch. For years it was only available in black. Every year they released a new model, but last year they only released a new iPhone, but no iPod Touch. So to avoid upsetting the masses, they threw us a bone (faked everyone out) and released the same old iPod in a new color...white...to match the color of the newly updated iPhone.

They remained suspiciously silent on it's status (changed or unchanged), knowing full well that everyone would assume it had updated hardware. It took some people months to confirm that it didn't.

Apple did a similar release with the iPod touch 2 when they released it with only more memory and called it Generation 3. I hope they bring out a redesigned one this year with a larger screen and a battery that actually lasts more than 2 hours.

[Vmurph]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Apple did a similar release with the iPod touch 2 when they released it with only more memory and called it Generation 3.

Oh yes, I remember that. Yeah, that was a slick move.

I hope they bring out a redesigned one this year with a larger screen and a battery that actually lasts more than 2 hours.

From your lips to God's ears! I'm still on the 3rd Gen...no camera.

I bought it a week before the 4th gen's released. (it was my first ipod, so I wasn't savvy yet) I decided to skip over the 4th gen last year since the 5th was supposedly imminent. I was horrified when it wasn't announced. So I've been biding my time since then, with a battery that now lasts a mere 20 minutes.

Needless to say, I will be devastated if iPod Touch info is absent from this month's keynote speech. The screen will be larger (by about an inch?), but improved battery life remains to be seen.

Anyway, didn't mean to divert from the topic. I'm glad to finally confirm that my silver K4 is not inferior to the new black one after all.

Originally Posted by Vmurph

Oh yes, I remember that. Yeah, that was a slick move.


From your lips to God's ears! I'm still on the 3rd Gen...no camera.

I bought it a week before the 4th gen's released. (it was my first ipod, so I wasn't savvy yet) I decided to skip over the 4th gen last year since the 5th was supposedly imminent. I was horrified when it wasn't announced. So I've been biding my time since then, with a battery that now lasts a mere 20 minutes.

Needless to say, I will be devastated if iPod Touch info is absent from this month's keynote speech. The screen will be larger (by about an inch?), but improved battery life remains to be seen.

Anyway, didn't mean to divert from the topic. I'm glad to finally confirm that my silver K4 is not inferior to the new black one after all.

Some rumors say the iPad mini won't be announced until October. So if they don't announce either next week, maybe they will in October. The touch 4 is their top selling iPod, so I think they will update it this year.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Some rumors say the iPad mini won't be announced until October. So if they don't announce either next week, maybe they will in October. The touch 4 is their top selling iPod, so I think they will update it this year.

September has always been the month for the iPod touch, so I'm expecting them to announce an iPod touch 5 next week. Will they? Who knows. Their traditional event schedule is all out of whack.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Apple did a similar release with the iPod touch 2 when they released it with only more memory and called it Generation 3. I hope they bring out a redesigned one this year with a larger screen and a battery that actually lasts more than 2 hours.

I just wish they'd use the current iPhone case and stuff iPod parts in it. My iPt4 is too thin, so I stuff it inside a thick case to bulk it up.

[Vmurph]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Some rumors say the iPad mini won't be announced until October. So if they don't announce either next week, maybe they will in October. The touch 4 is their top selling iPod, so I think they will update it this year.

Well, the iPhone is definitely being announced at the September event, so it stands to reason that the iPod Touch will be announced at the same time, since they're both practically the same device.

There's also some tweaked Nanos and Shuffles, plus a brand new style Nano (with wi-fi). Rumors are that some will be announced in Sept, while the others are saved for October, with the iPad Mini.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I just wish they'd use the current iPhone case and stuff iPod parts in it. My iPt4 is too thin, so I stuff it inside a thick case to bulk it up.

Hear, hear! I dislike the tapered edges, and I especially hate the rounded back. I wish they'd just make them flat like the iPhone.

[Vmurph]

Deleted

[Vmurph]

Oh no

I just found the following on Macworld.com :

-----------
"The report points towards the possibility of a third line of colourful iPods, which is unlikely to be a new iPod touch. The report suggests that the third line could be an all-new iPod mini design with a larger display and a home button, like the one in the mockup above."
-----------

No new iPod Touch...ever???

[xendula]

I was trying to figure out if the new one has a better screen resolution. Unlike with the K4, they now do not post the ppi info anymore and I could not find a single screen comparison article through Google. If you guys are right, the $69 model is only interesting for new buyers. The low price point may just be what is needed to convert some old school book worms from paper to eink.

I ordered the Paperwhite for the whiter screen (still can't figure out if it's only whiter because the light shines on it, or whether it is also whiter with the light turned off completely), but will definitely hold on to my trusty, little K4. I love it too much, and love the page turn buttons.

[Vmurph]

Originally Posted by xendula

I was trying to figure out if the new one has a better screen resolution. Unlike with the K4, they now do not post the ppi info anymore and I could not find a single screen comparison article through Google.

Both K4's (black and silver) and the KT are 167 ppi and the Paperwhite is 212 ppi. (it's posted on Amazon's product page)

I ordered the Paperwhite for the whiter screen (still can't figure out if it's only whiter because the light shines on it, or whether it is also whiter with the light turned off completely),

I had the exact same question, and I finally found the answer. I posted the findings in a different thread---> HERE (along with a good closeup photo)

but will definitely hold on to my trusty, little K4. I love it too much, and love the page turn buttons.

Same here...and my Keyboard. I'm just not ready to give up the buttons. It's the reason I never purchased a Touch. But the Paperwhite display was just to hard to resist.

Originally Posted by xendula

I was trying to figure out if the new one has a better screen resolution. Unlike with the K4, they now do not post the ppi info anymore and I could not find a single screen comparison article through Google. If you guys are right, the $69 model is only interesting for new buyers. The low price point may just be what is needed to convert some old school book worms from paper to eink.

I ordered the Paperwhite for the whiter screen (still can't figure out if it's only whiter because the light shines on it, or whether it is also whiter with the light turned off completely), but will definitely hold on to my trusty, little K4. I love it too much, and love the page turn buttons.

Are you talking about the Paperwhite? If so I read where the resolution is 212 ppi. You can also figure it out by calculating the number of pixels across the diagonal of the 6" screen then dividing that by 6 to get the ppi.

The new screen is 768 px wide by 1024 px tall, so to calculate the diagonal number of pixels:

Diagonal PX = SQROOT ((1024 x 1024) + (768 x 768)) = 1280 px

PPI = 1280 / 6 = 213.33

[soulfuldog]

For those complaining that the basic Kindle hasn't been upgraded, all Amazon have done is advertise that it's their base entry Kindle with some software improvements over the older version. Yes they've been sneaky by not making it clear those software improvements were already available in a firmware update for the original base entry Kindle, and by giving it a new colour to make people think it's new.

However, at least they didn't give it a different model number, move some buttons around, add some software improvements and sell it is a brand new model - isn't that after all what Sony have done with the PRS-T2?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Are you talking about the Paperwhite? If so I read where the resolution is 212 ppi. You can also figure it out by calculating the number of pixels across the diagonal of the 6" screen then dividing that by 6 to get the ppi.

The new screen is 768 px wide by 1024 px tall, so to calculate the diagonal number of pixels:

Diagonal PX = SQROOT ((1024 x 1024) + (768 x 768)) = 1280 px

PPI = 1280 / 6 = 213.33

Here's an easy online calculator I use for PPI:

Pixel Density Calculator