Odds of New Models?

[U2Bono269]

I'm looking to upgrade my 2013 Kindle Paperwhite at some point this summer, probably on Prime Day or some other spring/summer sale. I'm going to upgrade because I want the higher resolution, my current battery is losing capacity, and I'm graduating from grad school so I want to treat myself.

I've decided on the most recent Paperwhite...the Oasis ticks all my boxes but I can't justify the price when the Paperwhite meets my basic requirements so adequately. I'm not going to spend $150 for some added convenience. (The Voyage is a no-go because I think it's hideous).

But anyway, I haven't heard any rumors about new Kindle models, or updates to current models. But I'm also not super tuned in to these things. What do you think are the odds that a new model or a refreshed model will be introduced this spring? I'm thinking there won't be anything new happening.

[knc1]

There is already a "refreshed" model of the PW-3 released.
(It is functionally and cosmetically identical to the previous PW-3, only the model numbers changed.)

Right now, nearly everyone is still receiving Kindles from the existing stock.

If you have any interest at all in using any of our add-ins, do not wait, order now while you can still get one of the PW-3's that is running firmware older than 5.8.8
If 5.8.8 or newer, you can't jailbreak it.

There are "Certified Refurbished" PW-3s from Amazon (USA) for $85 -
But I would stay away from them if your going to use any of our add-ins, the "Refurbishment" may have included updating them to 5.8.8 or 5.8.9
If not interested in any of our add-ins (I.E: you will never jail break it) - then grab one of the refurbished PW-3s and save a few bucks.

[U2Bono269]

No need to jailbreak. I use Calibre and sideload from pretty much any store I want. I didn't know they released a newer version of the PW3...if they didn't change anything, what was the point? Was it just to add the white model?

In that case, I will likely wait until a good sale. My current one still has life in it, so I can afford to wait until I get the deal I want over the next few months. If it's like the last one, I can get a new one for about the price of a refurb.

Traditionally most new Kindles over the past few years have been released in the autumn, so don't expect much until then. And don't expect much in autumn either. I think the whole eReader industry is tapering downward. There really isn't much competition any more, so fewer models are being released.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

No need to jailbreak. I use Calibre and sideload from pretty much any store I want. I didn't know they released a newer version of the PW3...if they didn't change anything, what was the point? Was it just to add the white model?

They ran out of stock and made another production run.
There might be some internal changes, I haven't seen the insides of the new PW-3 models.

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

In that case, I will likely wait until a good sale. My current one still has life in it, so I can afford to wait until I get the deal I want over the next few months. If it's like the last one, I can get a new one for about the price of a refurb.

That also depends on what country you are in of course.
There are regional differences.

I have been assuming a new PW-3 because it is (in my opinion) the best device for the money.
Naturally, you have to forego certain bragging rights when you buy a 7th. generation model.

[tomsem]

If they put a flush screen on the Paperwhite so it was the same as Voyage, and I suppose waterproof it, it would be an improvement. Then update Oasis with auto-brightness, maybe double storage, and drop the price $60 or so, and they could eliminate Voyage. I'm doubtful I would get a new Kindle as I'm quite happy with Voyage. Bluetooth would be helpful especially if they can add keyboard profiles to that so you could have some more options.

We're never going to see Liquavista, it seems. I'm not sure I'd be interested at this point. I am not one to do much outdoor reading.

[kaibob]

The following are announcement and release dates of previous Kindles:

Paperwhite 1 - announced September 6 and released October 1, 2012.
Paperwhite 2 - announced September 3 and released September 30, 2013
Paperwhite 3 - released June 30, 2015
Voyage - announced September 18 and released October 21, 2014
Oasis announced April 13 and released April 27, 2016
Kindle 8 (basic Kindle) - released June 22, 2016

As you can see, it's been almost 2 years since a new Paperwhite model was released, so I suspect we may see a new Paperwhite this year. However, I agree with the forum members in earlier posts that a Spring release is unlikely. But, this is all just an educated guess at best.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by tomsem

If they put a flush screen on the Paperwhite so it was the same as Voyage, and I suppose waterproof it, it would be an improvement. Then update Oasis with auto-brightness, maybe double storage, and drop the price $60 or so, and they could eliminate Voyage. I'm doubtful I would get a new Kindle as I'm quite happy with Voyage. Bluetooth would be helpful especially if they can add keyboard profiles to that so you could have some more options.

We're never going to see Liquavista, it seems. I'm not sure I'd be interested at this point. I am not one to do much outdoor reading.

The KT3 has Bluetooth, but there are no signs (in the dev. forum) that anybody is interested.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

No need to jailbreak. I use Calibre and sideload from pretty much any store I want. I didn't know they released a newer version of the PW3...if they didn't change anything, what was the point? Was it just to add the white model?

In that case, I will likely wait until a good sale. My current one still has life in it, so I can afford to wait until I get the deal I want over the next few months. If it's like the last one, I can get a new one for about the price of a refurb.

Jailbreaking is for the capability of modifying the device firmware, so you can do things like use your own fonts, screensavers, changing the margins, and various other things. I think you are thinking about DRM removal and format switching, which is something else entirely.

The PW3 has 300 dpi. That's really the only major difference. Maybe there'll be a new paper white this year and it may have one or more of these things: a/ flush screen, b/ Bluetooth, c/ waterproofing or d/ 32gb of memory. If none of that gets you excited, you can try buying a refurb PW3 from Amazon, which should look and work as new and will have the same warranty and 30 day return if you decide the 300 dpi screen isn't worth the upgrade.

[Lady Stardust]

This thread is about the possibility of new Paperwhite in the second half of this year https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=285597

[U2Bono269]

Originally Posted by Barty

Jailbreaking is for the capability of modifying the device firmware, so you can do things like use your own fonts, screensavers, changing the margins, and various other things. I think you are thinking about DRM removal and format switching, which is something else entirely.

The PW3 has 300 dpi. That's really the only major difference. Maybe there'll be a new paper white this year and it may have one or more of these things: a/ flush screen, b/ Bluetooth, c/ waterproofing or d/ 32gb of memory. If none of that gets you excited, you can try buying a refurb PW3 from Amazon, which should look and work as new and will have the same warranty and 30 day return if you decide the 300 dpi screen isn't worth the upgrade.

What I meant was that I had no need to install ePub hacks or other reading apps like Koreader. I don't care much for the other things either. The Kindle's basic functions and fonts are perfect for me so why change anything? Plus, I rooted my old Nook Simple Touch once and it just didn't add anything worthwhile.

In the meantime, I decided to give my Kindle a factory reset and reload my books. I also cut down on the number of books added, so that I'm only carrying around 30 or 40. Add in Airplane mode, and I'm getting back to the battery capacity I'm used to. I can definitely afford to wait now to see what happens with the future releases...maybe the Oasis will come way down in price with the addition of news models. Or maybe the new models will suit my needs better.

[knc1]

You should wait until the indexer has finished its work.
Indexing 30 or 40 books will take it a fair amount of run-time to compute.
You can use the 'old school' way of checking if the indexer has finished, even on the newer firmware.

[happysnapper22]

Originally Posted by knc1

You can use the 'old school' way of checking if the indexer has finished, even on the newer firmware.

Showing my ignorance - what's the old school way of checking the indexer?

I've got a PW2 with latest FW (5.8.9) other then that its stock, NOT jail broken.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by happysnapper22

Showing my ignorance - what's the old school way of checking the indexer?

I've got a PW2 with latest FW (5.8.9) other then that its stock, NOT jail broken.

Search for something that can not be found.
The "not found" message will include how much work the indexer needs to complete.

Although I haven't seen any reports that it still works on 5.8.7 or newer.
Try it, let us know if the information is still included in the message (it will not be if the indexer is caught up).
You will probably have to drop several books onto the Kindle at the same time to give yourself a chance to enter the search that will fail command.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by happysnapper22

Showing my ignorance - what's the old school way of checking the indexer?

I've got a PW2 with latest FW (5.8.9) other then that its stock, NOT jail broken.

From Home screen, search for '.' (period). There will be a 'Text in Books (n)' entry in the search results. If anything is being indexed, 'n' will be greater than zero and you can tap to see what it is indexing.