Amazon Announces Kindle Colorsoft

[MadHatch]

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

How did you reach this conclusion? The display technology doesn’t seem to be named on the page you linked to.

"Amazon’s 7” colour display technology with built-in front light, 300 ppi B&W, 150 ppi colour, optimised font technology, 16-level greyscale."

Copied from the tech specs on the order page. That's not Gallery 3 tech.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Dee Q

"Amazon’s 7” colour display technology with built-in front light, 300 ppi B&W, 150 ppi colour, optimised font technology, 16-level greyscale."

This sounds like Kaleido.

Yes. Gallery 3 would be 300dpi in both B&W and Colour.

I've amended the details on the first page. And cancelled my pre-order.

I'm no longer so excited about it, with a Kobo Clara Colour being just £139.99!

[MadHatch]

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

Ah yes indeed, that’s true. If it’s the case then the Colorsoft will have some serious competition from Kobo if Amazon maintains this price point.

In the press release they talk about doing something different with the screen stack and adding a new filter. Depending on what that does for the screen, it could make it a better option. BUT, reviews will need to be made first and that means the device has to get out in the wild.

Time will tell.

Amazon are late to the colour eInk party, and they are going to have to bring something different to compete.

[shamanNS]

@MadHatch
hint: through conversion.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Yes. Gallery 3 would be 300dpi in both B&W and Colour.

I've amended the details on the first page. And cancelled my pre-order.

I'm no longer so excited about it, with a Kobo Clara Colour being just £139.99!

You have to compare the price to the Kobo Libra Colour since they both have a 7" screen. The Kobo Libra Colour is £199.99 vs the Kindle Colorsoft at £269.99.

[JSWolf]

Amazon is saying that the Colorsoft battery will last 28 hours with reading 1 hour a day with the light at 13.

Battery Life: A single charge lasts up to 8 weeks, based on half an hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13. Battery life may vary depending on use. Audible audiobook streaming over Bluetooth will reduce battery life.

[JoeC]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But remember, the Kobo Clara Colour uses the crappy Kaleido 3 overlay.

This is the first time Kobo will be far behind the Kindle. The color Kindle is going to be much better then the color Kobo Libra.

I fell out of my chair when I saw this.

It's good to see that many were wrong about Amazon abandoning the Kindle. Competition is good. Let the ereader wars continue!

[Dazrin]

If your second paragraph is a quote, then it's 28 hours. 1/2 hour per day.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Amazon is saying that the Colorsoft battery will last 56 hours with reading 1 hour a day with the light at 13.

Battery Life: A single charge lasts up to 8 weeks, based on half an hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13. Battery life may vary depending on use. Audible audiobook streaming over Bluetooth will reduce battery life.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You have to compare the price to the Kobo Libra Colour since they both have a 7" screen. The Kobo Libra Colour is £199.99 vs the Kindle Colorsoft at £269.99.

And the Kobo Libra has buttons. I think the Kindle Color is overpriced right now.

[kyôdai]

Originally Posted by MadHatch

And....

The plot thickens. Colorsoft supports EPUBs! This is a departure for Amazon, which has always shied away from that format.

(Supported formats: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively ; PDF, DOCX, DOC, HTML, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion ; Audible audio format (AAX).)

Take a closer look at the specs, they can be a bit misleading. I have coloured them a bit, that should help you.

No, the Kindle still does not support EPUBs.

It only supports AZW, AZW3, TXT, PDF, MOBI and PRC natively.
Everything else through conversion into one of these formats.

[Scoob]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Meh. No buttons or ergonomical shape, just boring oblongs which are uncomfortable to hold. Not interested, no matter how good the colors are.

Completely agree. The Color Kindle is way overpriced compared to other companies offerings but I was hopeful at least one Kindle would have buttons. That none do is disappointing, I guess someone at Amazon decided it was too expensive or added too much complexity in manufacturing and coding to have buttons

[Josieb1]

I'm trying to get my head around what they have done with the Scribe. i can't see the new version is much better than the original especially as some of the new updates are software related which could surely be passed down to the original Scribe. It also doesn't seem worth the outlay of at least £380.

They have kept the form factor the same as the new covers fit both 2022 and 2024 models.

[Vrondi]

The Verge has since added a hands on/first impressions article for the Color Soft: https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/16/...price-hands-on

I'm curious to see some side-by-side comparisons, because The Verge says this:

"The Colorsoft is based on E Ink’s Kaleido technology but uses an entirely new display stack for Kindles, all the way back to a newly designed oxide backplane that makes it easier for E Ink panel’s tiny bits of ink to move around quickly."

and also:

"The Colorsoft has new LED pixels, and a new way of shining light through them individually to enhance colors. It’s also brighter than ever, to help the whole thing feel more vivid. Some of this tech also helped the new Paperwhite turn pages faster and easier, but it was designed to make Colorsoft work."

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You have to compare the price to the Kobo Libra Colour since they both have a 7" screen. The Kobo Libra Colour is £199.99 vs the Kindle Colorsoft at £269.99.

Only if you want a 7" screen. If colour is the main feature you want, and 6" or 7" is unimportant, it's a valid comparison.

Originally Posted by Vrondi

"The Colorsoft has new LED pixels, and a new way of shining light through them individually to enhance colors. It’s also brighter than ever, to help the whole thing feel more vivid. Some of this tech also helped the new Paperwhite turn pages faster and easier, but it was designed to make Colorsoft work."

Thanks for the links. It might be that they have made it work better.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by MadHatch

And....

The plot thickens. Colorsoft supports EPUBs! This is a departure for Amazon, which has always shied away from that format.

(Supported formats: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, DOCX, DOC, HTML, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion; Audible audio format (AAX).)

Originally Posted by Sirtel

No, it won't support EPUB. Note the phrase "through conversion" - this means Send To Kindle supports EPUB, not the Kindle itself. Same as now.

So native PDF support is gone?