New Amazon Kindle: Even Kindle-ier and Less IPaddish

By  |  Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 7:24 pm

What should the next-generation Kindle be like? Like the current Kindle, only more so. That’s clearly Amazon.com’s strategy, judging from the news about the new Kindle which first broke tonight on Engadget.
In the wake of the iPad, Amazon could choose from several obvious potential strategies for the future of its e-reader. The one it’s chosen, at least for now, is to focus on reading–and to move away from the iPad rather than towards it, by making the Kindle smaller, lighter, and more affordable.

Key new features:

The new model is 21 percent smaller and 15 percent lighter than its predecessor (at 8.7 ounces, its weight is almost two-thirds lighter than the iPad);

Same 6″ E-Ink monochrome screen as before, but with 20 percent faster refresh rate and better contrast;

Ten days of battery life with 3G on, a month with it turned off;

4GB of storage space for books, versus 2GB in the past;

Both graphite (like the new Kindle DX) and white versions;

Slightly revised keyboard and controls;

New WebKit-based browser;

$189 model with free 3G access; $139 model with Wi-Fi (both prices undercutting roughly comparable Barnes & Noble Nooks by $10).

The new model ships on August 27th–and I guess we know why Amazon let its supply of the old version run out. (I guess it’s going to go for a month without any Kindles except the DX to sell, though–wonder how many people will go for a Nook or Kobo or Sony Reader rather than wait?)

Amazon’s strategy is as sensible as any I can think of for the Kindle–make it more like a book and even less like an iPad, thereby catering to all the folks who want the equivalent of a (relatively) cheap, highly portable digital paperback rather than the costlier do-it-all device that is Apple’s tablet. For all the people who do their electronic reading on the iPad and/or smartphones (like, um, me) there should be plenty of customers left who want a dedicated device–at least for now.

I’ll review the new Kindle as soon as I can get my hands on one. I’m most curious about how much closer the display gets to true paperlike legibility. (I haven’t seen the improved screen on the Kindle DX in person yet.)

 
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6 Comments For This Post

  1. Tom B Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 3:06 am

    Geez– just when we thought the LAST model couldn't have been more of a POS, this thing is utterly useless.

  2. Max Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 2:42 am

    Tom B: Seemingly useless to you, but different consumers do look for different things.

    Some do want a cheap(ish) ereader (screen not emitting light being easier on the eyes etc) and not an upsized ipod touch.

  3. Charbax Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 10:13 am

    Do you read full length e-books on your iPad? I don't think so. That's like staring into a light bulb. Nobody reads on the iPad for more than 5 minutes.

  4. David Worthington Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    I don't think that iPad buyers and Kindle buyers are even the same market despite the perceived similarities between the devices.

  5. Tom B Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    "That's like staring into a light bulb."

    What do you do with your computer monitor? Wear sunglasses? It SEEMS like an ad hoc argument. It also seems to me that the Nook and Kindle render text rather poorly– not very smooth fonts– though that may be fixed since the version I saw (Kindle 2). That would bug me.

  6. tom Says:
    September 6th, 2010 at 4:10 am

    We should keep focus not on the reader cost but the books. The reader is a minor one time purchase. Overpriced ebooks is where the retailers make money. Why do ebooks cost so much more than the paperback version? Why can I share a paperback book but not an ebook? Until this situation is improved this avid reader is sticking to paper.