Out of this year’s Kindle lineup, I am the most excited about the Kindle Paperwhite.
Other than the light, it looks just like the traditional e-ink Kindle that is compact and easy to carry around in your purse or bag.
The front-lit screen is the major draw for me. I am a voracious reader, and often wish I could read my Kindle in situations where it is dark, like night time car rides, etc.
It will be interesting to see how this new lighted Kindle will impact the book lights that are currently out on the market. My best guess is that they’ll hold their own for awhile since so many people still own the older models or the basic Kindle.
The other major reason is a much needed upgrade for the touchscreen technology. The Kindle Touch had issues with trails from previous pages. The text is crisp, but it could use a tune up.
A few more notable features include:
- Two month battery life even with the light, which is impressive considering most LCD tablets and phones are battery hogs
- Time to read feature that measures your reading speed and lets you know when you’ll finish reading a chapter
- Better pixel resolution and sharper contrast
- New, hand-tuned fonts
The complete list of features can be found on Amazon. The Kindle Paperwhite comes with or without Special Offers. It also comes in a 3G or Wi-Fi only model.
After light, there is only one major upgrade: color. At least, that we can think of. Technology changes almost daily. Next year perhaps? I would like to see a tablet that can use both LCD and e-ink, or something that fulfills the purposes of each. That way, I wouldn’t have to tote a bunch of difference devices around. Learn how to open EML file.
The Kindle Paperwhite ships October 22nd just in time for the holiday shopping season and should give the Nook Glowlight a run for its money.
I jumped from the Kindle 3 to the Nook after last year’s horrible Kindle Touch (I sent mine back to Amazon after a few days). This looks like a huge improvement. The higher resolution screen and thinner bezel (hopefully less sharp on the thumb) makes this worth a look, but I want to see it in person before purchasing.
I think the product to watch is the next Nook. If it can jump screen resolution– there will be no comparison. The current Nook takes the Kindle Paperlight on ergonomics, expandability, weight, fonts, speed and design.
The Kindle now takes the Nook on Whispernet and screen resolution. Glad to see Amazon at least get back in the game.