Rather than clone Apple's iPad, Amazon sticks with e-ink for new Kindle
Instead of adopting a color touchscreen to compete with the Apple iPad, Amazon's newly redesigned Kindle will instead focus on price, sticking with a low-cost e-ink display and starting at just $139.
Soon after the iPad was announced earlier this year, Amazon purchased touchscreen maker Touchco. At the time, it was said that the bookseller planned to incorporate the technology from the startup company in a future Kindle e-reader device.
That may still come true in the future, but on Wednesday, Amazon announced that its next-generation Kindle will launch on Aug. 27 in the U.S. and U.K. and will keep a black-and-white e-ink display. The new screen has a contrast ratio that is said to be 50 percent better than its predecessor.
Like the iPad, the new Kindle will be offered in both Wi-Fi-only and 3G-capable versions. The Wi-Fi Kindle will cost $139, while the 3G version will run $189. It has a 21 percent smaller body than the previous generation, but still has the same 6-inch reading area. It's also 15 percent lighter and a third of an inch thin. With double the storage, the new Kindle can old up to 3,500 books.
The new Kindle also features quieter page turn buttons, an improved PDF reader, an "experimental" WebKit-based browser, and a voice guide that allows books to be read aloud.
After the iPad was released in April, Amazon lowered the price of its previous-generation Kindle to $189. While the device's e-ink screen allows battery life to be measured in weeks instead of hours, making it a strong e-reader, the display also means the hardware is not as capable at other multimedia functions as the iPad. Apple's touchscreen tablet starts at $499.
"Kindle is the best-selling product on Amazon for two years running. We lowered the price to $189 and sales growth tripled. Now, we are excited to introduce a new generation Kindle that is smaller, lighter, and faster, with 50 percent better contrast," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO.
"Readers are going to do a double take when they see Kindle's bright new screen and feel how remarkably light the smaller 8.7 ounce design feels in one hand. If you don't need the convenience of 3G wireless, we have an incredible new price point--$139 for Kindle Wi-Fi. Kindle Wi-Fi has all the same features, same bookstore, same high-contrast electronic paper display, and it's even a tiny bit lighter at 8.5 ounces. At this price point, many people are going to buy multiple units for the home and family."
Amazon and Apple began to compete in the digital reader space when the iPad and its accompanying iBookstore were released. Both devices allow instant downloads of bestselling titles for reading on the go.
Amazon, however, has hedged its bets and also offers e-book reading software for other platforms, including Apple's iPad. Using Amazon's "Whispersync" technology, users can begin a book on one device, like a Kindle, and then pick up right where they left off on another device, like the iPad.
Soon after the iPad was announced earlier this year, Amazon purchased touchscreen maker Touchco. At the time, it was said that the bookseller planned to incorporate the technology from the startup company in a future Kindle e-reader device.
That may still come true in the future, but on Wednesday, Amazon announced that its next-generation Kindle will launch on Aug. 27 in the U.S. and U.K. and will keep a black-and-white e-ink display. The new screen has a contrast ratio that is said to be 50 percent better than its predecessor.
Like the iPad, the new Kindle will be offered in both Wi-Fi-only and 3G-capable versions. The Wi-Fi Kindle will cost $139, while the 3G version will run $189. It has a 21 percent smaller body than the previous generation, but still has the same 6-inch reading area. It's also 15 percent lighter and a third of an inch thin. With double the storage, the new Kindle can old up to 3,500 books.
The new Kindle also features quieter page turn buttons, an improved PDF reader, an "experimental" WebKit-based browser, and a voice guide that allows books to be read aloud.
After the iPad was released in April, Amazon lowered the price of its previous-generation Kindle to $189. While the device's e-ink screen allows battery life to be measured in weeks instead of hours, making it a strong e-reader, the display also means the hardware is not as capable at other multimedia functions as the iPad. Apple's touchscreen tablet starts at $499.
"Kindle is the best-selling product on Amazon for two years running. We lowered the price to $189 and sales growth tripled. Now, we are excited to introduce a new generation Kindle that is smaller, lighter, and faster, with 50 percent better contrast," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO.
"Readers are going to do a double take when they see Kindle's bright new screen and feel how remarkably light the smaller 8.7 ounce design feels in one hand. If you don't need the convenience of 3G wireless, we have an incredible new price point--$139 for Kindle Wi-Fi. Kindle Wi-Fi has all the same features, same bookstore, same high-contrast electronic paper display, and it's even a tiny bit lighter at 8.5 ounces. At this price point, many people are going to buy multiple units for the home and family."
Amazon and Apple began to compete in the digital reader space when the iPad and its accompanying iBookstore were released. Both devices allow instant downloads of bestselling titles for reading on the go.
Amazon, however, has hedged its bets and also offers e-book reading software for other platforms, including Apple's iPad. Using Amazon's "Whispersync" technology, users can begin a book on one device, like a Kindle, and then pick up right where they left off on another device, like the iPad.
Comments
Bring it down to $99, and Amazon is golden. I am sure they can afford it too, since they will make most of their money on eBook sales anyways.
the iPad works as a reader pretty well, but the Kindle is great for taking on trips (no need to bring a charger) and reading outside.
Good move my Amazon to keep their niche, because they won't compete with the iPad.
"Kindle is the best-selling product on Amazon for two years running. We lowered the price to $189 and sales growth tripled. Now, we are excited to introduce a new generation Kindle that is smaller, lighter, and faster, with 50 percent better contrast," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO.
That doesn't seem likely unless there is an asterisk floating there as he speaks that we can't see about "compared to other e-reader devices for sale on our store." Sales growth tripling isn't the same thing as sales tripling.
Anyway, I guess in a couple of years we'll know what happened to the Kindle here today, lol.
they also sell Kindles? Who cares, they have over 1,000,000 products from toothpicks to enema bags. They compete with Walmart, not Apple.
I like the Kindle for reading and the iPad for email, web, pictures, etc. Kindle is much easier on my eyes than iPad for text though...
Gonna buy graphite Kindle DX 2
As a couple side notes...I think Amazon should focus on bringing the Kindle to the classroom. Work with Educational Publishers and really push the idea that the Kindle could be the perfect classroom companion device. The low cost, light weight, extreme battery life and reading experience make this an ideal device for students. I think this would give Amazon the edge they need to truly compete. Adding an All-In-One email app would be the only thing I would add as well; perhaps a Wikipedia app too. They may already have these options but i'm not sure. Heck, they could even give an educational subsidy and drop the costs even more.
Also, working with public libraries to develop a loan program to the Kindle would really put an edge up in the E-Books market for Amazon. If they could develop a program/app that allows you to "whisper-sync" to you local public library and get a book on loan for a month or so, that would really be great for Amazon.
What about Newspapers? I think the Kindle already offers news subscriptions but they should work more with the papers to help develop a stronger marketing program for it. Over the next 5-6 years I think we are going to see more E-Reader devices come out, and the price will continue to drop. Getting the News out at WiFi Kiosks would be such an excellent way to do this. And with cost dropping on the Kindle, we may even see the price go as low as $49 by 2015, with larger screens too, perhaps.
Very exciting indeed!
Still a one trick pony.
That's good enough for the avid reader which is a huge market. I know my mother would love a Kindle or any e-reader. She only cares about the text so black and white is fine.
The only flaw I see that my mother would run into is that the Kindle might not survive a dip in the bath where she likes to read. These devices need to be water resistant as people do read outside (i.e. near a pool and in light rain) or in the kitchen area.
Give us the EXACT numbers, Jeff. The EXACT NUMBERS! If you're proud of your sales volume, SHOUT IT LOUD! (So we can compare it to other devices in the "same" category, OK?)
Two years ago I read of a company making a screen that would work with both e-ink and regular color LCD images. It had the benefit of using very low power when the e-ink was in use. I was hopeful that the Kindle would adopt it. Now that the iPad exists the Kindle must compete by lowering its price. It also needs to update its technology.
Are any book publishers of text books working with the Kindle in a big way? I really would have preferred having all of my school books on one of those instead of hauling around ten pounds of books on the bus.
E-book prices still seem way too high. There is no shipping cost, no storage cost, nobody ever loads or unloads inventory, almost no fuel is used to store e-books, there is only a tiny place in an electronic device where the single copy to be duplicated is stored, and yet many e-books cost just ten to twenty percent less than a hard cover version. For example, today on Amazon the book Angels And Demons by Dan Brown hard cover edition costs $13.55 plus shipping if you don't order over $25 of books at one time. The Kindle edition costs $9.99. The mass market paperback version costs (ready for this?) $1.10 new from other retailers selling on Amazon. The Amazon price for it is still $9.99. The Amazon paperback and Kindle version cost the same.
On the Sony reader site they sell e-book novels for just about seven and a half percent less than the paperback versions.
Until I feel the value is there I won't be buying e-books from Amazon. Sure a Kindle is worth it for people who travel and read, but I don't travel. I can leave a paperback book laying around without any weight or space penalty.
I'm all for saving the environment but I'm also pragmatic. E-book prices need to reflect the total savings publishers and sellers have from distributing them. When that happens I'll get into e-books.
"Kindle is the best-selling product on Amazon for two years running."
Give us the EXACT numbers, Jeff. The EXACT NUMBERS! If you're proud of your sales volume, SHOUT IT LOUD! (So we can compare it to other devices in the "same" category, OK?)
Why, so we can rage another imaginary war like we have between the iPhone and every other smart phone?
The right way to do things would be to carry your iPad, which has your instantly downloadable books, and carry a real book, which is the main one you are reading.
The problem that the iPad needs to overcome, however, is weight. Its still a little too heavy for eBook usage.
I take a more minimalist approach to electronics, less is more. I like my iPhone, iPad (future), Time Capsule, AppleTV, iMac, MacBook...and have only a HDTV flat screen/cable box because Apple doesn't make them. (Yet) I will replace my current battery charger with an Apple charger next payday.
I'm fed up with the myriad of cables, power bricks, USB connections, docks and crappy interfaces.
iPhone 3Gs (iPhone 4 on order) replaces a video camera, still camera, GPS, iPod, Nike+ system, FM radio, Alarm clock, wrist watch, stopwatch, calendar, maps, calculator, cell phone, land line, thermometer, note pad, digital voice recorder (yes, I had a few of those), address book, checkbook, photos in my wallet, guitar tuner, compass, cookbooks, CD's, CD players.
iPhone 4: with flash will replace Exlim camera and with 40% more battery life, will replace my 3Gs' Mophe battery pack!
MacBook: When it breaks it will be replaced with an iPad 3Gs when I can afford it. Going on it's 5th year. I wish it would break. Seriously thinking of giving up High Speed internet service ($40/mo) and just using ATT 3G at home. Currently grandfathered in to iPhone's unlimited data plan. I could then do w/o the cable modem/pwr brick.
iPad: will replace all my newspaper/magazine subscriptions and a digital picture frame. Love the origami slide show. It will also eventually replace the 2 super drives I never use in my MacBook and iMac.
iMac: When it breaks, it will not be replaced. Maybe a new MBA.
Magic Track Pad: replaces magic mouse!
AppleTV: replaces stereo/CD player (no speakers with wires strewn around the room) and boxes of CD's, radio, Digital picture frame/boxes of photos and photo albums, DVD player (to some degree) and boxes of DVD's.
Time Capsule replaces an external HD's power brick and firewire cable.
Brother 795CW all in one wireless printer: Replaces Fax, copier, scanner, no power brick!
Best/Cheers
I hear a lot of comparisons between the two (iPad and Kindle). They really aren't competing at much.
while this is true from the Apple / iPad perspective, it's not at all true from the Amazon / Kindle perspective.
If you look past the hardware - Amazon is a massive bookstore at heart, and iBooks is trying to do what iTunes did to music stores.
I don't think the Kindle even competes with the iPad. Even if we ignored the fact that the Kindle is a reading device and nothing else, it doesn't *have* to compete with the iPad: Amazon has "an app for that". They make even more money selling books for their Kindle app than they do selling them on the Kindle itself since they don't have to pay for the network. (It's not a big difference, but it's there, and when you sell a billion e-books a few cents per copy adds up.) Amazon is very device-agnostic, it's all about the books.
The Kindle is absolutely in competition with paper books and other e-readers like the Nook, though. The WiFi-only model is very clearly a response to the least expensive Nook, and the lower the price gets the more favorable it looks compared to paper too. Amazon is very motivated to get the price as low as possible.
Getting back to the Kindle v. iPad: I have an iPad and both gen1 and gen2 Kindles and lemme tell you: The Kindle beats the tar out of the iPad when it comes to extended reading. The reflective screen is much more pleasant to begin with, and there is far, far less glare. There's something, I am not sure what, about the iPad that bugs me when I read on it for a long time -- I was surprised, as the iPhone and a whole slew of PDAs never gave me trouble. My theory is that it's font smoothing. I will use the iPad for reading if I don't happen to have the Kindle, but if I have the choice it's the Kindle every time.
Another surprise with the iPad was that the added weight made a huge difference. I actually developed tennis elbow from holding it! I have to be careful to prop it up when I'm using it (which is not hard to remember since it actively hurts otherwise). Just one more reason not to use it for extended reading. I use it all the time for web access though.
YMMV, but this is my experience.
jim frost
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while this is true from the Apple / iPad perspective, it's not at all true from the Amazon / Kindle perspective.
If you look past the hardware - Amazon is a massive bookstore at heart, and iBooks is trying to do what iTunes did to music stores.
Unfortunately iBooks doesn't have the breadth of books needed to compete with kindle. I like the app but not the selection.