Amazon's new $79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch stick with e-ink display
Achieving an attractive sub-$100 price point, Amazon's new $79 Kindle and $99 Kindle Touch still sport e-ink displays for reading books and other content, while ditching the physical keyboard found on previous models.
The $79 Kindle with "special offers" is available today, and features a simpler design than previous models, which featured a full hardware keyboard for text input. The new model maintains a directional pad and buttons for page turning. An ad-free version of the Kindle costs $109.
Amazon also unveiled a $99 Wi-Fi Kindle Touch, also featuring a black-and-white e-ink display that is touch-sensitive. The Kindle Touch lineup also includes a model with 3G connectivity for downloading books on the go, available for $149. The ad-free Kindle Touch is $139, while the 3G model without "special offers" goes for $189.
Both Kindle Touch models are available for pre-order today, and are scheduled to ship on Nov. 21.
Kindle
30 percent lighter, less than 6 ounces
18 percent smaller body, same 6-inch screen size - Fits in your pocket
Most advanced E Ink display, reads like paper
Built in Wi-Fi - Get books in 60 seconds
Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
New - Borrow Kindle books from your public library
Kindle Touch
Most-advanced E Ink display, now with multi-touch
New sleek design - 8 percent lighter, 11 percent smaller, holds 3,000 books
Text-to-speech, plus audio books and mp3s
Built in Wi-Fi - Get books in 60 seconds
Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
New - Borrow Kindle books from your public library
X-Ray
Amazon also announced a new feature called "X-Ray," which allows users to see all of the passages in a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them with a single tap. Users can also access detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon's own community-powered encyclopedia. X-ray is said to be powered by language processing and machine learning technology built by Amazon.
AppleInsider revealed on Monday that Amazon was set to announce three new Kindle models this week, with two of them being e-ink-based. Also revealed Wednesday was the third model: the Amazon Kindle Fire, a color 7-inch touchscreen tablet that will sell for $199.
Amazon is expected to build 12 million new e-ink Kindles this year -- 8 million of the low-end $79 model, with another 4 million Kindle Touches. The high-end touch model, code-named "Whitney," features a Freescale i.MX515 processor and 256MB of RAM with its 6-inch display. The touchsreen model is arriving later because of a "more complicated design and assembly," analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed.
The new $79 model is said to feature the same processor as the touch model, but has an integrated controller that will provide "better system design and lower cost" when compared to previous Kindle hardware, Kuo said.
The Kindle lineup may expand even further in 2012, as Amazon is said to be exploring color touchscreen tablets with sizes of 10.1 inches and 8.9 inches for potential launch next year.
The $79 Kindle with "special offers" is available today, and features a simpler design than previous models, which featured a full hardware keyboard for text input. The new model maintains a directional pad and buttons for page turning. An ad-free version of the Kindle costs $109.
Amazon also unveiled a $99 Wi-Fi Kindle Touch, also featuring a black-and-white e-ink display that is touch-sensitive. The Kindle Touch lineup also includes a model with 3G connectivity for downloading books on the go, available for $149. The ad-free Kindle Touch is $139, while the 3G model without "special offers" goes for $189.
Both Kindle Touch models are available for pre-order today, and are scheduled to ship on Nov. 21.
Kindle
30 percent lighter, less than 6 ounces
18 percent smaller body, same 6-inch screen size - Fits in your pocket
Most advanced E Ink display, reads like paper
Built in Wi-Fi - Get books in 60 seconds
Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
New - Borrow Kindle books from your public library
Kindle Touch
Most-advanced E Ink display, now with multi-touch
New sleek design - 8 percent lighter, 11 percent smaller, holds 3,000 books
Text-to-speech, plus audio books and mp3s
Built in Wi-Fi - Get books in 60 seconds
Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
New - Borrow Kindle books from your public library
X-Ray
Amazon also announced a new feature called "X-Ray," which allows users to see all of the passages in a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them with a single tap. Users can also access detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon's own community-powered encyclopedia. X-ray is said to be powered by language processing and machine learning technology built by Amazon.
AppleInsider revealed on Monday that Amazon was set to announce three new Kindle models this week, with two of them being e-ink-based. Also revealed Wednesday was the third model: the Amazon Kindle Fire, a color 7-inch touchscreen tablet that will sell for $199.
Amazon is expected to build 12 million new e-ink Kindles this year -- 8 million of the low-end $79 model, with another 4 million Kindle Touches. The high-end touch model, code-named "Whitney," features a Freescale i.MX515 processor and 256MB of RAM with its 6-inch display. The touchsreen model is arriving later because of a "more complicated design and assembly," analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed.
The new $79 model is said to feature the same processor as the touch model, but has an integrated controller that will provide "better system design and lower cost" when compared to previous Kindle hardware, Kuo said.
The Kindle lineup may expand even further in 2012, as Amazon is said to be exploring color touchscreen tablets with sizes of 10.1 inches and 8.9 inches for potential launch next year.
Comments
Apple is expected to build 12 million new e-ink Kindles this year -- 8 million of the low-end $79 model, with another 4 million Kindle Touches.
Oops! I don't think Apple is building ANY Kindles.
I slapped this together 5 months ago:
Kindle: $79 with special offers, $109 without
Kindle Touch: $99 with special offers, $139 without
Kindle Touch 3g: $149 with special offers, $189 without
For $30, I would do without advertisements on the screensaver and home screen.
On the other hand,Kindle books some Kindle books offered for free download through "overdrive" through my local library. 3 week free check out. Limited supply, but I found a couple of programming books for my son last night. These can be downloaded through Overdrive App and then read with Kindle App on iPad.
If text books were made available on the cheap Kindle, the price point could effectively kill the hard copy editions. My son's math book must weigh 5 pounds. His school can't afford iPads nor can a lot of the families with 1/3 of students on "free lunch" program.
I looked at Amazon's website and noticed that the prices listed in the article for e-ink readers are "With special offers".
Kindle: $79 with special offers, $109 without
Kindle Touch: $99 with special offers, $139 without
Kindle Touch 3g: $149 with special offers, $189 without
For $30, I would do without advertisements on the screensaver and home screen.
That's exactly what I was thinking.
No mention of on board memory. How d I get to the cloud from my airline seat.
On the other hand,Kindle books some Kindle books offered for free download through "overdrive" through my local library. 3 week free check out. Limited supply, but I found a couple of programming books for my son last night. These can be downloaded through Overdrive App and then read with Kindle App on iPad.
If text books were made available on the cheap Kindle, the price point could effectively kill the hard copy editions. My son's math book must weigh 5 pounds. His school can't afford iPads nor can a lot of the families with 1/3 of students on "free lunch" program.
The price of textbooks on the Nook aren't much cheaper than the hard copies. Personally, textbooks would be the last thing I'd want on an e-reader.
It's not easy to skim through a book on the readers - and I'd rather have a highlighter to mark on the book than the "highlight" they have on the readers.
No mention of on board memory. How d I get to the cloud from my airline seat.
On the other hand,Kindle books some Kindle books offered for free download through "overdrive" through my local library. 3 week free check out. Limited supply, but I found a couple of programming books for my son last night. These can be downloaded through Overdrive App and then read with Kindle App on iPad.
If text books were made available on the cheap Kindle, the price point could effectively kill the hard copy editions. My son's math book must weigh 5 pounds. His school can't afford iPads nor can a lot of the families with 1/3 of students on "free lunch" program.
It says 8 GB.
I think that Amazon is seriously upping the ante.
I looked at Amazon's website and noticed that the prices listed in the article for e-ink readers are "With special offers".
Kindle: $79 with special offers, $109 without
Kindle Touch: $99 with special offers, $139 without
Kindle Touch 3g: $149 with special offers, $189 without
For $30, I would do without advertisements on the screensaver and home screen.
I seriously doubt they are profiting on the hardware at all. They get you to use their device and buy ebooks through them. The hardware cost probably breaks even after factoring in returns/warranty servicing.
The price of textbooks on the Nook aren't much cheaper than the hard copies. Personally, textbooks would be the last thing I'd want on an e-reader.
It's not easy to skim through a book on the readers - and I'd rather have a highlighter to mark on the book than the "highlight" they have on the readers.
These things should improve especially if they remain afraid of Apple and the ipad in this market (as they should be). Really you want things you would have when viewing reading materials in printed form. On an e-reader it should also be easy to skip between sections or look something up quickly in the index without losing your place. Also yeah the screens are pretty small relative to something like a textbook.
Because the iPad has an iBooks app?
Why not smart TVs then as well or any thing with a monitor? And B&N Nooks etc?
I think these products will fly off the shelves.
I think that Amazon is seriously upping the ante.
Does this mean Jeff Bezos will make his annual pilgrimage to Charlie Rose tonight?
That's exactly what I was thinking.
WRONG! I'd choose the Special Offers. They actually give you pretty cool deals at Amazon including the wonderful 20% off laptops deal from a few months back that allowed me to get a 2011 13" MacBook Air for under $987 shipped.
Besides, the ads only display when the device is idle... big whoop.
Not that I would buy a Fire since I have an iPad, but seriously no 3G option especially on a device which is built around the cloud.
The price of textbooks on the Nook aren't much cheaper than the hard copies. Personally, textbooks would be the last thing I'd want on an e-reader.
It's not easy to skim through a book on the readers - and I'd rather have a highlighter to mark on the book than the "highlight" they have on the readers.
I can easily see that textbooks would be great to have here. For starters, my daughter carries a backpack around school that's about 1/3 her weight. That's not healthy or convenient. In addition, with an eBook, you can search for the information you need rather than having to rely on a table of contents or manually skimming through the book. Finally, I could picture an 'upgrade' policy where you could upgrade an e-Textbook for less than the cost of buying a new one. That doesn't work for printed books.
WRONG! I'd choose the Special Offers. They actually give you pretty cool deals at Amazon including the wonderful 20% off laptops deal from a few months back that allowed me to get a 2011 13" MacBook Air for under $987 shipped.
Besides, the ads only display when the device is idle... big whoop.
He's not WRONG. He's entitled to his opinion. I would also take the special offers - as long as they don't interfere when I'm reading. If they ever start popups while reading a book, I'd pay extra to avoid them, but now they're not in the way.
Now to send back the refurb 6" i ordered from Amazon last week, For $85
I can easily see that textbooks would be great to have here. For starters, my daughter carries a backpack around school that's about 1/3 her weight. That's not healthy or convenient. In addition, with an eBook, you can search for the information you need rather than having to rely on a table of contents or manually skimming through the book. Finally, I could picture an 'upgrade' policy where you could upgrade an e-Textbook for less than the cost of buying a new one. That doesn't work for printed books.
He's not WRONG. He's entitled to his opinion. I would also take the special offers - as long as they don't interfere when I'm reading. If they ever start popups while reading a book, I'd pay extra to avoid them, but now they're not in the way.
The point is, the ads are not in place when you are actively using the device, plus if you shop Amazon a lot, the discounts received pay for the device in no time.
It's a win-win situation.