Kindle Oasis
Amazon (via Hacker News, Slashdot):
Kindle Oasis features a high-resolution 300 ppi display for crisp, laser-quality text—all on the same 6” display size as Kindle Voyage. A redesigned built-in light features 60% more LEDs than any other Kindle, increasing the consistency and range of screen brightness for improved reading in all types of lighting. Kindle Oasis guides light toward the surface of the display with its built-in front light—unlike back-lit tablets that shine in your eyes—so you can read comfortably for hours without eyestrain.
Charge the device and cover simultaneously while snapped together and plugged in. When on the go, the cover will automatically recharge the device, giving you months of combined battery life.
At $289, the Oasis is the most expensive Kindle in years, four times the price of the entry-level Kindle, which does all the same things. But damn is it tiny. The smallest Kindle yet at less than five ounces and just 3.4mm thick at its smallest point. Got two quarters? Stack them. That’s how thick the Oasis is. It makes an iPhone 6 look porcine.
[…]
Kindle is for reading. Nothing more. Everything about its performance, its design, its software, reflects that.
The major changes here are in the form factor: instead of the earlier version’s tablet shape, the Oasis is more of a wedge, with a bulge on one side intended to make it more ergonomic to hold. (You can do so with either the left or right hand, and the Kindle’s screen will rotate to accommodate.) Backward and forward page-turning is done either by the touch screen or by actual physical buttons on the side with the larger bezel.
Amazon calls the latest version “the thinnest and lightest Kindle ever”; frankly, I just got a Paperwhite last week, which already feels pretty darn light, but the Wi-Fi-only version of the Oasis is 4.6 oz, compared to the 7.2 oz of the Paperwhite, so there you go.
The iPad mini 4 is 10.4 oz. My ideal tablet would have the form factor and display of a Kindle but the speed and content availability of an iPad.
It’s got a charging cover, which doesn’t make sense, given how long the Kindle’s battery lasts.
No matter how carefully you pick the text for your screenshots @JeffBezos you can’t hide that garbage typography.
3 Comments RSS · Twitter
Yep, everybody's ideal Kindle is different. That's why I'm still using the keyboard kindle. It has actual, real buttons, and it has a keyboard, which I want, because I often read books where I take a lot of notes, and make annotations.
[…] been happy with both my Kindle Oasis and the Kindle iOS apps, but the Kindle Mac app leaves a lot to be desired. For example, it […]
"The iPad mini 4 is 10.4 oz. My ideal tablet would have the form factor and display of a Kindle but the speed and content availability of an iPad."
That's the thing. Everyone has a different "ideal" Kindle. If Amazon had sense, they'd adopt the pre-iPhone Apple iPod strategy of having a Kindle for every "ideal" niche. Make the money on the blades by cutting margins on the razors by producing more niche form factors.
My ideal Kindle is a lightweight, no-frills, e-Ink Kindle with an 8" screen akin to the iPad mini. I'd want a tradeoff of lower weight for less battery.
And the thing is that if Amazon did follow a "Let a Kindle for every niche bloom" strategy, they'd sell more eBooks! eBooks have fallen in share compared to dead-tree, and I know in my particular case, I'm buying more dead-tree entirely because I'm unhappy with all the current form factors. A bit more screen space, and I'd go back to buying more eBooks.