New Kindles - $139 wifi model and new $189 3g/wifi model (now available)

[Proteosome]

New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only version and $189 3G model available August 27th in the US and UK

This is getting to be an impulse purchase for me.

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.co...20graphite.jpg

**less than iPad (oops)

[reidw]

Yep, if your reason for wanting this device is strictly for reading the Kindle makes a lot of sense. The natural appearance of the page with no backlighting to cause eyestrain makes it better for general reading.

However here's the problem with the readers. That's all they let you do. The IPAD can function as your reader, games player and information centre. With it you need only one device. With the Kindle you might also need two or three other devices, not to mention bulky chargers/adapters/cases to achieve the same level of functionality.

I love to travel and for me the IPAD or a netbook would be the way I'd choose to go over a dedicated e-reader.

[james99]

I have no need for wifi only reader, 3g is the strength of the current model.

Plus it's only a little bit more than the wifi only model. Being on a beach in mexico and getting an auto download of my newspaper is priceless.

4 weeks of battery makes the kindle an ideal travel companion.

[james99]

Press release:

SEATTLE-July 29, 2010-(NASDAQ: AMZN)-Millions of people are already reading on Kindles and Kindle is the #1 bestselling item on Amazon.com for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.com. Today, Amazon.com is excited to introduce a new generation of Kindle. The all-new Kindle has a new electronic-ink screen with 50 percent better contrast than any other e-reader, a new sleek design with a 21 percent smaller body while still keeping the same 6-inch-size reading area, and a 15 percent lighter weight at just 8.7 ounces. The new Kindle also offers 20 percent faster page turns, up to one month of battery life, double the storage to 3,500 books, built-in Wi-Fi, a graphite color option and more-all for only $189, and still with free 3G wireless-no monthly bills or annual contracts.

Also today, Amazon introduced a new addition to its family of portable reading devices-Kindle Wi-Fi. Readers who don’t need the convenience of free 3G wireless can now enjoy the new generation Kindle for the lower price of only $139. The all-new Kindle and Kindle Wi-Fi are now available for pre-order at www.amazon.com/kindle3G and www.amazon.com/kindleWi-Fi, and will ship to customers in over 140 countries and 30 territories beginning August 27.

Kindle offers the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read. The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 630,000 books, including New Releases and 109 of 111 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 510,000 of these books are $9.99 or less, including 80 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available to read on Kindle. Kindle lets you buy your books once and read them everywhere-on Kindle, Kindle DX, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry, and Android-based devices. Amazon’s Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.

More than 235,000 books have been added to the Kindle Store in just the last six months, including New York Times Best Sellers “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and “The Passage.” The Kindle Store also recently added 20 contemporary classics from the Wylie Agency’s new “Odyssey Editions” imprint that are available for the first time as e-books and exclusively in the Kindle Store, including John Updike’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit series, Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita,” Norman Mailer’s “The Naked and the Dead,” Philip Roth’s “Portnoy’s Complaint” and Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man.”

“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. 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,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder & CEO. “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.”

All New, High-Contrast E-Ink Screen, Read in Bright Sunlight: The new Kindle uses Amazon’s all-new electronic ink display with 50 percent better contrast for the clearest text and sharpest images. No other e-reader has this screen or this level of contrast. Unlike LCD screens, Kindle’s paper-like display looks and reads like real paper, with no glare, even in bright sunlight.

New Proprietary Screen Technology-Faster Page Turns, New and Improved Fonts: Kindle’s all-new, high-contrast electronic ink display is further optimized with Amazon’s proprietary waveform and font technology to make pages turn faster and fonts sharper. Waveform is a series of electronic pulses that move black and white electronic ink particles to achieve a final gray level for an image or text. Amazon tuned the new Kindle’s waveform and controller mechanism to make page turning 20 percent faster. In addition, this waveform tuning combined with new hand-built, custom fonts and font-hinting make words and letters more crisp, clear, and natural-looking. Font hints are instructions, written as code, that control points on a font character’s line and improve legibility at small font sizes where few pixels are available. Hinting is a mix of aesthetic judgments and complicated technical strategies. Amazon designed its proprietary font-hinting to optimize specifically for the special characteristics of electronic ink.

New Sleek Design, Lighter Than a Paperback: The new Kindle has a 21 percent smaller body while still keeping the same 6-inch-size reading area. At only 8.7 ounces, the new Kindle is 15 percent lighter and still 1/3 of an inch thin, making it lighter than a paperback and thinner than a magazine. With Kindle you can read comfortably and naturally with just one hand for hours. The new Kindle Wi-Fi is even lighter at just 8.5 ounces.

Double the Storage, Holds 3,500 Books: The new Kindle has double the storage so you can carry up to 3,500 books.
Up To One Month of Battery Life: The new Kindle has up to one month of battery life with wireless off. Keep wireless on and your Kindle will have battery life of up to 10 days.

Free 3G Wireless: Kindle offers free 3G wireless, which means no annual contracts and no monthly fees. Global Wireless Coverage: Kindle is the only e-reader that lets you travel the globe and still get books in under 60 seconds with wireless coverage in over 100 countries and territories.

New Built-In Wi-Fi: In addition to free 3G wireless, Kindle now has built-in Wi-Fi support. Kindle owners will now be able to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots at home or on the road. Readers who don’t need the convenience of free 3G wireless can purchase the new Kindle Wi-Fi for only $139 and download content over Wi-Fi. Amazon is offering free Wi-Fi access at AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots across the U.S. for shopping and downloading Kindle content-no AT&T registration, sign-in, or password required.

Quieter Page Turn Buttons: Quieter page turns means you can read all night without disturbing your partner.

Share Meaningful Passages: Share meaningful passages with friends and family with built-in Twitter and Facebook integration.

Simple to Use: Kindle is ready to use right out of the box – no setup, no software to install, no computer required.

Books in 60 Seconds: With fast, free wireless delivery, you can start reading books on Kindle in less than 60 seconds.

Massive Selection: The Kindle Store has over 630,000 books, including 109 of 111 New York Times Best Sellers, plus audiobooks, periodicals and blogs.

Free, Out-of-Copyright Books: Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books such as “Pride and Prejudice” are available to read on Kindle.

Low Book Prices: Over 510,000 of the 630,000 books in the Kindle Store are $9.99 or less, including 80 New York Times Best Sellers.

Free Book Samples: First chapters of Kindle books are available to download and read for free before you decide to buy.

Read Everywhere with Whispersync: Kindle books can be read on your Kindle, iPhone, iPad, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, and Android-based devices. Amazon’s Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off.

Worry-Free Archive: Books purchased from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.

Improved PDF Reader: The new Kindle uses an improved built-in PDF reader with new dictionary lookup, notes and highlights, and support for password protected PDFs.

New WebKit-based Browser (experimental): The new Kindle uses a new web browser based on the industry-leading open source Web browser engine, WebKit. The updated browser is faster, easier to navigate, and provides a new “article mode” feature that simplifies web pages to just the main text- based content for easier reading. Web browsing with Kindle over 3G or Wi-Fi is free.

New Voice Guide: With Text-to-Speech, Kindle can read out loud to you. New Text-to-Speech enabled menus allow customers to navigate Kindle without having to read menu options. In addition to listening to books aloud, users now have the option of listening to content listings on the home screen, item descriptions, and all menu options.

New Lighted Leather Cover: The all-new Kindle cover features an integrated, retractable reading light that lets you read comfortably anytime, anywhere. The light is a permanent part of the cover, so it’s always with you, and hides away into the cover when not in use. The high-quality LED light illuminates Kindle’s entire paper-like display, adding brightness without adding glare. Amazon’s patent-pending hinge system secures Kindle in place and conducts electricity from Kindle’s battery to the reading light, eliminating the need for batteries. The conductive hinges are gold-plated to ensure a reliable electrical connection. Gold is used because of its ability to make good electrical contact even with low force and for its corrosion resistance. The Kindle cover is sold separately.

Customers can discover full details and pre-order the new Kindle and Kindle Wi-Fi starting today at www.amazon.com/kindle3G and www.amazon.com/kindleWi-Fi. For new high-resolution images of the new generation Kindle, visit www.amazon.com/pr/kindle/images.

[james99]

Amid growing competition from Apple's iPad and other e-readers, Amazon.com is launching a redesigned Kindle that's smaller, faster and has WiFi and twice the battery life.

The $189 price and 6-inch screen size are the same, but the new version has an improved navigation system that replaces the Kindle's quirky joystick with a more standard control pad. It also has the higher-contrast display that debuted last month on the larger Kindle DX.

James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, estimates Amazon has sold about 4 million and will reach 6 million by the end of the year. He belives it has about two-thirds of the U.S. market for e-readers.

In a report last week, he predicted 29.4 million people in the U.S. will own e-readers by 2015, up from 3.7 million at the end of 2009. It cited surveys that found more people are still interested in e-readers than iPads.

Of the 20 percent of Americans thinking about buying an e-reader, 69 percent are eyeing a Kindle.

[rsambuca]

My wife has a Kindle 2 which I think is great. I have been looking at getting an eReader for myself, but have been balking at another Kindle due to the lack of ePub support.

Since we don't need two readers with 3G, the wifi at these prices might just sway me back to the Amazon reader despite the lack of epub. I find the build quality of the Kindle 2 to be very good, so with a better screen, lighter weight, Amazon just might win our business, again. If the Nook was readily available in Canada, I would have purchased one long ago.

With regards to the iPad comments, you just can't read them outside in the sun - makes it no good for me. And they are too heavy for dedicated reader. For all the other stuff I need, I have a netbook and also a slightly larger convertible tablet, and a Nexus One android phone.

[james99]

The Ipad also has the Kindle app which is also nice.

[Proteosome]

I had my first chance to really play with an iPad last week and I can definitely see the charm in owning an eInk display.The iPad may be a better device but as a pure reader it has it's limitations; weight, glossy screen and eye strain to name a few.

For someone who reads a lot $140 seems reasonable to get a prime reading device. Outside of newspapers and maybe magazines, I don't see the need for 3G. I can load up with a bunch of books before travelling and not worry about having enough to read.

[james99]

Well, the 3g gives you a web browser. It's also easier to buy content.

An extra 50 dollars is probably worth it, for me anyway. That being said, the competition has wifi only models so they have to match things up for that reason. Don't want to lose that market.

Have the choice is also nice.

[james99]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Amazon.com says it has already sold out of the two new Kindle e-reader models it announced last week.

Glad I pre-ordered.

[hugh]

The latest generation of Amazon Kindle readers are selling faster than at anytime in their history according to a statement put out by the company today.

Sales have been so strong that the Kindle WiFi and Kindle 3G are currently sold out. Amazon says orders placed today – August 25th – won’t be shipped until around September 17th.

[SensualPoet]

I hemmed and hawed about 3G or WiFi only. The reality is, I read at home or at a hotel in Mexico -- both places have terrificly stable wifi. I saved the $50 and put the money into the leather case with the light. And, now that we'll become a two Kindle family, we can finally read EXACTLY the same thing at the same time without having to wait for the other person to finish the book! Now that's priceless!

The K3 should be hear next week, according to where I appear to be in the queue based on other's reports of when and where they ordered.

[james99]

Mine just shipped today.

To me the extra $50 was a no brainer. WIFI is still too hard to find (especially free) and since I commute, I need the 3G.

I'm curious about the overall speed of the device.

[JamesK]

^^^^
Get yourself a smart phone that's running Android 2.2. Then, you'll have a hot spot wherever you go.

[james99]

Mine just arrived via UPS.