The Kindle Fire isn't the only incredibly cheap device announced at an Amazon press event this morning. Two new Kindles--a cheap Kindle 3 refresh and infrared Touch model--blow past the predicted price points at $79 and $99 respectively. That's cheap--crushingly cheap for Barnes & Noble, perhaps. The classic Kindle shed 30 percent of its weight by ditching the keyboard and now weighs 5.98 ounces.
Both e-readers use 600 x 800 pixel resolution screens at 167 ppi with 16-level grayscale. Read on as we lay out the details on what each tablet brings to the table, from Amazon's new X-Ray feature to the touch interface on Amazon's premium e-reader.
Kindle Touch
The hot new Kindle on the block is the Touch, a $99 model that drops the keyboard and buttons in favor of IR touch controls. Amazon says the Touch's interface is optimized for right-handed or left-handed users. They're calling the screen the "most advanced e-ink display" and say they're faster than last year's models. That should go for the Kindle classic, too. The Touch can also be had with 3G for $149, which is now the top-of-the-line price point for a Kindle e-reader. That's crazy, considering the Kindle 3 Wi-Fi debuted at $140 last year.
Amazon's not sticking with the common page turning touch motion here, and instead opting for tap controls, which look to be improved from the Nook Simple Touch.
Tapping on most of the screen area will page forward, the most common action done when reading; tapping in a narrow area near the left edge of the device turns to the previous page; and tapping on the top part of the screen brings up the toolbars for further options. This is another way that Kindle helps readers get lost in the author's world.
The Amazon product page notes the Kindle Touch has 3GB of space available to users out of a total 4GB.
The Kindle Touch measures 6.8 x 4.7 x 0.40 inches (172 x 120 x 10.1 mm) and weighs 7.8 ounces. It ships November 21 at $149 with 3G or $99 without.
One important thing to note about the Kindle Touch and the "classic" Kindle: Amazon's prices are so low because it's only talking up the Special Offers versions. They offer some serious price cuts over the non ad-subsidized systems. You'll pay an extra $30-$40 if you want a system without ads--most consider the Special Offers ads unintrusive, but be aware of what you're paying for.
Another feature Amazon's introducing with the new Kindles is called X-Ray--it lets you see the "bones of the book."
With a single tap, readers can see all the passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them, as well as more detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon’s community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers.
Amazon built X-Ray using its expertise in language processing and machine learning, access to significant storage and computing resources with Amazon S3 and EC2, and a deep library of book and character information. The vision is to have every important phrase in every book.
Kindle
On to the classic Kindle: this is the closest thing to the original vision Amazon had for its Kindle four years ago, but it still looks mighty new. The keyboard is gone, replaced by Amazon's square directional pad and a four buttons along the bottom of the device. The forward and backwards navigation buttons are still on the left and right sides. Typing on the on-screen keyboard definitely won't be as fast as it is on the Kindle Touch.
Amazon's slimmed the device down to 6.5 x 4.5 x 0.34 inches (166 x 114 x 8.7mm) and 5.98 ounces. The Amazon product page notes the Kindle has 1.25GB of space available to users out of a total 2GB. That's notably less than last year's Kindle--rebranded the Kindle Keyboard--which had 4GB. 1.25GB is still enough space to store something like 1400 books, and Whispersync is available as long as you have Wi-Fi access. The classic Kindle gravitates more towards the cloud, just like the rest of Amazon's products.
Obviously price is the big news on the e-reader front: The Kindle sells for $79 with offers and is shipping right this very minute. There's no 3G version of the non-touch Kindle: that premium feature has been moved up to the Touch model.
