It’s been a long wait – or at least that’s how it feels – but Amazon has at last revealed its new, improved and enhanced Kindle reader. Christened the Kindle third generation by Amazon, but more likely to become known as the Kindle 3, there are a number of obvious improvements.
It seems likely that the Kindle 3’s new features will tick many of the right boxes with e-book reader devotees. It retains the same 6” e-ink technology display, but the screen contrast has been improved by 50%, which should make reading an even more pleasant experience. Page turn speed, already good in the Kindle 2.0, has been made 20% faster.
The overall size of the reader has been shrunk by 21% and the weight is now only 8.7 ozs – 15% lighter. Battery life with the Wi-Fi off is now a month, and even with Wi-Fi turned on a ten day life is expected. On board memory capacity has been raised from 2 to 4 GB, sufficient for approximately 3,500 books. The new Kindle is lighter, smaller, has a better display, a longer battery life and lets users take a small personal library with them when they are out and about. What else could you ask for in a mobile electronic device?
Well, a color screen would have been on many people’s wish lists. However, whilst Amazon have been working on a color e-ink technology display, it simply isn’t ready for commercial release at this time. Possibly this could be incorporated in the next Kindle 4 upgrade. Some users may have liked to see the inclusion of an SD slot for memory expansion. Nevertheless, considering that the memory capacity is now at 4GB, most people won’t suffer too much as a consequence of this.
In addition to the various upgrades, Amazon have adjusted the price downwards and introduced a new Wi-Fi only model for those who don’t anticipate the need for a 3G connection. The Wi-Fi only entry level model is available for just $ 139, the Wi-Fi plus free 3G model sells for $ 189. The new Kindle 3 is now available in graphite, the same as the new DX model, as well as the original white.
Amazon has also launched a dedicated UK Kindle store on their British website. UK customers will no longer need to get their Kindles shipped from the States. Initially the UK Kindle store will have 400,000 Kindle books available. It seems reasonable to suppose that Amazon may consider opening other dedicated Kindle stores for its other “local” websites in France, Germany etc. at some point in future.
Kindle 3 sales are strong. Potential customers currently face a wait of around about 4 weeks before their readers are shipped. It may be that all the reports of the Kindle reader’s demise, brought about by the release of Apple’s iPad, were very premature. The latest upgrades, the reduced prices and the fact that there is no monthly connection charge, will appeal to many potential customers. It looks as though the launch of the third generation Kindle may serve as a timely reminder of just how influential Amazon are, and will continue to be, in the world of books in general and e-books in particular