Amazon Announces New, Improved Wi-Fi Kindle

Okay, so it's more of a graphite than a black. There's also the classic white one too.

Amazon's rolled out a new Kindle for those who are craving the best e-reading experience. 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 – at $189, and still with free 3G wireless-no monthly bills or annual contracts.

Those who don't crave the free worldwide 3G connectivity can get the Wi-Fi only model, which is $139. 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.

Perhaps one of the most exciting new feature is the WebKit-based Browser, which Amazon says is experimental. 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.

A new Kindle cover features an integrated, retractable LED reading light that lets you read in low light conditions, and is a permanent part of the cover. Instead of external batteries it, connects to the Kindle and draws from its internal source.

The new Kindles launch on August 27.

You need to be logged to post a comment

There are 23 Comments.

Top Comments

12

jon bon wonton , July 30, 2010 2:44 AM

Yep, I think this will be the generation I'll purchase.

Other Comments

12

jon bon wonton , July 30, 2010 2:44 AM

Yep, I think this will be the generation I'll purchase.
0

halodude23 , July 30, 2010 2:44 AM

Sadly I don't read, the Kindle is a great product
6

huron , July 30, 2010 2:44 AM

This is good news in the eBook price wars. I think that Barnes & Noble needs to make another price cut and do some serious marketing if they want to keep competing. I have the Nook and like it alot, but think they need to be on their game with having the lead in adoption and in name recognition.
0

jomofro39 , July 30, 2010 2:45 AM

Nicely done kindle....graphite looks nice. Apple can't even try, the black iPad would heat up even more outside in the sun than its white ones (that are getting sued over)!
0

dgingeri , July 30, 2010 2:51 AM

its nice, but it is lacking in one area. it has no number keys. My old Kindle 2 has number keys. I do love my old Kindle 2, but this one is tempting.
6

sliem , July 30, 2010 3:22 AM

This is interesting. I like the free 3G stuff.
4

Regulas , July 30, 2010 3:48 AM

jon bon wontonYep, I think this will be the generation I'll purchase.

Looking pretty attractive now, price and style.
2

gm0n3y , July 30, 2010 3:54 AM

Sounds pretty good, but I still think that I'd go for a Nook over this. Admittedly this sounds more appealing, I just don't like Amazon.
2

tleavit , July 30, 2010 4:15 AM

Ive had my Kindle for 6 months now and read about 8 books on it. I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. I would never had bought it for myself, I got it as a present. I thought I wouldn't use something like the Kindle. I was wrong, I love it. Its funny that now I can download the kindle app on my Droid phone... I can download all my books to it. But its still not the Kindle (the screen matters and LCD screens suck to read on).
0

Conner Macleod , July 30, 2010 4:18 AM

This is a huge improvement, especially with the improved battery life (1 month) and a web browser. That and it weighs less than a paperback book, incredible. Since the wireless service is free in 100 countries, you basically have a miniature laptop that you can use virtually anywhere on the planet, and it's free Internet, unlimited! Even though it lacks flash, video and color support, those are very minor cons considering what you're getting for free, and it serves perfectly as a general browser to get whatever info you need. Not to mention the free 1.8 million books you can get. For $189 you can't beat this.
3

hellwig , July 30, 2010 4:36 AM

LoL, again with "faster page turns". I'm not sure what's making them so slow now (a software update recently made the Nook page turns faster, so its not necessarily a hardware limitation of the display), but I'd stop announcing that as an improvement, even if its true. It's more embarrassing than impressive.

Now, better contrast, lighter weight, those are good. Wi-Fi and more storage, well, your closest competitor already has those, you'll have to do better somehow. No EPUB support, still? Shame on you Amazon. Its one thing to not want them buying books somewhere else, its another thing to not let them read free books using that format.
1

zjuice , July 30, 2010 4:38 AM

This is a good price. I recently bought a nook for $149 and I love it. The price is about right now, compared to $259 or higher. I have messed with both and I prefer the nook, I think it is worth the extra ten dollars.
1

gm0n3y , July 30, 2010 4:48 AM

hellwigNo EPUB support, still? Shame on you Amazon. Its one thing to not want them buying books somewhere else, its another thing to not let them read free books using that format.

Agreed. Their hardware sounds great, but I just don't want to be tied to Amazon. And I don't want to buy books that I'm only licensing from them and they can remove them at any time.
-1

ulysses35 , July 30, 2010 4:57 AM

Hmm no mention of "Amazon" only books though - great product held back by limited formats it can read
1

gm0n3y , July 30, 2010 5:18 AM

ulysses35Hmm no mention of "Amazon" only books though - great product held back by limited formats it can read

Apparently there are workarounds to convert books to a format that plays nice with the Kindle, but who wants to have to do that?
2

p3t3or , July 30, 2010 7:44 AM

Looks great, but I'd really only consider getting one if the price was %50 or less. You still have to purchase the books!
3

eddieroolz , July 30, 2010 11:29 AM

Why anybody buys iPad for books, I don't know. This is a much, much better product.
0

sirmorluk , July 30, 2010 8:41 PM

The Nook only has one detractor which is a shorter battery life in comparison. My wife reads a book a day and when we went shopping for a e-reader the nook won hands down in a side by side evaluation.
It plays MP3s, Reads multiple formats, has expandable memory and a replaceable battery.
for only $10 more you get a machine far superior to the kindle IMO.
0

sirmorluk , July 30, 2010 8:43 PM

Oh and not to mention the Gutenberg Project is moving most of their books into EPUB format as well.
0

mikeadelic , July 31, 2010 2:54 AM

Great spec update but... WHY did they remove the number keys? That was one of the biggest complaints that DX owners (me included) had that Kindle 1/2 owners didn't... and now it's applicable to the Kindle 3 as well. It's hard enough to create notes as it is without some of the other punctuation keys (commas, question marks, parentheses etc).

I never thought designs could take a step backward, but Amazon has proven me wrong.

Display more comments

Amazon Announces New, Improved Wi-Fi Kindle

Tom’s guide in the world