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Amazon Kindle Oasis With 'Months' of Battery Life, Redesigned Body Launched
Amazon, on Wednesday, announced the Kindle Oasis, the company's latest addition to its ebook reader offering. The Kindle Oasis offers a range of improvements and changes over the Kindle Paperwhite. Mashable's Lance Ulanoff writes, "[The company has] essentially discarded the previous design in favor of a paper-thin display attached to a somewhat thicker side grip." Elaborating: First of all, the 6-inch screen is close to square. Second of all, it no longer sits in the center of the device. And thirdly, the screen is now an insane 3.4-mm thick. Yes, that is as thin as you think it is. Amazon's Oasis e-reader even marks the return of buttons to the design.As for the specifications, the Kindle Oasis sports a 6-inch display of 300ppi screen resolution, and 10 LEDs for "enhanced page consistency." Instead of "weeks"-long battery life, Amazon is promising "months" of usage on a single charge with Oasis thanks to the cover that ships with it and doubles as a rechargeable battery. It starts at $289.99 (Wi-Fi-only edition and with "advertisements that appear when you wake up the reader"), and goes all the way up to $379 (Wi-Fi + 3G, and no ads).
Time to throw my old Paperwhite in the garbage! It is obsolete! I've had it an entire year! And it is only starting at $289 with ADVERTISEMENTS??? What a bargain! Thanks Jeff!
It had been sitting on the bookshelf since before Christmas; I picked it up at the weekend and pressed the menu button and... still working.
I don't actually use it much!
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
like i'm going to dump my ipads and phones to buy this
Is this an advertisement?
teh omg kekekekkekekekekeke!!!!11shift!!!1one11eleven
If you don't use it at all, the battery life increases. What takes the most power with e-Ink displays is changing the content. So every page turn takes power. If you don't turn pages, only the natural discharge of the battery cells drains energy.
Call me when you can actually hack or mod them. Amazon has been so militant against any attempt to mod its most recent products - and yeah, I get it, Amazon owes me nothing, but there are so many interesting potential uses for the Paperwhite and other such devices that I'd have bought one by now if they were moddable.
I won't paythat price until they have a colour e-ink display
Buttons and grip are on the "wrong" side for about 30% of the world...
Maybe it has a lefty mode to flip the display and button functions.
No compelling reason to upgrade from my $75 monochrome Kindle that I bought last year. In fact, it might be another three years or so before I consider a replacement. I'm in my fourth year with the iPad 2 and considering an iPad Pro (smaller one) as a replacement. It took eight years to replace a first-gen iPod Touch with a cheaper iPhone.
I would love to be able to read tech papers, manuals, and all kinds of stuff at work on a dedicated e-reader that didn't blind me. This unit looks like pretty much the same specs as the previous one with minor enhancements. From the specs, it is basically the same screen. Bring back the kindle dx size unit and I will pony up the $300+ for it. For this, I will stick with my old kindle that is still just working fine.
I really think they are missing out on a great market of people who want to read things that just do not translate well to that tiny screen. I find that e-ink is awesome for long reading and scanning. I don't really like my tablet screen for that, plus I like to read outside. So come on Amazon, bring back a DX format or larger!
Can the user turn the touchscreen off? My biggest complaint with my paperwhite is that it's very awkward to hold because I cannot grip it w/o touching the screen. if I could turn the screen off, that would be great.
Just one of many reasons not to buy this. Garbage. And they have the audacity to offer you an adware-ridden version for a lower price.
for $300 they should make it like a premium device and have a larger screen as large as a first print hardback book. when i hold up my iphone or galaxy s6 next to a kindle it makes me not want to spend all that money to buy another device to carry around and dig in my bag that only does a single thing
I can't imagine what the Kindle team is thinking. Same old 6" form factor, slightly iterated, and at a premium price the market most likely won't support. Wake me when it hits $100 and I'll consider buying one.
If they're brought out a large form factor reader, like a new version of the DX, that would have been exciting. (For the record, I have a Sony DPT-S1 and it is incredible for reading technical works and textbooks.) This is just disappointing.
"Get special offers Love deals? You'll receive special offers and sponsored lockscreens directly on your Kindle. Offers display on the Kindle lockscreen and on the bottom of the home screen and library while not in use - they don't interrupt reading." Who the hell thinks getting advertisements is something desirable?
epic fail. books aren't square.. fiction hardbacks and trade paperbacks are around 1.5-1.6 AR.. and text is wider, even discounting white space on the printed page, than your square screen. people aren't going to want to tap tap tap a button to scroll a fucking page besides having to tap or swipe to change pages (and even just that is still twice as often as a real book with facing pages)...
we haven't even started with the near-$300 price tag for an item with the sole purpose of driving vendor-locked after-the-sale purchases of drm-laden digital books and all the 'telemetry' gathered from the associated amazon accounts, purchased books, reading patterns and interests, etc etc etc that you cannot disable.
Expensive, I don't see myself upgrading since my old kindle still works fine and has page turn buttons. I hate models with the touch interface to turn pages, give me a reader that I can hold and turn pages with just 1 hand and I am happy. I still use an old Kobo as well for this reason, page turn buttons.
I hope it die today so I could get rid of that crap quickly as possible. I'm not angr. This is the shield tat I installed in my mind to protect me from that shit.
...and definitely not that expensive.
I've had a Kindle DX for over five years now. Love it, though my original intent in buying the DX was for also reading technical books. That doesn't work so great, and the low picture resolution in the Kindle format makes a lot of technical graphics and tables hard to read. So I use the iPad for technical books (also easier to zoom) and use the DX to read novels and the likes (and sometimes "all-text" technical books). I wouldn't mind a smaller one for when I travel, but it looks like it'll be one of the current models (IF I do buy another one - the DX is still going strong, after all).
Okay, I don't really need a big type version, but maybe if I play the "for old people" angle they'll make a full size version like the old DX. I'd love to have one to put references on, but having a technical manual on a paperback sized device just doesn't cut it.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Give (retroactively) ebooks copies for any book purchased new from Amazon. The already give you digital download copies of CDs when you buy them from Amazon. But I've got too many hard copies of books (many of them purchased from amazon) to switch over to pure digital. But if I had a realistic way to do so, I would, and probably purchase a new Kindle ereader (I already have a Fire that I barely use anymore, if I do read it's off my phone)
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
I appreciate a larger bezel -- too many tablets/eReaders don't give one enough of one to actually hold on to. But I'm not feeling too keen about it all being on one side. And I really hate the idea of mechanical buttons. And finally the cost is ridiculous. eReaders need to get down to the realm of calculators eventually, not push them up -- of course the real problem there is lack of a single eBook standard. With B&N's Nook going under, there is only Kobo left to compete and they are a poor shadow of Amazon. One has to wonder if the Feds are going to have to do something.
P.S. I was so looking forward to the eBook revolution. I waited on pins and needles for years looking forward to the day I could toss my paper books. But when it finally came, it's been handled so poorly... well, I'm still using paper books mostly. So sad.
:T:R:A:N:S:
Actually the thing that eats the most would be the wifi/cell chip. If you turn the wifi off the kindle will easily last for months without use. If you leave it on? Not so much.
After the runaway and well-deserved success of the Echo (and now its awesome little brother, the Echo Dot), Amazon's entitled to a complete flop, which is what a ~$300 e-reader will almost certainly be.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
4GB again, just like cheap Kindles.
A couple dozen cookbooks or graphics novels, and you are out of space.
It's not waterproof, so why not put in a MicroSD slot?
Apparently I'm not the only person who didn't like tapping on the screen to turn pages. It's part of the reason I still use the third-gen Kindle.
In fact I rather like my third gen and see a lot of reason to upgrade no matter how awesome they get. Until color e-ink comes out it's just words on a page and my third gen is fine.
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
This looks like a reboot of the PocketBook 360. In my opinion, the PB360 was the best e-reader ever built, other than the screen. It had the crappy screen that was the best available at the time -- the newer Kindles have much better screens. The 360 had a built in accelerometer that would automatically flip the orientation, or you could lock it into whichever orientation you wanted. It was the most *natural* feeling reading experience -- the buttons were right where you wanted them.
Now, if only they'd copy the (open source) software that the 360 had. It had much better book organization features. If you wanted to put your books into your own folder structure, it would show them to you in the way you wanted.
Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.
Wow, maybe I'll upgrade my Kindle, wait, $289!?
What would be really handy for that outrageous price would be colored LED backlighting, so you could adjust to red tones when reading in the dark.
I figure this is the early-adopter cost for the 300 dpi e-ink, and the price will come down eventually. My paperwhite will serve until then.
This has to be a belated April Fools, right?
:T:R:A:N:S:
It's not e-ink, but thats why I got the nook 9" (for Text Books and game PDFs). Amazon's price is a little steep for the Nook HD+ 16GB (refurbished) , a little more than I paid for the 32GB refurbished 2+ years ago. EBAY has an 8GB Nook, for a semi-reasonable price (as they all have microSD slots).
I bought a Kindle Voyage. It was quite expensive, but at the time, the front light and higher resolution was somewhat justifiable. But that's now been eroded by the Paperwhie, and if I was buying now, there isn't much point in the Voyage.
Now they bring out a device that's nearly twice the price of the Voyage. While I appreciate e-ink for reading, that's an awful lot for a one trick pony. And for what added value? An unnecessarily long battery life?
I sure hope they weren't expecting any sales.
Jesus, 80 bucks is too much for one of these things, and then there are STILL ads? What the fuck is the innovation that justifies the price? Putting all the electronics and batteries inside the chassis in strategic locations for ergonomic and aesthetic purposes?!? Because tell you what... Apple already patented that when they built the new MacBook line of computers, what with the trellised battery package, minuscule motherboard, etc!
The only real innovations here are the detachable battery booster, but that's pointless to count since you can't buy one WITHOUT that, and if they REALLY wanted to, they could make it so it's engineered to be caseless, AND put a solar panel on it, which as little power as it draws, would give it battery life of FOREVER, provided you periodically expose the thing to light. Shit, they could make the bitch waterproof, eliminate the power-jack, or USB-micro connector, or whatever, stick a solar panel on it and not bother to ship it with any cables or power plugs...
Too bad they didn't think of THAT!
And thirdly, the screen is now an insane 3.4-mm thick. Yes, that is as thin as you think it is.
Err, yes. I think it's 3.4mm thick. You just told me.
That's the beauty of standardised units of measurement.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
I never change pages... I just read the same page over and over... I still don't get it.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
I am praying my Kindle Keyboard doesn't die. I have it from 2011, its battery still seems to hold about the same charge and I got it when Amazon gave you free worldwide 3G internet! I've been to some pretty exotic places and could still take out my kindle and google something in its experimental browser (current offerings also have worldwide 3G, but only for downloading books from Amazon - and perhaps wikipedia?).
That said, more kindle offering is a good thing. I mean it is by far my favorite device (I increased my literature reading from about 4-5 books per year to something like 20 after getting the kindle), if it wasn't for that perk and the fact that even the old Kindle Keyboard is pretty fine as a book reader (with the official case that has an integrated light), I would definitely consider this, it is still much cheaper than most phones for example.
But, yeah, you don't normally need to upgrade your Kindle every year. My wife has the paperwhite and the only reasons for her to upgrade would be either a large screen one (for pdfs) or a color one (for graphic novels).
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
You could buy 2 paperwhites (with the same resolution) and have money left over for some coffee at Starbucks.
$289 for an ad (infested) platform and only a 6 inch display? Seriously? Do they toss in lifetime Amazon Prime for this price? They should.
On another note, please check with your local llbrary system which allows you to checkout ebooks for free.
OverDrive is one platform libraries use.
Read my lips. A SD card reader is required equipment. If anything builtin storage is optional.
The Kobo Aura h20 is still the best reader on the market. Best of all amazon can't strangle hold you to use their ecosystem.
Any ebooks I keep around actually have/use I do purchase to support it's author. The first thing I do with my legal downloads is break the encryption. I not going to let you take away from me what I purchase. Every publisher is eventually going to go out of business or stop supporting past products.
One feature I think it a must for future readers is audio output and syncing in someway an audio book with the printed book. They might be able to get away with that though just a LE Bluetooth. Possibly audio over Bluetooth but better just a syncing app with an audio player on my phone. It would just be nice to find out how a word/name is pronounced.
Also it might be good if the platforms opened up rights for audio books such that every day people could contribute and make money for ebook performances. I prefer different voices depending on what is read. It would also be nice to have ensemble performances. Think of the performances as "apps".
But definitely they need devices with larger screens (and I mean up to like 14 inches) and an interface that is is aware of more than one device. Textbooks and schools. Using a couple eink pads of different sizes along with a tablet I think would be typical usage. Video and multimedia being consumed though the tablet with static content though eink.
Second they need to open up their platforms in some way to external operating systems. Sure they will still have their DRM hardware there in some fashion.
Okay, surprised it is.
Echo was a roaring success. Still is. We -- my SO and I -- own both an Echo and an Echo dot. They. Are. Awesome. We use them for all manner of things. Time, alarms and timers, spelling, definitions, weather, music (particularly the Echo dot, which actually has a hardwired stereo connection (also bluetooth) for audio instead of a built-in medium-fi mono speaker), direct control of lights, temperature... there's also a lot to be said for being able to talk to the thing when your hands are full, you're walking out the door, lying in bed, in the bath, etc. There are quite a few Echo-controllable devices out there now; plus, the IFTTT website works with it, which opens up a lot more easy-to-manage options.
Could Echo be better? Sure. Lots. The developer program, for instance, is really badly thought out. It works, but it's mega-clumsy and far more complicated than it needs to be, plus there are rigid secure server requirements for non-cloud use that simply do not need to be there for local control applications. Instead of speech parsing, it currently only uses canned lists of expected input (despite the fact that it can STT/TTS anything you say with very high accuracy. Just tell it "Simon says yadda yadda" and it'll STT what you said, TTS it back, and you can hear that it gets it right almost every time.) Couldn't hardly *be* more clumsy than expected list pseudo-parsing. But... it works. Which I suspect is their only real metric at the 3rd party developer level.
Is there anything anywhere near as good as Echo out there yet? Definitely not.
Anything coming? Perhaps. The "Watson" project looks like it might yet actually get rolling. They say they are shipping 3D printed units to select beta testers. I'm waiting until I can actually order one, then I will be happy to see about developing for it (I already have extensive text parsing code, and I'm not short of ideas or applications right here.)
The holy grail for these devices is non-cloud speech recognition that is available for interaction over the LAN. Watson says they'll be open, so that takes care of the LAN issue, but it's still a cloud-based speech system at this point, which means if the net, your ISP, your network, anything along the line is down, the device becomes clueless, just like Echo. Speech recognition is a hard problem, so it may be a while before we can have reliable local TTS/STT devices. But when we do... oh, yeah. :)
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
...to spot people with amazon stock :D
I like how they downgraded the latest paperwhite battery life so they could come out with this device that has the same battery life as the previous generations of paperwhite. I can only assume the voyage will be discontinued. I opted for a Kobo Glo HD with a 32gb card in it this time. Perfection. EPUB FTW!
Or for about $20-25 you can upgrade your existing kindle book reader with a small external USB battery pack and charge it 10-15X for about the same life as the one that costs more than 2x as much.
Got this last year, same size as a Paperwhite, nice soft backlight for night reading, microSD slot for expandable storage and native epub support. The store is quite limited compared to Amazon, but I torrent my ebooks anyway, and they're distributed as epubs, so no extra step of conversion via Calibre.
"..One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them, and in the darkness BIND them."