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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).

30 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Excellent! by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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 It is obsolete!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!

    1. Re:Excellent! by MightyYar · · Score: 4, Informative

      A free download of Calibre will solve your issue by converting your epub to mobi.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    2. Re:Excellent! by bruce_the_loon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The device does detect if you are holding it in either a left or right hand and flips the screen vertically, so it will handle your case (to a degree). Might be mentally different though flipping through 180 degrees when swapping hands.

      --
      Trying to become famous by taking photos. Visit my homepage please.
    3. Re:Excellent! by Nightjed · · Score: 2

      Look i agree with you, they should support epub

      but in the mean time calibre does batch conversion in like 3 clicks, takes about 20 seconds per book you can have it then upload them to your kindle, just leave it working for an hour

      Paperwhite is a freaking good deal for the price, specially if you get it during those discount days

    4. Re:Excellent! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No, it's a fucking rip-off. It costs $120 for the adware version. My Nook Glowlight Plus was $130 and it's way better; it supports more formats, including standards like epub, it doesn't have advertising and it runs Android which means you can install other reader apps, launchers and web browsers on it.

      Even if the Kindle were $1, I won't pay any amount for a locked down, adware device that only supports proprietary formats.

    5. Re:Excellent! by The-Forge · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The full mobi format is documented officially so that kind of makes it not proprietary. It's like saying FAT is proprietary compared to ext3 just because Microsoft uses it.

    6. Re:Excellent! by steveg · · Score: 2

      My Kindle has epub support.

      Or rather, my Calibre-equiped PC and my Kindle together have epub support.

      I only ever buy non-DRM epubs. I edit them using Calibre to eliminate the right-justified margins and then convert them to Amazon's format. I've never actually gotten an ebook from Amazon, all my books are side-loaded.

      --
      Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.
    7. Re:Excellent! by chihowa · · Score: 2

      The device does detect if you are holding it in either a left or right hand and flips the screen vertically, so it will handle your case (to a degree).

      Sweet! So like autorotation on phones, it'll totally freak out when you're reading it while lying down. Good thing that people never read books in bed, right?

      --
      If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
  2. Re:My old Kindle already has months of battery lif by Sique · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*
  3. I won't pay that price until by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I won't paythat price until they have a colour e-ink display

  4. In short... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

  5. Bring back a large screen model by clifwlkr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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!

    1. Re:Bring back a large screen model by clifwlkr · · Score: 2

      Try being a consultant and travelling. There is no way I can lug several books with me on an airplane and on the customer site. With one of these, I could have my whole library of reference books, and books I want to read to learn something in my travel time.

      I agree that there is something nice about a real book, but it is all a balance of the situation, and a large e-ink reader for me would allow me to do things I just could not practically do in my situation. I don't think I am alone in this.

    2. Re:Bring back a large screen model by aliquis · · Score: 2

      This is what you want:
      http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/...
      Sony 13.3" 4GB DPTS1 Digital Paper System
      "13.3" Flexible Electronic Paper Display
      1600 x 1200 Native Resolution
      Multi-Touch Support
      4GB Storage Capacity
      microSD Media Card Slot
      Micro-USB Connector
      802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
      Stylus Pen Included"

      "Easy to use right out of the box and optimized to accommodate 8.5" by 11" documents"
      "Read and annotate documents, create "sticky notes" and highlights, and upload documents wirelessly from Digital Paper, making them available for archiving or sharing with colleagues."

      It's what I want but I also want color =P

      "Oh we won't make a color one until there's color books!"
      It's called magazines, comics, ..

    3. Re:Bring back a large screen model by Junta · · Score: 2

      It really needs to be a large format display. Having search and a *well designed* digital tech document (i.e. having working intra-document links and being well organized) I find to be invaluable. 10" is where I start maybe finding it acceptable to have a document workable in a technical context.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  6. Walled garden by jewsdid911 · · Score: 2

    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.

    1. Re:Walled garden by Junta · · Score: 2

      It disappoints me that Kobo and Nook don't get more notice. Sure, they come with a default store experience, but at least they implement more interoperable formats.

      I know B&N have particularly been managing Nook poorly, but still...

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  7. Re:Is there a left-handed version? by MightyYar · · Score: 2

    I'm sure they didn't think of that.

    --
    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  8. Re:Is there a left-handed version? by MichaelJ · · Score: 3, Informative

    Did you even try to read the article? “A built-in accelerometer flips the screen so you can switch the grip from your right or left hand.”

    --

    Michael J.
    Root, God, what is difference?
  9. Re:$300 to read books? by cruff · · Score: 4, Interesting

    like i'm going to dump my ipads and phones to buy this

    Well, if you actually like to read a lot, it might be worth it (to acquire an e-paper reader, not dump your other stuff). The e-paper displays are readable outdoors in full sunlight, unlike LCD displays. I did try my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 with its AMOLED display outdoors, but had to turn it up to full brightness to even see it, with the resulting loss of run time. I also had to go back indoors first to find the brightness slider. It also suffered from reflected light glare, which my Kindle Voyage does not so much.

  10. Re:$300 to read books? by ooloorie · · Score: 2

    Yeah, but a regular $80 Kindle (or other e-ink reader) will do just fine for cheap outdoors reading.

  11. What a great feature by jewsdid911 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "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?

  12. Re:$300 to read books? by rwven · · Score: 2

    You're not supposed to... This is a stand alone e-reader for people who want a stand alone e-reader. No one should ever expect to replace an ipad or phone with one. That's absurd.

  13. Good, page turn buttons! by Predathar · · Score: 2

    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.

  14. Re:$300 to read books? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Nook Glowlight Plus is on sale for $99 right now. You get an e-ink tablet running Kit Kat that's rootable. It's not a powerhouse tablet with only 512MB ram, but it still makes an amazing customizable ereader.

  15. and $300? Oy. by fyngyrz · · Score: 2

    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.
  16. Limited storage by jbridges · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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?

  17. Juts a bit condescending by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

    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.
  18. Re:My old Kindle already has months of battery lif by mspohr · · Score: 3, Funny

    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?
  19. This submit is great... by unique_parrot · · Score: 2

    ...to spot people with amazon stock :D