Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Amazon lets Kindle Voyage e-reader with 300 ppi display out of the bag

The second-generation Kindle Paperwhite e-reader turned one earlier this month, and the latest iterations of the Fire tablet series are nearing their first anniversary too, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise we’re starting to catch wind of possible sequels.



More than a month and a half has passed since a purported 2014 Amazon Kindle Fire HDX emerged in an unofficial benchmark, and oddly, no subsequent whisper reached our ears. Nothing on a new installment in the basic Kindle e-book reading franchise either, so we were this close to commence rumors of Amazon’s imminent retirement from the hardware-manufacturing business.

After all, a sales flop of Fire Phone’s magnitude would probably be enough to shatter even companies with deeper roots in the industry than the e-commerce expert.

But what do you know, Amazon isn’t ready to cave just yet. Not even in the dwindling e-reader business, where it’s pretty much the sole remaining active player. And no matter your opinion of entry-level, e ink display-sporting Kindles, you have to appreciate the OEM’s courage and dedication for a family of devices likely destined for oblivion.

Particularly the courage to continue beefing up the Kindle e-readers, at the risky expense of affordability. Apparently, the follow-up to the 2013 Paperwhite, dubbed Voyage, will cost a whopping EUR 189 in a Wi-Fi-only flavor on the old continent, and EUR 249 with 3G connectivity added to the equation.



That’s up from around €109 and €169 currently for the Paperwhite 2, and it isn’t really competitive pricing compared to a bundle of budget Android tablet contenders.

Of course, the Kindle Voyage intends to compete with stellar battery life, as always, plus a higher-res than ever before 6-inch screen. Namely, a panel with 300 ppi pixel density. For comparison, most 7-inch Google-powered tabs tout ppis of between 180 and 220.

But will that be enough to convince tech consumers to cough up $189 and $249 respectively for Wi-Fi and 3G-capable rudimentary reading machines? It sounds like a stretch, however Amazon has a new page-turning sensor to offer, as well as “intelligent front lighting” and improved, refined designs, with 8 mm slender profiles and 186 grams weight.

ETA? November 4, according to information inadvertently leaked by Amazon’s German and Japanese branches. Yeah, right, inadvertently.

Source: The Verge



Read More: http://ift.tt/1BLZo2S






via VRForums | Singapore Technology Lifestyle Forums - News around the web! http://ift.tt/1u0LWHm

No comments:

Post a Comment