Thursday, September 18, 2014

Kindle reimagined: $199 Voyage and $79 Touch variants introduced

Not only does Amazon still believe in e-readers, the Kindle creators believe in high-end, high-resolution, high-contrast e-readers available for prices that may seem prohibitive to certain tablet buyers.



Talk about swimming against the current. While everyone and their mother are trying to cram as many top-notch features into sub-$200, sub-$150, even sub-$100 Android and Windows slates, Amazon is exploring ways to take classically rudimentary e-book readers to the next quality level no matter the costs.

At first glance, Jeff Bezos looks insane asking for between $200 and, get this, $289 in exchange for a Kindle Voyage that can’t run Plants vs. Zombies or Fruit Ninja. Or play color HD YouTube vids. Or, for that matter, perform any other task than reading similarly to a crappy no-name $80 Android tab.

But we’re guessing hardcore bookworms will appreciate the record-breaking 7.6 mm thinness of the Kindle Voyage, its towering battery life, 300 ppi e-paper 6-inch display with adaptive, automatically adjustable front light, and the 4 GB of internal storage space.

Also, the 180-gram weight of the device, and, above all, the newly introduced PagePress function, which apparently allows you to turn pages “without lifting a finger”. Enough to warrant $200 with Wi-Fi-only connectivity and special offers, $219 ad-free, or $269 and $289 respectively with free 3G support?



That’s the million-dollar question, which only time can answer. The good news is, if the Voyage feels too rich for you blood, you can still buy a brand-new Kindle. A much more basic variant, called simply Kindle or Kindle Touch, that starts at $79 on pre-orders today, with October 2 set to inaugurate shipping.

Needless to say the entry-level fresh Kindle lacks a built-in light, as well as the PagePress sensor, while the screen sports a mediocre 167 ppi pixel density. Then again, this model is nearly as light as the Voyage and lighter than last year’s Paperwhite, at 191 grams, carrying thousands of books on a 4 GB ROM and enduring for weeks on a single charge.

In my book (pun intended), that, along with the sensible price point, make for a perfect little reading machine. What about you, which of the two 2014 Kindles would you pick? Or are you more Fire people?

Source: Amazon Press Release



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