New Kindles, Support GWJ

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The tech world caught fire today with Amazon announcing their new Kindle devices. A 6" screen e-ink reader for as little as $79 ($109 without ads). A touchscreen Kindle Touch for $99 or $139 if you want one without any ads. Finally, the Kindle Fire is a $199 Android tablet with a ton of custom software that gives you access to all of Amazon's services. It looks pretty damn good.

Kindle e-Reader
Kindle Touch
Kindle Fire

If you're planning to get on that pre-order bandwagon, please use the links in this post and GWJ will get a kick-back on the proceeds. It won't cost you anything extra and you can use it justify your impulse purchase. Win win! Note: this only works for the US Amazon store.

Comments

Holy mackerel.

I knew something like the Fire was coming from Amazon sometime soon. Wasn't quite prepared for the wave of lust that came over me when I clicked on that link.

About the only thing I see offhand that makes me uncertain about it is the size, at least vs. the iPad. I didn't see any dimensions (though I didn't dig past the first page), but unless those are really tiny hands holding it, it seems a little shrimpy. And, will the only wireless connectivity be via Wi-Fi?

Still, though...daddy wants.

Edit: Hi Mitch, the answers to both of your questions are down at the bottom of that first page. Have a great day! --Captain Obvious

Thanks, Captain. Looking at those specs, size looks to be around Kindle territory and Wi-Fi is the only connectivity. New concern, though: 8GB capacity.

I wonder if Amazon frowns on canceling your pre-order only to immediately pre-order again with one of these links.... hmmmm

I will continue to let Apple pave the way with expensive hardware while I wait a little while and get the cheaper versions of everything.

kaostheory wrote:

I wonder if Amazon frowns on canceling your pre-order only to immediately pre-order again with one of these links.... hmmmm

I've done it before (for cheaper items) and it went through right away.

Amazon rarely frowns. They are all smiles.

Re-purchased. I even gave them the legitimate reason why I'm re-ordering (though I know it's just going to an email box somewhere that they probably don't monitor too closely).

Prime members can stream right to it, huh?

Oooooooh . . . I think it might be tablet time, finally. For $199? That's pretty great deal-wise.

Edit: Enabled, *click*, bought.

kaostheory wrote:

Re-purchased. I even gave them the legitimate reason why I'm re-ordering (though I know it's just going to an email box somewhere that they probably don't monitor too closely).

This is Amazon we're talking about: I bet those comments go into a marketing spreadsheet that is poured over weekly.

Want the $99 version...soooooon

Mytch wrote:

Thanks, Captain. Looking at those specs, size looks to be around Kindle territory and Wi-Fi is the only connectivity. New concern, though: 8GB capacity.

That bothered me a bit too. The way they're getting around that is the cloud storage that comes with it. Everything you get from Amazon is automatically stored in their cloud and can be downloaded/streamed at will (provided you're in WiFi range of course). So you only really need enough locally to keep you occupied when you're between access points. Since I'm already deep in Amazon's cloud (with my existing Kindle, Audible subscription and their Android cloud player) I decided it wasn't a deal-breaker for me.

Mytch wrote:

I didn't see any dimensions (though I didn't dig past the first page), but unless those are really tiny hands holding it, it seems a little shrimpy.

It's a 7" screen. Total dimensions = 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45

More specs here.

Mytch wrote:

And, will the only wireless connectivity be via Wi-Fi?

Seems that way.

I already have a rooted Nook Color running Gingerbread (bought it refurb at the same price as the Kindle Fire), and the only thing better about the Kindle Fire is that it has a dual-core CPU. But I can't find anything on its actual speed, so I don't know how much better it is than the Nook's CPU. Regardless, I think I'm going to pass and stick to my rooted Nook. At least until Amazon sweetens the deal somehow, like with a free year of Prime (instead of just one month) or something else that's hard to resist.

Just got myself an e-reader for less than $30 using some credit card points. Fantastic.

Oh come on!!!! I'm only on the other side of an imaginary border >:( . It's not like they'd have to ship it overseas .

grumblestupidgrumblelawsgrumble

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Prime members can stream right to it, huh?

Oooooooh . . . I think it might be tablet time, finally. For $199? That's pretty great deal-wise.

Edit: Enabled, *click*, bought.

Yeah after they just announced a deal with FOX TV/Movies the other day to add to the Instant Video stuff... seems like this little Amazon corner of entertainment is getting a lot more interesting.

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Oh come on!!!! I'm only on the other side of an imaginary border >:( . It's not like they'd have to ship it overseas .

grumblestupidgrumblelawsgrumble

I don't see what the problem is. I doubt America would reject Winnipeg if you guys wanted to switch teams.

I am an Amazon fanboy, pure and simple. Even so, I'm not sure I see anything on any of the touch models that makes me want to upgrade my second generation Kindle at this point. Certainly won't be upgrading my wife's third generation.

The Fire looks interesting for sure, but to me that's not a Kindle, it's a tablet. Don't get me wrong, I may pick one up down the road when I want my own tablet (wife has an iPad we share atm), but it will be an addition to, not replacement for, my Kindle.

Teneman wrote:

I am an Amazon fanboy, pure and simple. Even so, I'm not sure I see anything on any of the touch models that makes me want to upgrade my second generation Kindle at this point. Certainly won't be upgrading my wife's third generation.

The Fire looks interesting for sure, but to me that's not a Kindle, it's a tablet. Don't get me wrong, I may pick one up down the road when I want my own tablet (wife has an iPad we share atm), but it will be an addition to, not replacement for, my Kindle.

They're not out to get you to upgrade. They're out to sell books.

These new Kindles look really cool, and are making me question my eBook library being entirely ePub. And my Nook, with its about-to-fail mini-usb port and B&N's refusal to take my money because it's coming from overseas, is looking rather shabby.

I use Calibre, so does anyone know if the EPUB-->MOBI conversion is (close to) flawless?

Finally, my patience has paid off. I've been waiting for the Kindle to do a price drop with a new tablet coming out this fall, and not only do I get that now, but a touch option as well!

The Fire is very tempting though...but I really love the E-Ink screens and think I might just do that for my dedicated reader. Regardless, Greed and Envy vs. Practicality and Realism will be a constant war in my head for the next couple months!

Now if they could just come out with a device that dynamically switches between an LCD and an E-Ink screen....

Saw an interesting quote. "Apple uses music, video, and apps to sell hardware. Amazon uses hardware to sell music, video and apps".

mwdowns wrote:

These new Kindles look really cool, and are making me question my eBook library being entirely ePub. And my Nook, with its about-to-fail mini-usb port and B&N's refusal to take my money because it's coming from overseas, is looking rather shabby.

I use Calibre, so does anyone know if the EPUB-->MOBI conversion is (close to) flawless?

You could try it. I'm pretty sure calibre has a built in reader so you can view the result.

I'm trying so hard to not impulse buy this. Must resist the enabling.

So doest this mean that e-ink is dead?

I'm interested in getting one, but like mentioned above the 8GB internal memory, with no upgradable storage, worries me. If they had thrown an 8GB SD card and said we could upgrade, I'd be pulling the trigger tomorrow. My phone has a 16GB card and that is almost full. Being able to swap out stuff from the cloud seems like it is great on paper but a bit of a pain in real life.

Nevin73 wrote:

So doest this mean that e-ink is dead?

Four of the five new devices are e-ink only (or e-ink + touchscreen).

Nevin73 wrote:

So doest this mean that e-ink is dead?

No, not for vanilla ereaders. What keeps me from considering the Fire for replacing my ereader (other than it's not available in The United Provinces of Canadia (and my preference of Canadian Kobo over Canadian Kindle)) is the 8-hour battery life, and from the looks of things screen glare. E-ink simulates paper very power-efficiently, and I think there will continue to be a market for that.

Besides, I don't think the Fire is meant to compete as an ereader but as a tablet. So it won't be killing it off.

I wanted a large price drop on the DX. I am tempted to buy 4 fires for Christmas presents for the kids.

Forte wrote:

No, not for vanilla ereaders. What keeps me from considering the Fire for replacing my ereader (other than it's not available in The United Provinces of Canadia (and my preference of Canadian Kobo over Canadian Kindle)) is the 8-hour battery life, and from the looks of things screen glare.

Speaking of screen glare, any word on what the glare is like on the Kindle Touch?

Would have been nice if Amazon had these new Kindles for sale right when they got everybody all excited about them. What's the point in drumming up feverish excitement for a product that isn't going to be on the shelves for a month and a half?

That said, I do want one of those $80 Kindles.

breander wrote:
mwdowns wrote:

These new Kindles look really cool, and are making me question my eBook library being entirely ePub. And my Nook, with its about-to-fail mini-usb port and B&N's refusal to take my money because it's coming from overseas, is looking rather shabby.

I use Calibre, so does anyone know if the EPUB-->MOBI conversion is (close to) flawless?

You could try it. I'm pretty sure calibre has a built in reader so you can view the result.

I use Calibre with my Kindle, and it converts EPUB's plenty fine. It even converts PDF's fairly well, most of the time.

As for the Kindle Fire, I'm rather impressed. If it holds up vs some of the other tablets, and the pricing is similar to the US price, I may just have to get one when it goes international. ~$200 is damn cheap for a tablet when you're looking at the competitors being a Xoom for $529. And considering the new Kindle is going for $109 AUD compared to $99, I'm hopeful. The entire package looks like the ideal kind of e-book reader companion, something to browse the web / play some games / check email while the Kindle itself is best for some sustained reading.

As far as e-ink goes, there's no way that it's going to die out. It's just that much better than standard LCD for reading anywhere.

Very exciting news!

mwdowns wrote:

I use Calibre, so does anyone know if the EPUB-->MOBI conversion is (close to) flawless?

Another vote for Calibre's conversion powers. It works like a champ for most ebook formats. The only thing I miss with conversion is the online syncing. I really appreciate kindle's ability to sync your position across multiple devices, which is only available for books purchased from Amazon. Fortunately, most popular public domain books are available for free from amazon.