Amazon's new $79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch stick with e-ink display
The $79 Kindle with "special offers" is available today, and features a simpler design than previous models, which featured a full hardware keyboard for text input. The new model maintains a directional pad and buttons for page turning. An ad-free version of the Kindle costs $109.
Amazon also unveiled a $99 Wi-Fi Kindle Touch, also featuring a black-and-white e-ink display that is touch-sensitive. The Kindle Touch lineup also includes a model with 3G connectivity for downloading books on the go, available for $149. The ad-free Kindle Touch is $139, while the 3G model without "special offers" goes for $189.
Both Kindle Touch models are available for pre-order today, and are scheduled to ship on Nov. 21.
Kindle
- 30 percent lighter, less than 6 ounces
- 18 percent smaller body, same 6-inch screen size - Fits in your pocket
- Most advanced E Ink display, reads like paper
- Built in Wi-Fi - Get books in 60 seconds
- Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
- New - Borrow Kindle books from your public library
Kindle Touch
- Most-advanced E Ink display, now with multi-touch
- New sleek design - 8 percent lighter, 11 percent smaller, holds 3,000 books
- Text-to-speech, plus audio books and mp3s
- Built in Wi-Fi - Get books in 60 seconds
- Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
- New - Borrow Kindle books from your public library
X-Ray
Amazon also announced a new feature called "X-Ray," which allows users to see all of the passages in a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them with a single tap. Users can also access detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon's own community-powered encyclopedia. X-ray is said to be powered by language processing and machine learning technology built by Amazon.
AppleInsider revealed on Monday that Amazon was set to announce three new Kindle models this week, with two of them being e-ink-based. Also revealed Wednesday was the third model: the Amazon Kindle Fire, a color 7-inch touchscreen tablet that will sell for $199.
Amazon is expected to build 12 million new e-ink Kindles this year — 8 million of the low-end $79 model, with another 4 million Kindle Touches. The high-end touch model, code-named "Whitney," features a Freescale i.MX515 processor and 256MB of RAM with its 6-inch display. The touchsreen model is arriving later because of a "more complicated design and assembly," analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed.
The new $79 model is said to feature the same processor as the touch model, but has an integrated controller that will provide "better system design and lower cost" when compared to previous Kindle hardware, Kuo said.
The Kindle lineup may expand even further in 2012, as Amazon is said to be exploring color touchscreen tablets with sizes of 10.1 inches and 8.9 inches for potential launch next year.
37 Comments
Apple is expected to build 12 million new e-ink Kindles this year -- 8 million of the low-end $79 model, with another 4 million Kindle Touches.
Oops! I don't think Apple is building ANY Kindles.
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I am not seeing this on the Amazon store yet. Interested in the touch, I think a great addition to my iPad for reading in the sun.
I still say Apple should use the name iBook and build a dedicated e-ink book reader product. Nobody does hardware and software like Apple and LCD screens are just not for reading full books. I should know, I own both an iPad 2 and a Kindle 3. I still prefer paper books BY FAR, but if apple took e-books seriously I might think about going e-ink. Amazon's Kindle software and Kindle hardware on the Kindle 3 was in my opinion: TERRIBLE. The page buttons are so awfully designed it's criminal. The software was painful and the keyboard was the most ridiculous thing I have even used. Not to mention - a 6" book reading display is just too small. Even the smallest paperbacks are 8" on the diagonal.
I slapped this together 5 months ago:
I looked at Amazon's website and noticed that the prices listed in the article for e-ink readers are "With special offers".
Kindle: $79 with special offers, $109 without
Kindle Touch: $99 with special offers, $139 without
Kindle Touch 3g: $149 with special offers, $189 without
For $30, I would do without advertisements on the screensaver and home screen.