Features – Hardware and Software

Like the Kindle 3, the Kindle 4 is outfitted with the now-standard 6-inch eInk Pearl screen, an experimental web browser, excellent search feature, book lending capability, support for multiple file formats, and access to Amazon’s ecosystem (cloud storage service, Kindle store, App Store.

What it doesn’t have is the physical keyboard of the Kindle 3. There’s no touch function either. What the Kindle 4 has is a large 5-way controller at the bottom of the device. Beside the D-pad are the Back, Menu, Keyboard, and Home keys. On both sides of the device are page buttons.  While this design makes the Kindle 4 easier to use than previous Kindles, the absence of keyboard makes searching for books a taxing, time-consuming task. Library space of 2GB, which is roughly equal to 1500 books, is half the storage size of the Kindle 3.

The Kindle 4 comes with WiFi wireless technology only; there’s no mobile broadband. You get a month of battery life with wireless off. This is just half of what the Kindle 3 offers, but still very great considering that you need to charge only once a month.

All these hardware reductions, however, has given the Kindle 4 a more compact form factor than its predecessors. It is the lightest, easiest Kindle to hold. Wrapping one’s hand around the device is ultra comfortable and nice. Page turns are also faster than the Kindle 3’s.

Pros

The Kindle 4 is very easy to use and feels very comfortable to hold and use for a very long time. Just like the rest of the Kindle devices now, the Kindle 4 lets you borrow books from public libraries. Users get access to millions of digital books, periodicals, and blogs via Amazon’s Kindle Store. WiFi access at AT&T hotspots is free. There are eight font sizes available, including two extra-large fonts for customizing your reading experience. Amazon does automatic backups of all your purchased books so you never lose a book. If you lose your Kindle 4, your books can be easily downloaded to another Kindle 4 eReader or Kindle-appified device.

Cons

Without   a keyboard (either physical or virtual), taking down notes or doing searches becomes a terrible experience. The device has no speakers and audio support, which means you can’t listen to audiobooks or background music. There’s no memory card slot, so if the 1.25 GB available space is used up, then you’re stuck. There’s still no ePub support, so you’re stuck with Amazon books. The device doesn’t come with a power adaptor; charging is done via USB only.

The Bottom Line

The Kindle 4 is the cheapest Amazon reader to date. It is also the least featured. However, for less-moneyed folks and people looking for a starter Kindle, the Kindle 4 is a solid option.

As rumors hinted, the Amazon Kindle Fire is a splitting image of the $499 Blackberry PlayBook. They look hauntingly the same, except that the Amazon Kindle Fire has narrower bezel. While they look the same, feature-wise, the Kindle Fire easily outdoes its pricier RIM counterpart.  The Fire has richer range of songs, movies, books, periodicals, TV shows, and apps available for free or for a fee. After all, the Kindle Fire is purposely-built as a serves as conduit for Amazon’s retail content just like Apple weds its iPad into its ecosystem of apps and music.

Features – Hardware and Software

The Kindle Fire, like the Blackberry PlayBook , features a 7-inch multi-touch display with 16 million colors. The panel uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology like the iPad, providing users good view from all anges. The display is coated with anti-glare layer, but the Kindle Fire remains hard to view under direct sunlight.  It measures 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 – though not pocketable, it easily slips into a handbag or purse. It weighs 14.6 ounces, about the same weight as the PlayBook.

The Kindle Fire is powered by a dual-core processor, allowing you to run multiple tasks at the same time, such as streaming music while reading books or playing games while downloading videos, without slowing down the tablet. Although it has Android under the hood, there’s no trace of Android. The interface is uniquely Kindle, and it runs its own app store. Still, as demonstrations have shown, the tablet runs Android games very well.

To cut down on costs, Amazon built only 8GB of internal storage into the device, roughly half the storage size of most tablets.  8GB is good enough for 80 apps plus 800 songs and 6000 songs, but this fills up quickly and there’s no SD slot on the device for additional storage. Amazon hopes that users will overlook this lack by integrating free cloud service into the Fire.  However, as the tablet’s wireless service is via WiFi only, streaming content or getting content into Amazon’s cloud is not possible in all circumstances.

Also integrated into the Kindle Fire is Amazon’s very own Web browser called Silk. The browser’s speed is boosted by Amazon’s cloud network.  What the browser does is  it gathers and stores user search behavior , then uses this information to predict where you will like go next when you open a website. The browser then caches the page in advance, resulting in quicker load times.

Pros

• Interface is fast, intuitive, and user-friendly.
• The Amazon Kindle Fire supports Flash.
• You get a month’s use of Amazon Prime for free.
• You get lots of content – over 17 million songs in the Amazon MP3 Store, millions of books in the Kindle Store, over a hundred thousand movies and TV shows in Amazon Prime, and over 15 thousand apps in the Amazon App Store.
• Glass display is durable and scratch-resistant.
• Color display is great for children’s books as well as magazines, graphic novels, comics, and the like.

Cons

• The Amazon App Store has about 15,000 apps – an app pool that is relatively small especially if you compare it to iPad’s 425,000 apps.
• You can’t customize the home screen with widgets, wallpapers, etc.
• The tablet doesn’t have a camera and microphone – you can’t use it for video chatting or for recording audios.
• There’s no mobile broadband; you have to hunt for a WiFi network to get Internet connection.
• There’s no GPS functionality.
• There’s no multi-touch support; the display recognizes two-finger touches only.
• It will not run DRM-protected text and audio content as well as ePub books.

The Bottom Line

The Kindle Fire is not as versatile or as fully featured as the iPad, but for its price of $199, it offers incredible value. No other tablet within this price range has the Kindle Fire’s richness of media content.  It is aimed to knock off the Nook Color off its perch. From the looks of it, the Kindle Fire can easily do it in one fell swoop — unless the upcoming Nook Color 2 offers better features and services.

Features – Hardware and Software

Amazon has given its Kindle a complete redesign. The characteristic QWERTY keyboard and page turn buttons found on previous models have been ditched for touch-based interface. Like the Nook Touch and the Kobo Touch, the eInk Pearl display of the new Kindle eReader is coated with a highly sensitive infrared sensor, which quickly detects touch input. As a result, the Kindle Touch 3G is sleeker, lighter, and more compact than the Kindle 3G.

Amazon also tweaked the touch surface to make it more user-friendly. With the Nook Touch and Kobo Touch, you need to swipe the corner of the screen to flip a page, causing finger fatigue over time. With the Kindle Touch, simply tap the screen to open a new page or go back to the previous page. Because there are page-turn points on both sides of the screen, users can hold the device and turn pages comfortably with either hand. The touchscreen quickly responds to touch or swipe, and it refreshes only once every six or seven pages. Heavier tasks, such as book search, results in larger screen refresh. Overall, the Kindle Touch 3G performs activities quite fast for an eInk device.

There are a few software additions, but they do enhance the reading experience. One is the X-Ray Feature, a metadata that provides information about the books you are reading from sources like Wikepedia. The Kindle Touch 3G now has a library book support, which was previously a popular consumer demand.

The Kindle Touch 3G shares nearly all features with the Kindle Touch. There are two main differences/ One, the Kindle Touch 3G is integrated with a 3G chip, allowing users to browse the web or shop and download books on the go. As with the current models, Amazon foots the bill. At 7.8 ounces, the Kindle Touch 3G is slightly heavier – 0.3 ounces to be exact — than the WiFi-only version.

Pros

The Kindle Touch 3G is small, light, and very easy to use. The touch interface makes navigation fast and easy. Free 3G wireless connects you to the World Wide Web 24/7, and yet you have no monthly fees or annual contracts to worry about. The 3G wireless works globally, too. All purchased Kindle books are automatically stored in the cloud so you never lost a copy. If you run out of library space for your eBooks, no need to purchase an SD card; you can store them in the cloud, too. Cloud storage service is free for Kindle books.

Cons

The Kindle Touch 3G still lacks ePub support, so consumers are still tied to the Amazon Kindle eBookstore. Owners don’t have the freedom to purchase from other eBook shops.

The Bottom Line

The Kindle Touch 3G offers the same Kindle reading experience in a sleeker, more ergonomic package. There are two versions available. The model with Special Offers will retail for $149, while the ad-free version will cost $189. Both models will ship the second week of November.

Features – Hardware and Software

Measuring 6.8 x 4.7 x 0.4 inches, the Kindle is thinner and more compact than the Kindle 3. It is also very light – just 7.5 ounces – and easy to tote and hold. Thanks to touch, the interface is easier, more convenient. As all page-turning takes place on screen now, Amazon has added a touch experience they call EasyReach to eliminate fatigue from perpetual swiping of screen and to allow users to hold and use the Kindle with either hand. EasyReach allows users to open a new page by tapping the screen with either right or left thumb. To go back to a page, tap the narrow area near the left edge of the device. Based on demos shown, the Kindle Touch is very responsive and very zippy. It looks faster than the Kindle 3.

Software-wise, the Kindle experience is the same. This is because Kindle Touch carries over most of the features and functions of the Kindle 3. There are some additions, though. One is the X-Ray function, which provides you a summary or background information of the book you are reading. The information is available offline. Online, you can get more information by clicking on the embedded links. Another vital addition is the Library Book Support. Users can now borrow Kindle books from public libraries.

Pros

The Kindle Touch is intuitive and very simple to use. The addition of touch has even made the interface friendlier to the user. Most of the advantages of the Kindle 3 are also offered by the Kindle Touch, including 2-month battery life (with wireless on), free WiFi access in AT&T hotspots, real page numbers on eBooks, password-protection, text-to-speech conversion, book lending, synching, and automatic cloud backups. Users get to access the Kindle Store, which now offers over 800, 000 free and paid books and over 1.5 million free classics – the most range of books you can get from a bookstore.

Cons

The Kindle Touch carries a large 4GB internal storage (3GB is available for use), but it doesn’t have an SD card slot. Amazon compensates this lack with a free cloud storage service, but you can’t really use it unless you’re connected to the Internet.

True, the Kindle Touch is the first major eReader to break the mythical $100 barrier. However, this price is for the model with Special Offers only.  The Kindle Touch with Special Offers features ads on the homepage and as screensavers. Are you willing to deal with ads to get the $99 device? If not, just fork over additional $40; the regular Kindle Touch (with no ads) is priced $139.

While Amazon has loosened its grip on its eReaders by allowing users to borrow library books or lend Kindle books, the device still lacks ePub support. This means users cannot buy from non-Amazon stores.

The Bottom Line

The Kindle Touch with Special Offers (priced $99) and the Kindle Touch ($139) are definitely a step up to the Kindle 3. They’re worth checking out if you are looking for good value for your money. Shipping of the devices will start the second or third week of November.

Just when everyone’s thought the only way Amazon can top its Kindle 2 is by adding color and touch, the new Kindle 3 proves us wrong. Like its WiFi-only sibling, the Kindle 3 comes with a more compact form factor and ergonomic button placement, faster page turns, sharper and changeable fonts, bigger memory, improved PDF, better accessibility, up to 1 month battery life, and more. The Kindle 3 is the living proof of Amazon’s unwillingness to compromise great reading experience for anything.

Features – Hardware and Software

The Kindle 3 carries over lot of Kindle 2 reading-centered features, including social networking, free 3G access to Kindle Store (and its wide selection of competitively priced books and other reading materials), 60 second book downloads, free 3G access in over 100 countries, and cross-platform book sharing.

On the other hand, the Kindle 3 makes big improvements on the Kindle 2 over (1) ease of carrying the device, (2) ease of using it, and (3) readability of the device.

The Kindle 3 still sports a 6-inch eInk screen. To make the Kindle 3 more portable, however, Amazon has reduced its size to a svelter 7.5 x 4.8 x 0.335 inch form factor. The size reduction also allowed for a lighter weight of 8.7 ounces. The result is a smaller, thinner, and lighter device. Though the size got smaller, the memory got twice larger. The Kindle 3G + WiFi has 4GB memory, which can carry up to 3500 books at a time.

The battery life is also doubled: with the wireless turned off, the Kindle 3 can last up to a month, making it even more ideal for traveling. You don’t need to bring a charger even if you’re planning to spend a long vacation away from home.

The Kindle 3 has also been given a facelift to achieve a more ergonomic design. Amazon seems to have given a lot of thought as to what to scrape out and what to retain. The page turn buttons flanking both sides of the screen are now just one-quarter of an inch wide and are labeled with > and < arrows instead of words (as found on the Kindle 2).

The buttons come in a rocker style that press towards the edge, making them easier to press and quieter, too. The joystick got smaller, and is now found under the screen along with the Home and Menu buttons. The number buttons have been removed (to access the numbers, press the symbol button), and the keys are arranged more closely to each other.

Nearly half of the improvements on the Kindle 3, though, have to do with readability. The Kindle 3G is sporting a new eInk Pearl screen offering 50% more contrast. You can breeze through the menu, and the pages turn noticeably faster, too, than on the Kindle 2. You can now change the font type (choices include Condensed, Serif, and Sans Serif) or the line spacing (choices include small, medium, and large).

The Kindle 3 also supports non-English fonts including Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Cyrillic. Built-in PDF reader is better than ever, allowing you to add highlights, notes, and look up definition of words in the dictionary. It can also access password-protected files.

The new Kindle reader still offers free 3G access in the US and in over 100 countries all over the world. Also, Kindle owners will now be able to enjoy the benefits of WiFi, such as accessing the web or store when outside a 3G area.

The browser is now WebKit-based, and can be accessed either over 3G or WiFi. When browsing the web, you can set the page into text-only mode to make reading easier by choosing the Article Mode.

It’s not just the normal-vision readers who are going to benefit from the enhancements and new features of the Kindle 3G + WiFi. The device can read out loud item descriptions and menus, too, and so is great for people with low or impaired visions.

The Kindle 3 is available in Graphite and White.

The Bottom Line

Amazon’s decision to not add a touchscreen and color support to give the Kindle 3 better readability is quite laudable. Without any argument, Kindle 3 is the eReader that provides the most value for your money.

After a long wait, the Kindle 3 has finally arrived, not only with one but two versions: a Kindle WiFi and a Kindle WiFi + 3G model.

For those who want a sub-$150 eReader or who have no need for 3G accessibility, the WiFi version is just as formidable as its 3G brother. With its thinner form factor, more ergonomic design, improved readability and even bigger storage, the Kindle WiFi is positioned to out-perform every other eReader out there. And with its incredibly low price of $139, the Kindle WiFi is more enticing than ever.

Features – Hardware and Software

Amazon has given the Kindle WiFi a complete redesign. The first thing people will notice is its smaller form factor. Amazon has trimmed the Kindle in all corners, cutting out as much 21% unnecessary spaces. The result is a more streamlined, tighter look. The Kindle 2 measures 8 x 5.3 x 0.36 inches. In contrast, the Kindle WiFi measures 7.5 x 4.8 x 0.34 inches only. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you hold the device, you’ll feel the difference more dramatically: it feels lighter, thinner, and much easier to hold with one hand.

To allow for the smaller form factor, Amazon also removed the row of numbers button and resized the page turn buttons to just 1/3 of an inch wide. The navigation buttons have been re-organized to allow for a more ergonomic arrangement. The Menu, 5-way buttons, Back, and Home buttons are now located under the screen directly next to the QWERTY keyboard.

The keyboard buttons are more rounded and arranged closer next to each other, making typing a lot faster. The slimmer page turn buttons now come in a rocker style, which responds to presses easily without making any annoying noise. Instead of Word labels, the page turn buttons are now labeled with > and < arrows only.

What’s more notable is the way Amazon has made the Kindle WiFi’s readability much better than ever. The screen has 50% better contrast that its predecessor. It is also zippier, offering a 20% faster page turn rate. 4GB onboard storage is double the size of the Kindle 2, and it can hold up to 3500 reading materials. Battery life is also doubled; it can now last up to a month with the wireless turned off.

Amazon has added a lot of new features, too, including the ability to modify line spacing (options include small, medium, and large) and typeface (options include regular, condensed, and sans serif). The device also supports several languages (Japanese, Korean, Cyrillic, Chinese).

The Kindle WiFi has free access to AT&T networks. It is available in Graphite only.

The Bottom Line

The Kindle WiFi is already available for pre-order. It’s a very solid eReader that will be hard to resist. Amazon has really done a great job.

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Features – Hardware and Software

Like the Kindle DX White, the Kindle DX Graphite sports a 9.7-inch eInk screen display that excellently displays a broad range of reading materials. Instead of Kindle’s trademark off-white casing, however, the Kindle DX 2’s screen is enclosed by a graphite casing. 

Though both Kindle DX versions share similar features and capabilities, from a readability perspective, the Kindle DX Graphite is overall a better device than its white twin. The Graphite offers 50% more screen contrast and a higher contrast ratio of 10:1, making text and images look a lot sharper and clearer. Also, perhaps taking a page from the B&N Nook, Amazon’s choice of graphite casing is just perfect. The graphite enclosure provides to make the dark text of the Kindle DX Graphite stand out more against the white screen background.

The Amazon Kindle DX Graphite offers all the goodness you find in the Kindle DX. It also comes with built-in accelerometer, text-to-speech function, PDF reader, long battery life (2 weeks with wireless off, 1 week with wireless on), basic web browser, and a large library space capable of storing up to 3,500 ebooks and other reading materials. There’s the access to Twitter and Facebook, library collections organizer, and support for 6 font sizes. Further, the Kindle DX Graphite is an excellent choice for those who travel abroad much and for those who live outside of the US as the device comes with AT&T-powered global 3G access. Whether you’re in the US or abroad, you can enjoy wireless downloads and wireless syncing. As with other Kindle models, you can enjoy use of 3G without worrying about monthly bills.

Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), PDF, TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

The Bottom Line

Instead of bending to the pressure of the media to add video playback capability, games, touch screen, or other features not related reading, Amazon simply focused on improving the Kindle DX’s readability. The Kindle DX Graphite is a testament to Amazon’s great emphasis on perfecting the reading experience.

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The reader’s appearance is further streamlined by its absence of buttons on the left-hand side of the unit; the controls to turn pages have migrated exclusively to the right side. Even though I’m a righty, and do most of my page turning from that side, I do miss the Kindle 2′s Next page button on the left, which I use when reading in bed, head propped up by my right arm.

The most glaring hindrance of the DX is its price. It costs $490 — more than the original Kindle cost at its launch 19 months ago. Even Apple, which operates on a premium pricing philosophy, typically introduces its improved models at the cost of the previous one. You’d expect the DX to come in at $400, with the Kindle 2 tariff (which remains at $370) dropped to $300. That’s plenty for a device that sends you directly to the manufacturer to buy books.

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Features

The Kindle DX can hold up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents. It has a 9.7″ diagonal e-ink screen that reads like real paper and boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and sharp images. It also has an auto rotating screen, much like Apple iPhone, That enables you to Display auto-rotates from portrait to landscape as you turn the device so you can view full-width maps, graphs, tables, and Web pages. The 3G wireless connection lets you download books right from your Kindle DX, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, no annual contracts, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots . With the text-to-speech feature, Kindle DX can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable.

The Bottom Line

Overall, the DX feels more like text and less like device and comes closer to the stated goal of the Kindle: for the device to disappear, leaving only the joy of reading.

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[Update 2: Amazon released a WiFi only version of the Kindle.]

Kindle 2 is a showcase of how serious Amazon is in perfecting ereading experience. Amazon gave the design of the first Kindle an overhaul to give its second generation device a sleeker and slimmer look. The Kindle 2 also shows improved/added features, including better grayscale rendering, longer battery life, better refresh rate, and larger storage.

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It is worth highlighting that Amazon didn’t stop improving the Kindle 2. Long after the device was launched in February 2009, Amazon continued to make changes to the Kindle. One of the most notable is making the device more affordable by dropping the price to $259 from its original retail price of $359.

In less than a year, downloadable reading materials in the Kindle Store increased by over 130,000. As of September 2009, the Kindle Store had approximately 350,000 books available for download. Today, it has over 480,000.

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Amazon has also released an international version of the Kindle 2. The global Kindle can access the Kindle Store over the Sprint network (the US version is powered by AT&T).

However, Whispernet access and experimental browsing features are limited in some countries. The international version also retails at $259.

Taking account all the above features including standard ones such as low book prices ($9.99 for most titles), over the air download via Whispernet, and a display technology that recreates traditional reading experience, it’s not difficult to see why the Kindle continues to dominate the eReader market.

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Hardware and Software

The Amazon Kindle was the first to make shopping and purchasing ebooks more convenient than getting real books. The Kindle Store is seamlessly integrated into the eReader. No need to hook up the device to a computer – your Kindle takes care of everything. You simply pick a book and download it. In less than 60 seconds, the book appears in your library.

The Kindle may not have a look as sexy as the Sony Daily eReader, but it is still built for portability and ease of use. With a waistline of 0.36 inches and weighing 10.2 ounces only, it doesn’t tire the wrist even after long use.

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Navigation commands are easy to learn. Even non-techies can quickly figure out how to use the device. Buttons on both sides of the device allow one-handed use with either right or left hand.

While 6-inch screen may not be ideal for broad layouts such as magazines and newspapers, it does allow comfortable reading of books. As it uses eInk screen, the Kindle is readable in various lighting environments. 16 shades of grayscale and 600 x 800 pixel resolution sets the standard in sharpness of texts and images. A common complaint in the past was Kindle’s lack of native PDF support.

The Kindle 2 now has built-in PDF reader, which even supports a variety of languages. You also have the option to convert PDF documents to Kindle format. For a small fee, you can send personal documents and image files to your Kindle wirelessly.

The Kindle’s greatest disadvantage, most experts say, is its lack of support for open source content. Recently, Amazon made a change to its Digital Text Platform. Small publishers and individual authors can now opt out of DRM publishing format.

With Kindle’s Text to Speech feature, you can have the device read out loud stories to you. The TTS feature, however, raised a debate last year over copyright issues. Amazon didn’t remove the feature, but modified the systems by leaving the decision to enable or disable the feature to authors and publishers.

Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

The Bottom Line

The Kindle may have flaws in design, but they don’t impact what Kindle 2 does best: giving you the pleasures of reading.

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