Amazon introduces the Kindle 3

[rockymtnhigh]

Amazon is introducing the replacement for the Kindle 2 e-book reader. The new device will weigh 15 percent less (8.7 oz); have a form-factor that is 20 percent smaller than Kindle 2. It will be 20 percent faster loading pages, have the new screen contrast of the Kindle DX that just came out, have 4GB of memory, and a new webkit browser.

Oh, and it now has wi-fi in addition to 3G, for $189. PLUS, there is a wi-fi only version for $139 (no free whispernet 3G for purchasing books or light web browsing).

Available in August in the traditional white or the new charcoal.

See New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only version and $189 3G model available August 27th in the US and UK -- Engadget


I am very excited about this new Kindle (3G model; while I like the price of the wifi version, I will stick with the 3G version). It supposedly has a much crisper screen, and makes no clicking sound when using the page turn buttons. Plus, it is even more ergonomic than the original.

No, it is not an ipad; it is a dedicated e-book reader; and Amazon knows e-book readers better than anyone. I think my wife will be getting her first kindle soon.... well, she'll be getting my original Kindle 2.

 

[Bill_KY]

My sister in law has a Kindle 2 and she is pretty happy with it. There is only one glitch. She tells me if you want to load your own PDF Ebook on it, you have to email the ebook to Amazon and then they will send it to your Kindle for a fee. I wonder if this new version will take care of that one glitch. I like the Kindle and was hoping that they took care of this one minor issue. If they did...it will be on my list...

 

[rockymtnhigh]

My sister in law has a Kindle 2 and she is pretty happy with it. There is only one glitch. She tells me if you want to load your own PDF Ebook on it, you have to email the ebook to Amazon and then they will send it to your Kindle for a fee. I wonder if this new version will take care of that one glitch. I like the Kindle and was hoping that they took care of this one minor issue. If they did...it will be on my list...

That is not true anymore. An update to Kindle 2 enabled it to read PDFs with no problem natively. This has been true for about six months. Plus, you never had to pay for a PDF if you just use the @free.kindle address. Amazon will email back the file, so you can upload it via USB.

Plus, the new update that dropped last week enables the user to zoom pdfs. And it provides the ability to sort titles into collections.

the Kindle 3 will have all of these features.

 

[TheForce]

I was going to ask about those pdf files.

I picked up a very rare deal on DVD ROMs. 127 scanned books that have long been out of print and extremely rare publications on ancient mysticism, witchcraft, black magic, astrology and similar subject matter. Some are in German, some Latin and some in French. Many of these publications were old style hardbounds dating in the 1800's. Many have old etchings and other oil reproduction artwork. I used an ap called hd air sharing to save to the ipad because they are all scanned in pdf format on the DVD. pdf on the ipad is not as slick as the ebooks that have 3D page turns but you can do bookmarks and it will store your places automatically as well as add some annotations.

If the Kindle can do pfd's, how does it handle images embedded in the pdf?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I was going to ask about those pdf files.

I picked up a very rare deal on DVD ROMs. 127 scanned books that have long been out of print and extremely rare publications on ancient mysticism, witchcraft, black magic, astrology and similar subject matter. Some are in German, some Latin and some in French. Many of these publications were old style hardbounds dating in the 1800's. Many have old etchings and other oil reproduction artwork. I used an ap called hd air sharing to save to the ipad because they are all scanned in pdf format on the DVD. pdf on the ipad is not as slick as the ebooks that have 3D page turns but you can do bookmarks and it will store your places automatically as well as add some annotations.

If the Kindle can do pfd's, how does it handle images embedded in the pdf?

Most of the PDFs I use on it, are basically images themselves; it has no problems with images; and the new kindle should display them even better.

The Kindle has never had a problem with images. I can't wait to see how the K3's improved contrast makes a difference.

The new collection feature makes organizing your books much nicer too; I just went through all 15 pages of books on my device, and got it down to 2 pages of collections. Very nice!

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Two weeks before my Kindle 3 arrives, what happens but the battery on my Kindle 2 decides to crap out! Ordered an extended battery from a website and just successfully conducted surgery on my K2. There were a few scary moments when I wasn't sure if the patient would live, but its all back to Kindle glory. And will move on to its new owner (my wife) in a few weeks.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Kindle 3 arrived today. It is much more compact than the K2; feels extremely light in the hand; the screen contrast is definitely improved. At first I did not notice a lot of difference, but after reading for a bit, it was obvious to me how impressive the screen quality is.

The refresh is very fast. It will take some time to get used to the changes in the menu button, but the previous/next buttons are nice, and much quieter.

So far, its a winner. My only regret is that I wish I got the new dark color shell. Who knows, maybe in a couple of weeks (with the 30 day period), I'll contact Amazon and ask them to exchange it. Or maybe not. Regardless, the Kindle 3 is without a doubt the best ebook reader available. And compared to the Nook, it is practically weight-less.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

After reading for an hour last night, all I can say is WOW. The text jumps out at you on this thing. When Amazon says they improved screen contrast by 50 percent, they mean it. Its stellar.