14 DAY TRIAL // Amazon’s e-book readers are probably the best selling devices of their type, but the company knows it has to keep up with the competition and therefore it has just introduced some new models with new technology.
The giant online seller is today presenting the Kindle Paperwhite.
This is a 6” e-book reader that comes with a special type of screen and a considerably increased resolution.
We’re not too happy with the minuscule 6” screen and we believe it’s time the e-book makers moved towards 9.7” for a decent reading experience.
Amazon is not clearly stating what resolution the new screen has, but the marketing reportedly says that “it has 62% more pixels.”
The increased resolution is not the only improvement as the new Kindle Paperwhite comes with a special screen technology, called E-Pearl, with built-in light.
We really like this idea as the tablet has a “light guide” layer between the external glass and the touchscreen beneath, and the purpose of this layer is to act as an interesting antiglare solution.
Amazon claims that this layer will reflect light away from the reader’s eyes and into the e-ink screen, thus increasing the contrast rate.
The new Kindle Paperwhite e-book reader is “perfect for bed, perfect for beach and even thinner - this is a quantum leap forward and the best Kindle we have ever built by far,” said Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.
Indeed the company’s presentation touts a 25% increased contrast and an amazing 8 weeks of battery life while the new screen also comes with a 2-point multi-touch interface that will certainly be a huge improvement over the classic 5-way joystick.
There are no more physical buttons on the new Kindle Paperwhite e-book reader as the touch screen interface replaces them all with the exception of the power button located somewhere on the bottom lateral edge of the device.
The “Paperwhite” moniker itself tells us something about the new device as this one has a white and bright background while the illumination system is perfectly blended with the screen and the user can see absolutely no bright LEDs on the edge.
All the company’s tablets come with WirelessN technology and microUSB 2.0.
The Kindle Paperwhite has 2 GB or memory and weighs in at just 212 grams (0.46 pounds) and costs just $119 (95 EUR).
There is also a 3G version that will offer support for EVDO, CDMA or 3G, depending on the version and all these are priced at $179 (142 EUR).
