Amazon will release a less expensive version of its e-reader next month, the company has announced on its homepage.
Among the features Amazon touts on the 21 percent smaller third generation device:
- A new, high-contrast e-ink screen with 50 percent better contrast than any other e-reader
- The ability to read in bright sunlight with no glare
- A 15 percent lighter device
- A longer battery life allowing a single charge to power the device for a month
- Double the storage capacity allowing for up to 3,500 books
- A “worry-free archive” to recover deleted books
A WiFi and 3G-equipped device will sell for $189, and one with just WiFi will sell for $50 less.
On an open letter to customers posted on Amazon’s homepage Thursday, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, wrote:
I believe in the transformative power of reading — the ability of an author to transport you to new worlds, introduce you to new people, and even alter your perspective. Reading is important. Reading is why we build Kindles. Reading is why millions of people use Kindles.
“At $139, we expect many people will buy multiple Kindles for the home and family,” the letter continued.
Orders for the new Kindle are now being accepted — and will begin shipping on Aug. 27.
What is your take on e-readers? Do you use one? Would you?
I love my Kindle, received it for mothers day. I like that I can change the font size. It is easy for me to enlarge the print, it is light weight and fits in my hand bag very nicely. I save trips to the library and save money from purchasing hard copies. Now I do not need to figure out where I will store the new books, freeing up a lot of book shelf space. I really like all of the FREE E bOOKS AVAILABLE on Amazon.com I was able to get all the Ted Dekkar series for $9.99 each,this price sure beat the cost of hard copies.I even got my Bible for downloaded for $1.99 and no longer have to carry the big bulky book around.I can bookmark and every thing with the kindle.Great gift to be giving. I understand that a lot of college course books are coming out on Kindle, no longer have to tote books around. jjs
Comment by jeannette — July 29th, 2010 @ 11:30 am