By Steve Windwalker
September 30, 2011
Amazon held a press conference in New York Wednesday morning, and Kindle Nation was well represented by correspondent Len Edgerly of The Kindle Chronicles, who provided our readers with a live blog of a truly dazzling event marked by the launch of four brand new Kindles — include the new Kindle Fire tablet — at prices that shocked us all.
There’s a lot of information to share with you, but we’re going to try to strip it down and proceed from the simple to the sublime, with links in this week’s Kindle Nation WEEKENDER to more information and video for those who want to read more.
In that spirit, let’s begin with a very simple comparison chart for the hardware Kindle models that were unveiled Wednesday:
COMPARING THE NEW KINDLES
| Model | Kindle* | Kindle Touch* | Kindle Fire |
| Price | $79.00 | $99/$149 | $199.00 |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi | $99 Wi-Fi Only; $149 Free 3G+Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi |
| Release Date | Available now | 11/21/2011 | 11/15/2011 |
| Covered by 30-day no-hassle return policy | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Content | Millions of
books, newspapers, magazines, games, and docs |
Millions of
books, newspapers, magazines, games, and docs |
18 million movies,
TV shows, apps, games, songs, books, newspapers, audiobooks, magazines, and docs |
| Web browser | Experimental
browser |
Experimental
browser |
Amazon Silk
cloud-accelerated browser |
| Display | 6″ E Ink Pearl | 6″ E Ink Pearl | 7″ Vibrant Color IPS |
| Text-to-Speech | No | Yes | No |
| Battery Life | 1 month | 2 months | 8 hours continuous reading or
7.5 hours video playback |
| Cloud storage | Free for all
Amazon content |
Free for all
Amazon content |
Free for all
Amazon content |
| Dimensions | 6.5″ x 4.5″
x 0.34″ |
6.8″ x 4.7″
x 0.40″ |
7.5″ x 4.7″
x 0.45″ |
| Weight | 5.98 ounces | 7.5/7.8 ounces | 14.6 ounces |
| Interface | 5-way controller | multi-touch | multi-touch |
| *Models with Special Offers | Kindle | Kindle Touch | Not yet |
| *Prices with Special Offers | $79.00 | $99/$149 | Not yet |
| *Models without Special Offers | Kindle | Kindle Touch | Kindle Fire |
| *Prices without Special Offers | $109.00 | $139/$189 | $199.00 |
I’ve been trying without success to learn if the Kindle Fire has ebook features similar to earlier Kindles, i.e., text search, interactive dictionary, etc. The text search is of particular importance to me as I use it all the time in my present Kindle to recall material read earlier in the book. I’ve noted that the various PC and smart phone Kindle readers don’t have the text search feature. I fear that Amazon has simply moved one of those crippled readers over to the Fire.
Actually Scott, I just checked and the PC version of the free Kindle Reader app does have a text search box in the upper right-hand corner. I just tried it for myself, and it works fine. =’)
What I can’t see from the photos is if the page turning buttons are still on the sides like my Kindle 2. I really want to keep things one handed.
So no sd storage then. Only cloud?
Oh my, I’m excited. I have the 3G model and love it. But there are times when I see my hubs playing on his iPad and long for colour and touch screens. But i want to be able to read for long periods and outside, so needed the kindle screen rather than the ipad’s screen. This new Kindle Fire might be the answer. ;D
The Kindle Fire is certainly a novel idea, but it only has wi-fi which can
be problem in areas where wi-fi is unavailable. Personally, I’d prefer
wi-fi and 3G.
Bradyja
I order my kindle touch.
As soon as I can wi-fi the house from optimum I can buy the table.
I may be 67 years old but I love all the new things that are coming out.