focus
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Amazon wants to enhance its Kindle to compete with Kobo and Boox.
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Modifications ought to embody higher library e book assist, redesigned stylus and page-turn buttons.
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A very powerful change is the change to a colour e-ink show.
Amazon’s
Kindle e-reader
are a few of the finest tech merchandise accessible. After a number of years of experimenting with completely different sizes and shapes of e-ink screens and gadgets with completely different buttons, the corporate has settled on a set of basically three forms of Kindle gadgets that work nicely. That is why it is extra essential than ever for Amazon to shake issues up.
The trendy Kindle has a high-resolution e-ink show that appears virtually like a paper e book, and in some ways is healthier than a bodily e book. It gives a number of ranges and temperatures of lighting, so whether or not you are studying exterior within the park or in a dimly lit room earlier than mattress, the e-reader can hold your eyes snug. Battery life now lasts for weeks at a time. All these pleasing qualities are available in a extremely moveable bundle that may slot in a pocket or bag. The factor is, it has been like this for years. Amazon’s final large new concept for the Kindle, in November 2022, was prime quality however nonetheless incomplete
Kindle Scribe
launches the corporate’s reply to the proliferation of e-ink tablets which have taken off over the previous few years.
Whereas Amazon is already up and operating, rivals Rakuten Kobo and
Bucs
We have launched higher and higher e-ink gadgets, surpassing Amazon in including productiveness options and colour e-ink screens. Based on reviews, Kindle is at present out of inventory in retail shops, and Amazon isn’t solely
prime day
however with the opportunity of a brand new model of the e-reader launching at a fall {hardware} occasion, it is value contemplating what the corporate must do to maintain up with video games like
Kobo Libra Coloration
. Here is what I feel Amazon must do with its next-generation Kindle to keep away from falling behind.
1
Amazon ought to launch a colour e-ink Kindle appropriate for studying comics
Want place to learn comics
The final time I opened Kindle Scribe on function was to learn comics. The clear black and white display measurement is ideal for viewing all of Ito Junji’s works directly. For all the things else I learn my
iPad
or bodily copy. That is not as a result of my Kobo Libra Coloration’s colour e-ink show makes my digital comedian assortment look dangerous, however as a result of Kobo’s comedian choice is restricted, and placing the digital variations on an e-reader is a bit annoying.
So why does not Amazon produce a colour e-ink Kindle that is good for studying comics?
Amazon acquired in style digital comics storefront and reader app Comixology in 2014 and solely lately built-in its comics straight into the Kindle retailer and app. So why does not Amazon produce a colour e-ink Kindle that is good for studying comics? Coloration e-ink shows have come a great distance by way of colour saturation and the time it takes to refresh the display—they need to be adequate to fulfill Amazon’s strict requirements.
Rumor has it that the corporate is a minimum of exploring the concept. Provide chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who sometimes predicts Apple’s subsequent strikes, wrote in February 2024 that he anticipated Amazon’s new Kindle to characteristic ACeP, or superior colour e-paper, which makes use of adjustable colour particles As a substitute of filters to create colour photos. The transfer would make the brand new Kindle stand out from Kobo, not solely as a result of it could permit the e-reader to refresh sooner, however it could seemingly produce extra saturated colours than the Kaleido screens used on the Kobo Libra and Clara Coloration.
2
Kindle wants an interface that does not make laptops second-class residents
The stress that exists on each Kindle is between Amazon, the bookseller, and the businesses that prefer to make {hardware} that is simple to make use of and revel in. This rigidity is most evident on each Kindle’s dwelling display, which shows the books you’ve got lately interacted with on the high and fills the remainder of the scrollable display with a carousel of belongings you may like, and even belongings you may not. Like issues that look nice in black and white
Kindle Paperwhite
On display, it is like an X-Males comedian. On Kindle Scribe, you may get the notebooks included on this checklist, however apart from that, all of the laptops on this checklist are the identical. This wants to alter.
Not solely ought to notebooks be simply accessible and editable on Kindles apart from Kindle Scribe (all of those gadgets have entry to software program keyboards which might be nice for fast note-taking), however they need to even have a devoted part. In comparison with the Kobo Libra Coloration, which gives a number of your lately opened books in addition to hyperlinks to lately learn authors, your library assortment, and the place you possibly can borrow extra books, the Kindle appears like it’s a must to wade by means of one other A model of the e book. That is not essentially the case, particularly when Amazon already allows you to work together with content material like PDFs and create issues like handwritten notebooks and drawings.
3
Amazon ought to add bodily buttons as an possibility on new Kindle
Older e-readers used to have devoted page-turn buttons
One good characteristic that Kobo has caught with is the bodily web page turning buttons. All the firm’s e-readers nonetheless characteristic contact screens that you may swipe to spotlight or flip pages, however a number of choices additionally embody buttons so you possibly can maintain the e-reader with one hand and nonetheless flip pages. Web page. In a world the place practically everyone seems to be used to touchscreen smartphones, that is on no account a crucial characteristic, however it nonetheless appears like a quality-of-life characteristic value together with.
The final Kindle to have bodily web page turning buttons was
Kindle Oasis
an costly luxurious e-reader that Amazon discontinued in July 2024. Along with the brand new Kindle sequence. Individuals overlook that the unique Kindle had a page-turning pad and a bodily scroll wheel. Amazon has dedicated to providing haptic controls earlier than, and it could return to that once more.
Learn our evaluate
Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019): Glow
The Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019) stays our first selection for studying gadgets. It is costly, however, when you learn quite a bit, it is unbeatable. Discover out why on this full evaluate.
4
Kindle Scribe deserves a snug, sturdy stylus
Amazon’s first stage is nice, however wants extra enhancements
If Amazon is creating a brand new model of Scribe, it positively must rethink its stylus. The Kindle Scribe stylus is cleverly designed to not solely have an eraser on one facet, but additionally a button on the opposite facet that switches you to highlighter mode or switches between pens. The issue is that the stylus is just too skinny to carry comfortably for lengthy intervals of time, and it makes use of a replaceable tip that must be changed regularly.
Amazon’s stylus ideas additionally include specifically designed instruments to take away them. You’ll develop into very conversant in it.
In comparison with the Kobo Libra Coloration Help’s included stylus, whose nib is technically replaceable however feels prefer it’ll final eternally, or with reMarkable’s redesigned nib on the Marker Plus (which you may get through reMarkable Paper Professional order), the nib is way thicker and extra sturdy than earlier than, which is a really noticeable distinction. Writing on an e-ink pill with a uninteresting nib does not really feel nice, and Amazon’s styli virtually all the time get uninteresting. Amazon ought to both change the nibs of its styluses much less regularly or change to a special kind of stylus totally.
5
Kindle ought to present higher assist for library books
Placing library ebooks on Kindle is not arduous, however it’s definitely simpler
One of many largest promoting factors of the Kobo Libra Coloration, or Boox machine with entry to the Google Play Retailer, is straightforward entry to library books. Kobo has built-in OverDrive assist, which implies you possibly can borrow and skim e-books out of your native library straight out of your Kobo machine. You can even do it straight from inside the Kobo Retailer, which implies if you cannot borrow a e book immediately, simply purchase it.
Getting library books in your Kindle is a extra concerned course of that requires you to make use of Libby (one other identify for OverDrive) to borrow books and ship them wirelessly to your Kindle. These books are in the identical format as different Kindle e-books, however are harder to maneuver. Libby is a superb useful resource in its personal proper, and Amazon is clearly incentivized to allow you to purchase low-cost ebooks as a substitute of borrowing books out of your library, but when there’s something that might make the Kindle actually compete with Kobo, it would be higher with one thing like Libby Such a service might even be accessible straight within the Kindle retailer.
Amazon has an enormous lead and no cause to take dangers
The Kindle was one of many first e-readers to develop into in style within the mainstream and was Amazon’s first {hardware} product. The corporate has been the Christmas present of selection for everybody from youngsters to grandma for years as a result of it makes shopping for and studying books as simple as doable. Amazon has an enormous benefit as a result of many individuals have Kindle e-book libraries which might be troublesome, if not inconceivable, to extract from Amazon. With a loyal viewers, Amazon has no cause to strive too arduous.
However Kindle Scribe says there are a minimum of some individuals on the firm prepared to strive new issues, and as competitors continues to warmth up, it is smart that the Kindle must change in some fairly large methods to maintain up.
