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Next Kindle to be Called Kindle Oasis, Will be Waterproof

kindle oasis japanJeff Bezos promised to share more details about the next Kindle next week, but we don’t have to wait that long.  In what looks to be a technical snafu, Amazon’s retail site in Japan has leaked the name of the new Kindle.

According to a page in the "Kindle accessory store", it’s going to be called the Kindle Oasis. We don’t have any specs today, but the page is showing styluses and a charger and is identifying them as the Whiskey accessories. That name had been previously identified as a codename for the new 8th-gen Kindle, and now Amazon has given us a second confirmation.

According to hints dropped in a recent firmware update, the Kindle "Whisky" might have page turn buttons, but won’t have the haptic feedback found on the Kindle Voyage. There’s also talk of a matching case codenamed "Soda", although fewer details are available on that.

Edit : According to Monday’s leak, the Kindle Oasis has page turn buttons on one side of its 6″ screen.

Edit 2: And now Amazon has confirmed the name and specs with yet another leak.

Given the name Oasis, this probably means that the new Kindle is waterproof like the Kobo Aura H2O, Nook Glowlight Plus, or the aftermarket Kindle Paperwhite from Waterfi.

Coincidentally, the URL www.kindleoasis.com belongs to Brilliance Audio, an Amazon subsidiary.

Alas, that’s all we can say about it at this time. Various investigative methods, including steganographic analysis and tracking Jeff Bezos' blinks for code patterns, has failed to turn up additional detail.

Stay tuned.

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Will 'Kindle Oasis' be the name of the new top-of-the-line e-reader from Amazon? – TeleRead News: E-books, publishing, tech and beyond April 9, 2016 um 9:52 am

[…] be pretty thrifty with power if you keep down the refresh rate. One of the Japanese images shows a stylus within “Whiskey” accessories, suggesting that if this Liquavista, maybe Amazon will […]


Syn April 9, 2016 um 10:35 am

But Naye, the snap shot is showing a color screen. Dare I hope we’ll finally see liquidvista. Now that would make me upgrade.

Nate Hoffelder April 9, 2016 um 10:39 am

That color screen belongs to a Fire tablet.

Syn April 9, 2016 um 10:47 am

Aww, my hopes are dashed.

Nate Hoffelder April 9, 2016 um 10:58 am

I know what you mean.

Me, too.

Tom Fritschler April 10, 2016 um 12:34 pm

An oasis is also a burst of color in what is often a monochrome desert landscape.


Suzatm April 9, 2016 um 1:20 pm

I was getting excited by the picture also since it was larger than 6 inches.


fjtorres April 9, 2016 um 4:07 pm

Hmm, if they are going with a new name (and it is eink) the odds for a Voyage 2 go way down.

Steve H April 9, 2016 um 5:48 pm

A new name leads me to think the "all new" Jeff Bezos is talking about is a new tech-not waterproofing. Hopefully of course-Liquavista.


Deb April 9, 2016 um 9:40 pm

Will the new.Kindle OASIS have an audio feature? Some of us bought in to immersion reading an own several audio books. Without text to speech what’s the point of upgrading to faster,slimmer,good battery if half your books are in audio and. No longer can use on a newer model. Sounds more like downgrading with a higher price tag.

Nate Hoffelder April 9, 2016 um 10:17 pm

It’s funny you should ask that. The URL www.kindleoasis.com belongs to Brilliance Audio, an Amazon subsidiary.

I don’t know if that means anything.

fjtorres April 9, 2016 um 11:04 pm

Well, audio streaming will chew up battery power something fierce, compared to ebooks.
Hmm, what’s the chance that the speakers go in the cover?
That way the thinner, lighter display unit is pure reader and sealed (for water-resistance) and communicates with the audio cover (or headsets) via bluetooth. Explains the battery in the cover, no?


Basem April 9, 2016 um 10:20 pm

Well, it seems Amazon is being predictable again with e-readers and content integration. I think this is a 6/6.8 inch 'premium' e-reader with incremental updates – water-proof, better integration with Audible (Bluetooth), self-charging case, possible e-ink enhancement and an even better front-light (may be an ambient sensor). If Liquavista is ready, we might have heard something this last year or so.

Steve H April 9, 2016 um 11:23 pm

I don’t think this latest is incremental. If they do use Liquavista they can announce the product next week and then submit to FCC etc. They already have several patents filed for. If it is Liquavista there will be no orders from Eink, just chipmakers and possible LCD screen component manufcturers. Less info leak spots.
Jeff Bezos has almost outgrown announcements for Kindle. I think that he has done so might indicate this is a possible game changer…if it isn’t overpriced.
If the name Oasis(strange) is correct it could have many hints at meanings …Oasis- water-liquid-Liquavista…who knows
Oasis def- Fertile spot in a desert where water is found
They have been sitting on Liquavista tech for years and seemed to have been actively hiring. It might even be greyscale as years ago they had no trouble with 400 dpi black/white
I could be totally wrong

Basem April 10, 2016 um 2:50 pm

I think it is too late to submit to FCC (should have been done well before product launch). I also agree with David, when it comes to e-readers Amazon tend to be reactive, similar to Apple, but, in my opinion, develop superior end-products than their rivals.

Also, Good e-reader reported a few months ago an upcoming updated Kindle Voyage with a superior processor; it seems the product was delayed and will be finally launched.

Nate Hoffelder April 10, 2016 um 3:29 pm

Nope. That rumor turned out to be false. It did not come true last year. Amazon launched neither a new Voyage or a new basic Kindle last November.

Basem April 10, 2016 um 3:55 pm

I am not too sure if it is false – initially, the end of 2015 was meant to be the time a Kindle update was coming but nothing came of it. May be something was meant to be released but there were delays with product development and supply problems. The fact that we are going to get that premium device update, with a likely better processor, indicates it wasn’t false. Also, we might have an updated budget Kindle, as you posted.

Nate Hoffelder April 10, 2016 um 4:10 pm

The rumor said we’d get a new Voyage last year. We didn’t get one and we’re not getting one, so the rumor was false. We also didn’t get the new basic Kindle like the rumor said.

I think you give them too much credit. Just because that site made a few guesses that are sorta coming true doesn’t mean their rumor was true.


Will O’Neil April 9, 2016 um 11:15 pm

Amazon is engaging in a frenzy of sales on Kindles, which is certainly consistent with the idea that they are on the verge of a big product introduction.

Of course they’ve fooled us all before…


DavidW April 10, 2016 um 12:41 am

For the past few years Amazon has been reactive instead of proactive. I expect this model will be stealing the Kobo Aura HD design. So I expect that it will be waterproof, perhaps larger. I’m not expecting any major shift like liquivista. Last model was the PW 2015 which is a copy of the Glo HD, and let’s not forget that Nook STR with Glowlight and Kobo Glo came before the original PW. Also the Kobo Touch and Nook Touch preceded the Kindle Touch. And recently Amazon decided to change the kindle homescreen to pretty much the same thing as the Kobo homescreen.


starman April 10, 2016 um 1:35 am

I actually made a phone call to the customer service of Amazon Japan. The operator said that she doesn’t know anything about the model. So she put me on hold to ask her supervisor for an answer (I guess). After a long waiting (about 8 minutes), she told me that there is no such product on the site of Amazon Japan or Amazon.com right now.
I guess we have to wait until the release.


Suzatm April 10, 2016 um 5:48 am

Do liquivista screens require a stylus?


Nieuwe Kindle Oasis is mogelijk waterdicht | April 10, 2016 um 6:27 am

[…] Website The Digital Reader bericht over de nieuwe Kindle, waarvan de naam opdook in de Accessoires-winkel van de Japanse Amazon. Een aantal pennen en een oplader zijn te gebruiken met het nieuwe apparaat. […]


Kindle?????????Kindle Oasis???????Amazon?????? April 10, 2016 um 10:38 pm

[…] The Digital Reader????????????????????Mobileread.com????????????Amazon?Kindle??????????Kindle???????????Kindle Oasis??????????????????????????????????Kindle???????????????? […]


???Kindle????????????????????????Kindle Oasis?? | ????? April 11, 2016 um 8:00 am

[…] The Digital Reader??????Kindle Oasis??????????????????????????????????????????????? […]


javi April 11, 2016 um 10:51 am

Kindle Oasis presented… in China ¿? https://subject.tmall.com/subject/subject.htm?id=3404656

Nate Hoffelder April 11, 2016 um 11:20 am

yep, working on a post.


Amazon????Kindle Oasis???????: ?????????????????????????????????? April 11, 2016 um 12:49 pm

[…] ?????Kindle Oasis??????????Amazon????????????????????Amazon????????????? […]


?Kindle?????Kindle Oasis????????????????? April 12, 2016 um 12:09 am

[…] The Digital Reader??????????????????????????? […]


Jacob Renner April 13, 2016 um 12:53 pm

I’ll be happy to buy this if it has an audio jack for my earbuds. I’ve been waiting for a device that has both a feature for sound AND e-ink.

If not, screw it. I’m not interested.

Nate Hoffelder April 13, 2016 um 12:54 pm

No audio, darnit.


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