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Amazon Replaces the Basic Kindle With Touchscreen-Equipped Model, Will Ship it on 2 October

Kindle_00F_USThe blogosphere is all abuzz today with the news of the new Kindle Voyage, but that’s not the new Kindle that Amazon has on the way.

Lost in the excited chatter about the Kindle Voyage comes the news that Amazon is indeed replacing the now discontinued basic Kindle with a touchscreen model.

Details are still scarce, but that screenshot from the German blog tells us that the new Kindle model will have a 6″ screen and a touchscreen. It’s expected to ship on 2 October, and cost 59 euros in Germany, or about 10 euros more than the current basic Kindle.

Update: The new Kindle has officially launched, and it will ship on 2 October. Retail is $79 (ad-supported), or $10 more than the model which was just replaced. The new device has the same screen resolution, a touchscreen but no frontlight or sound, 4GB internal storage. In many ways it looks like a slightly bloated Kindle Paperwhite, only with 4 weeks battery life and weighing about half an ounce less.

It will have the same features and abilities as the Kindle Paperwhite, and look like this:

 

Bildschirmfoto-2014-09-17-um-11.37.23[1]

There are no details on the screen resolution, and I still have unanswered questions (ohne spiegeleffekte?), but it looks like I wasn’t too far off when I speculated that Amazon might replace the basic Kindle with a reduced price Kindle Paperwhite. (I also said that the replacement would cost the same; let’s see if I got that right as well.)

If this listing is real then the mention of the touchscreen tells us that the new Kindle model will not be running the same software as the late and beloved basic Kindle. Instead, the new model will likely be running the same software as on the Kindle Paperwhite.

As you may or may not know, the basic Kindle ran Kindle OS4, while Amazon’s touchscreen-equipped Kindles ran Kindle OS5. Both versions of the Kindle software offered many of the same features, but Kindle OS5 was customized to support touchscreens. And so if the new model has a touchscreen there is a good chance that it will run Kindle OS5 and have all the same features as the Kindle Paperwhite.

Will it have the same screen resolution as the Paperwhite? What about the frontlight?

I don’t have answers to those questions yet, but I suspect Amazon is going to announce the new device shortly – as in, some time in the next few hours.

Keep an eye on the blog feeds; this story isn’t over with yet.

 

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Comments


ujfh September 17, 2014 um 10:04 am

"Ohne Spiegeleffekte" means "without reflections", which I guess Amazon claims for all its readers (and marketing certainly would like to claim it for their Kindle tablets as well).

Nate Hoffelder September 17, 2014 um 10:51 am

I got something similar from Google Translate. Thanks for the better translation.


The $69 Kindle is Out of Stock – Could This be a Sign of a New Model on the Way? – The Digital Reader September 17, 2014 um 3:50 pm

[…] Update: A replacement model leaked. It’s going to cost a little more and come with a touchscreen. […]


fjtorres September 17, 2014 um 9:52 pm

The product pages are up.

Good, better, best strategy as somebody suggested a while back.

KINDLE (basic) is SVGA PEARL screen 4GB, no page turn buttons

KINDLE PW2 is XGA carta 4 GB

KINDLE VOYAGE IS HD carta 4GB

The biggest news is buried.

You will soon be able to link accounts to share books. Couples. Siblings. Parents with kids.

Nate Hoffelder September 17, 2014 um 9:54 pm

Yep. I already updated this post. I’m going to write a new post from scratch fro the Voyage.


Amazon to Add New Reading Features to the Kindle Platform This Fall – The Digital Reader September 17, 2014 um 11:59 pm

[…] addition to launching a couple new Kindles on Wednesday, Amazon is also saying that they’re launching a whole slew of new […]


Anne September 18, 2014 um 2:17 pm

"KINDLE PW2 is XGA carta 4 GB"

The Product page STILL doesn’t say the PW2 comes with 4 GB storage. Are they afraid to annoy all the people that bought them with 2 GB by updating the page?


Apple’s Big Move | Digital Book World September 19, 2014 um 8:02 am

[…] New Basic Kindle Also Coming? (The Digital Reader) More rumors, this time about a new basic Kindle model that has a touch screen and is a tad more expensive than its predecessor. […]


Markus September 24, 2014 um 4:24 am

The new Kindle Touch has a Carta Display, and yes, the Paperwhite 2 has now 4 GB like the new Basic .

Nate Hoffelder September 24, 2014 um 7:09 am

According to the product pge, the new model has a pearl E-ink display, not Carta.


BlancaP October 26, 2014 um 11:32 pm

I just picked up one of these to try. Compared to my Kindle 5 basic reader, it’s longer, wider, rhicker, heavier and using it in one hand, especially the right hand, is much more clumsy. This is progress?

Nate Hoffelder October 26, 2014 um 11:47 pm

I think it’s when you turn them over that you realize how much better the design of the old unit is than its replacement. The new unit looks like cheap junk, while the old unit looks like a premium model in comparison.


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