Amazon, Kobo Announce New eReaders And Tablets
via Gizmodo:
Amazon made a huge splash yesterday with its updated line of eReaders and tablets. Let's begin...
First up was the Kindle Fire HD. There are three models--a 7-inch tablet, and two 8.9-inch versions, one with 4G and one without. The smaller tablet is $199, and the larger tablet is $299, bumping up to $499 if you want 4G. The coverage costs extra, too--$49.99 a year, and it comes with 250 MB of data per month and 20 GB cloud storage. That's not enough for streaming video on a daily basis, but it's decent.
Next up are the eReaders--Amazon unveiled the Kindle Paperwhite, their answer to the backlit Nook that came out a few months ago. They've added more pixels and increased the contrast. Word from the floor is the backlighting looks pretty and smooth, though with a bit more lag than older models.
The Paperwhite will cost $179 with 3G, and $119 without. The base-model Kindle is now $69.
Gizmodo has a pretty good roundup of what was announced, and you can see that here.
Kobo, meanwhile, announced a new tablet, the Kobo Arc, replacing the Vox. The 8 GB model will cost $199.99 CAD, and the 16 GB model will sell for $249.99 CAD. The company also announced two new eReaders: the Kobo Mini, a bare bones eReader priced at $79.99 CAD, and the Kobo Glo, a backlit reader retailing for $129.99 CAD.
Click over to Wired to find out the specs and details on the Kobo equipment.
So... that's a lot. What do you think? I'm not going to lie, I like the look of the Kindle Paperwhite. I have the basic Kindle, and I like it, but I think the backlight might be enough to upgrade. And $69 for a base model Kindle?! They're getting closer and closer to impulse buy territory...
Who's buying what?
News by Rob W. Hart
Rob W. Hart is the class director at LitReactor, as well as the associate publisher for MysteriousPress.com. He's the author of The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella, and his short stories have appeared in Shotgun Honey, Thuglit, Crime Factory, and Needle: A Magazine of Noir. He lives in New York City, and you can find his website at www.robwhart.com.
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Comments
How bad is it the impluse for me is stopped only by trying to pick out which one I want?
I returned two malfunctioning kindles within a year... maybe this version is more sturdy?
@pkanom - Oddly, mine Kindle 3G is holding up better then some paperbacks I've owned. I'll totally admit that is most likely dumb luck. What type did/do you have?
It was a 3G one, before the "touch" generation came along. The first one froze within 4 months while I was reading it. Amazon replaced it but I had to send them the defective by UPS, so it really meant the same as buying a new one. The second one I think I pretty much broke it (knelt on top of it as it was under the covers in my bed)
I'm planning on getting a new one, but they're updating so fast as of late...