Kindle Paperwhite alternatives
Kindle Paperwhite's screen has 25% higher contrast. Crisp, dark text against a brilliant white background makes for the perfect read. Paperwhite guides light towards the display from above instead of projecting it out at your eyes like back-lit displays, thereby reducing screen fatigue. You can adjust your screen's brightness to create a perfect reading experience in all lighting conditions, from bright sunlight to bedtime reading. The best Kindle Paperwhite alternatives are: Kindle Ereader, Kindle Oasis, Kobo Libra, Kobo Clara, PocketBook Touch, PocketBook InkPad, ONYX BOOX Poke
Here are the latest news about Kindle Paperwhite:
2023. Kindle Paperwhite gets new Kindle Scribe features
Amazon, in its infinite wisdom and with a slight flourish, has unveiled a firmware update joyfully titled version 5.16.2.1, aimed squarely at the 7th-generation Kindle, the 11th-generation Kindle Paperwhite, and the ever-so-distinguished Signature edition. Procuring this marvel of modern software is as simple as meandering over to the settings menu and imploring the device to check for updates—though, if the cosmic forces of regional distribution have not aligned in your favor, you may have to exercise a smidge of patience for a few weeks. Within this update lies an intriguing assortment of Kindle Scribe-esque capabilities—think doodling, notebook wrangling, and virtual sticky notes—but alas, these are about as functional as a chocolate teapot for the time being. This, of course, is no accident. Amazon, in a stroke of corporate efficiency, has crafted a universal code base for all its e-readers and the Scribe, ensuring updates ripple harmoniously across the entire family of devices. Elegant, isn’t it?
2023. Amazon releases new colors and covers for the Kindle Paperwhite
Amazon has just introduced two new colors for the Kindle Paperwhite: Denim and Agave Green. These new shades will be available for both the 16GB Kindle Paperwhite and the 32GB Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. Alongside the new color options, Amazon is also launching an Agave Green leather and fabric cover to complement the Agave Green device. You might remember that Amazon unveiled a 16GB Kindle Paperwhite — in addition to the existing 8GB version — last fall, providing customers with the option of more storage so they can carry even more books while on the go. Building on this, the Kindle team aimed to add some vibrant colors to a customer favorite.
2022. Kindle Paperwhite is now available with 16GB of storage
In the grand intergalactic marketplace that is Amazon, they've decided to offer the Kindle Paperwhite with a generously expanded 16GB of storage—because, as everyone knows, one can never have too much space for digital books one will never read. This storage bounty is available in two thrilling flavors: with ads or, for the truly rebellious, without. The price? A cool $149, which is $10 more than the meager 8GB version. Historically, Amazon has bumped up Kindle storage without asking for extra cash, but clearly, someone in marketing thought, "What if we *did* charge $10 more? Just to see what happens." Meanwhile, the humble basic Kindle, also sporting 16GB, retails for a mere $99, making it abundantly clear that offering an “upgraded” Paperwhite with just 8GB for $139 was becoming as logical as a Vogon poetry recital. So now we have the 16GB Paperwhite, because of course we do.
2021. Amazon launches Kindle Paperwhite for kids
Amazon, in its infinite digital wisdom, has unfurled the Kindle Paperwhite Kids, a clever little gadget that’s essentially the base Kindle Paperwhite, but with a dollop of kid-friendly wizardry splashed on top. Among its more dazzling features is the IPx8 rating—a marvelous piece of jargon meaning it can survive the occasional dunking courtesy of a wayward juice box or an impromptu bathtub voyage. Packed within its slim, waterproof shell are Vocabulary Builder and Word Wise, two tools so educationally earnest they might even tempt kids into learning English without noticing. It also features the Open Dyslexic font, beloved by those for whom words have a maddening habit of rearranging themselves. And because no childhood would be complete without a sprawling library to dive into, the Paperwhite Kids comes with a year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+, unlocking an unfathomable treasure trove of eBooks and Audible audiobooks—ideal for the budding bookworm or a parent desperately seeking five minutes of peace.
2020. Amazon issues new update for Kindle Paperwhite 3
Amazon has finally upgraded the Kindle Paperwhite 3 with all the new features it previously lacked. The model hadn't received a firmware update since December and was widely rumored to be discontinued. One of the new enhancements is an improved search experience, making it easier to navigate your search results within the book without losing your place. To use it, simply search for a term in your book and tap on a search result. They have also refreshed the Page Flip feature, which now displays recently read pages as dots on the progress bar, including your most recent page read from another device. If you have a FreeTime Unlimited subscription, children will see a new layout, enhanced search, book details and Audible support. In supported regions, kids with access to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited will see rows of recommended eBook and Audible content that are suitable for their age.
2020. Amazon has ended support for the Kindle Paperwhite 3
Amazon has discontinued support for the Kindle Paperwhite 3 and the e-reader will not receive any further firmware updates. The only exception would be if Amazon updates their Kindle Whispersync program and Kindle Store with a new version of TLS. The 7th generation Kindle Paperwhite 3 was one of Amazon’s most successful e-readers. It was released in 2015 and was heavily promoted for four years before being succeeded by the Kindle Paperwhite 4 in late 2018. The last firmware update for the PP3 was in 2019 and it is currently running version 5.12.2, while all the other modern Kindles are on version 5.13.1.
2020. You can now delete Kindle Books directly from Kindle
Until now, the only way to delete an ebook from your Kindle e-reader was to log in to your account via the Amazon website and remove the book there. With the 5.12.5 firmware update, you can now completely delete an ebook from your entire Amazon account directly on the Kindle. Simply go to My Library, find the title you want to remove and press and hold the cover art for two seconds. This will prompt a confirmation window asking you to confirm the deletion process. Once the removal is complete, the book will be entirely gone from your Amazon account and the title will no longer appear in the cloud section. If you accidentally delete the wrong book, you will need to purchase it again.
2020. Kindle ereaders get new font menu system
Amazon has released a new firmware update (5.12.4) with a revamped Aa menu for all recent Kindles. It provides users with increased flexibility and control over their reading experience. Essentially, Amazon has reorganized the menu and combined some of the additional settings into one section, eliminating the need to navigate through various menus or sub-menus. When you access the Aa menu on the Kindle now, you'll find several sections: Themes, Font, Layout and more. The first section, called Themes, allows you to create custom themes or choose from several presets like Standard, Compact and Large. The Font menu includes a dropdown for selecting fonts, with slider bars to adjust the font's boldness or size. With fewer font options on the screen, more text is visible in the book you're reading, which helps you see how the font settings look as you adjust them.
2019. Amazon heavily discounts the Kindle Paperwhite 4
In the vast digital jungles of Amazon, where deals occasionally burst forth like improbable interstellar phenomena, a most curious event has occurred: the Kindle Paperwhite 4 has been marked down by a splendid $30. This means you can now procure the 8GB base model for the shockingly earthly sum of $99 or indulge in the 32GB WIFI variant for a mere $129. For those who demand an e-reader capable of summoning books from the ether via 4G/LTE, that particular model has been discounted by $40, now priced at $209—though only for residents of the strange and distant land of the United States. This waterproof wonder boasts a harmonious alliance with Audible, allowing you to commune with audiobooks through wireless headphones or a portable speaker. And as if to further nudge it into the realm of improbably perfect devices, its screen, flush with the bezel, invites swipes and gestures with a grace that might just make you believe in magic again.
2018. The new Kindle Paperwhite is thinner and waterproof
The Kindle Paperwhite has taken a leisurely stroll through the upgrade department and emerged rather pleased with itself, flaunting a host of delightful tweaks that lend it a distinctly posh air while stubbornly sticking to its $130 starting price. Chief among its party tricks is waterproofing – an IPX8 rating, no less – which means you could casually drop it in two meters of water and still have enough time to read the entire Vogon poetry section before retrieving it. Borrowing a page from its swankier sibling, the Oasis, it now boasts a sleek flush front, banishing the clunky raised bezels of yesteryear, which not only ups its elegance but also helps keep the watery bits outside where they belong. This svelte redesign also earns it the title of thinnest and lightest Paperwhite yet, because who wants a bookish brick in their bag? And if that weren’t enough, it’s had a subtle glow-up, trading in four LEDs for five – a seemingly modest bump that somehow makes the front lighting as smooth and consistent as a tea-sipping whale on a Sunday afternoon.
2018. Kindle adds new search features
Amazon has rolled out a new firmware update for all Kindles released in the past five years. The in-book search now includes results from your notes and highlights and a clock is now displayed at the top of the screen while you’re reading. You can turn it off in the settings menu. Update 5.9.4 should be distributed to all Kindles in the next few days and will automatically install when the device is in sleep mode. You will likely see a restart the next time you use it, along with a notification window that informs you of the new updates.
2016. Amazon released Kindle Paperwhite USB Audio Bundle
Amazon introduced a new USB audio package that enables Kindle e-Readers to provide audio cues when navigating menus and offers text-to-speech features for listening to e-books. VoiceView for Kindle, which utilizes Amazon’s natural language text-to-speech voices, also allows visually impaired users to read Kindle books. The USB audio adapter connects to headphones or speakers, enabling users to both listen to and navigate the interface, in addition to enjoying books. Currently, the new adapter is compatible only with the latest generation Kindle Paperwhite. Amazon indicates plans to expand compatibility to other models in the future, such as the Kindle Voyage and Kindle Oasis.
2015. New $119 Kindle Paperwhite will be easy on your eyes
Amazon has introduced a new $119 Kindle Paperwhite e-reader featuring a 6-inch 300ppi display and an updated font and book layout system, designed to make it simpler to dive into The Martian during summer break. The device will be released on June 30 and is available for pre-order now. The e-reader is essentially similar to the previous Paperwhite—a bright, nearly white glare-free screen within a simple black plastic frame—but this model boasts “twice as many pixels” as the earlier version and will deliver “laser-quality text.” Typography enthusiasts will be pleased as Amazon has developed a new typeface, Bookerly, which they claim enhances readability. Additionally, a new “typesetting engine” will improve book layouts even at larger font sizes.
2014. Kindle Update for e-readers lets enables sharing books with your family
Amazon introduces a new update to Kindle e-readers, bringing the latest e-reading features of the Kindle Voyage to older Kindle models. The new features include Family Library (allowing users with linked Amazon accounts to access books downloaded by family members), Word Wise (which automatically displays definitions for challenging words above them), Enhanced Search (now retrieving results from your library, Goodreads and the Kindle Store) and About This Book (providing details such as author biographies and additional titles in the series as you begin reading). The update will be available for the 2nd generation Paperwhite, Kindle Voyage and the latest entry-level Kindles.
2014. Kindle Paperwhite gets twice more internal storage
Amazon discreetly updated the Kindle Paperwhite 2nd generation hardware. The newest model is identical to the version released last year, except with doubled internal storage. The international product page for the Wi-Fi Kindle Paperwhite began displaying a banner earlier this summer directing to a “current version” product page. Kindle enthusiasts on the MobileRead forums have confirmed that the new page is for a 4GB Paperwhite, which was previously available only in Japan. Amazon notes that this isn’t a new product — it’s the same Paperwhite, but with increased storage.
2014. Amazon adds Goodreads integration to Kindle Paperwhite 1
Amazon is rolling out a software update for the first-gen Kindle Paperwhite that introduces Goodreads integration and other new features to the e-reader. The currently available Paperwhite, a second-generation model, already includes Goodreads support, which was added last November. The update also brings Kindle FreeTime, which curates books for children and allows parents to schedule reading time, Cloud Collections for organizing content and Page Flip for browsing through material without losing your spot. The Bookmarks, Highlights and Notes feature can now be accessed more swiftly. The update will be rolled out over the next few weeks to devices in the United States, Canada and Australia.
2013. Kindle Paperwhite will nudge kids to read more
After the software update for Kindle Fire tablets, Amazon announced an upgrade for the Kindle Paperwhite e-Ink e-readers. The most notable improvement is the goal-oriented feature designed to encourage children to read more. Parents can now motivate their kids by setting daily and long-term reading targets on the Kindle Paperwhite. Progress reports are accessible for parents and children can gain satisfaction by earning achievement awards based on their goals and reading progress. Additionally, like the Fire tablet, the Kindle Paperwhite now includes Goodreads integration. You can view what titles your Goodreads friends are currently reading and set a Goodreads rating after completing a book. You can even share excerpts to Goodreads directly from a book. Moreover, all your Amazon book purchases, whether print or digital, can now be imported into a Goodreads account.
2013. Amazon announced new faster Kindle Paperwhite
The second-generation Kindle Paperwhite will be priced the same as its predecessor — starting at $119 for the Wi-Fi version with ads — and features a higher-contrast screen, improved lighting and a quicker processor. It also includes several software enhancements that might eventually be available for older Kindles: Kindle PageFlip (allows readers to browse through a book without losing their place), Vocabulary Builder (enables users to test themselves on words they had to look up while reading) and Smart Lookup (provides comprehensive dictionary definitions along with additional reference information about a word, character, topic, or book through X-Ray and Wikipedia). The new Kindle Paperwhite is set to begin shipping on September 30.
2012. Kindle e-Readers sales make no profit to Amazon
During his interview with the BBC, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos stated that the company sells Kindle e-readers and tablets at their production cost and doesn’t profit from their sales. "We aim to make money when people use our devices, not when they purchase them," he said. This is quite different from Apple’s business model, which has accumulated significant profits through high margins on its mobile products. For reference, the latest model Kindle Paperwhite starts at $119 for the Wi-Fi version, while the Kindle 5 is priced at $69. To be fair, Amazon generates revenue not only from selling books and media content through Kindle but also from advertising displayed during the Kindle’s sleep mode.
2012. Amazon unveils Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle 5
The e-reader competition continues unabated these days. Today, Amazon has introduced two new e-ink e-readers—the budget-friendly Kindle 5 and the "frontlit" Kindle Paperwhite. Naturally, the latter is set to rival the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight and the Kobo Glo. All these e-readers enable reading in the dark, but the Paperwhite seems to outshine the competition. The display appears almost flawlessly white, whereas the Nook still has a hint of gray. Additionally, Amazon has enhanced the battery life, boasting eight weeks of use even with the light on (compared to the Nook’s one month). The Kindle Paperwhite features a touch screen, effectively replacing the Kindle Touch in Amazon's e-reader lineup.
2023. Kindle Paperwhite gets new Kindle Scribe features
Amazon, in its infinite wisdom and with a slight flourish, has unveiled a firmware update joyfully titled version 5.16.2.1, aimed squarely at the 7th-generation Kindle, the 11th-generation Kindle Paperwhite, and the ever-so-distinguished Signature edition. Procuring this marvel of modern software is as simple as meandering over to the settings menu and imploring the device to check for updates—though, if the cosmic forces of regional distribution have not aligned in your favor, you may have to exercise a smidge of patience for a few weeks. Within this update lies an intriguing assortment of Kindle Scribe-esque capabilities—think doodling, notebook wrangling, and virtual sticky notes—but alas, these are about as functional as a chocolate teapot for the time being. This, of course, is no accident. Amazon, in a stroke of corporate efficiency, has crafted a universal code base for all its e-readers and the Scribe, ensuring updates ripple harmoniously across the entire family of devices. Elegant, isn’t it?
2023. Amazon releases new colors and covers for the Kindle Paperwhite
Amazon has just introduced two new colors for the Kindle Paperwhite: Denim and Agave Green. These new shades will be available for both the 16GB Kindle Paperwhite and the 32GB Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. Alongside the new color options, Amazon is also launching an Agave Green leather and fabric cover to complement the Agave Green device. You might remember that Amazon unveiled a 16GB Kindle Paperwhite — in addition to the existing 8GB version — last fall, providing customers with the option of more storage so they can carry even more books while on the go. Building on this, the Kindle team aimed to add some vibrant colors to a customer favorite.
2022. Kindle Paperwhite is now available with 16GB of storage
In the grand intergalactic marketplace that is Amazon, they've decided to offer the Kindle Paperwhite with a generously expanded 16GB of storage—because, as everyone knows, one can never have too much space for digital books one will never read. This storage bounty is available in two thrilling flavors: with ads or, for the truly rebellious, without. The price? A cool $149, which is $10 more than the meager 8GB version. Historically, Amazon has bumped up Kindle storage without asking for extra cash, but clearly, someone in marketing thought, "What if we *did* charge $10 more? Just to see what happens." Meanwhile, the humble basic Kindle, also sporting 16GB, retails for a mere $99, making it abundantly clear that offering an “upgraded” Paperwhite with just 8GB for $139 was becoming as logical as a Vogon poetry recital. So now we have the 16GB Paperwhite, because of course we do.
2021. Amazon launches Kindle Paperwhite for kids
Amazon, in its infinite digital wisdom, has unfurled the Kindle Paperwhite Kids, a clever little gadget that’s essentially the base Kindle Paperwhite, but with a dollop of kid-friendly wizardry splashed on top. Among its more dazzling features is the IPx8 rating—a marvelous piece of jargon meaning it can survive the occasional dunking courtesy of a wayward juice box or an impromptu bathtub voyage. Packed within its slim, waterproof shell are Vocabulary Builder and Word Wise, two tools so educationally earnest they might even tempt kids into learning English without noticing. It also features the Open Dyslexic font, beloved by those for whom words have a maddening habit of rearranging themselves. And because no childhood would be complete without a sprawling library to dive into, the Paperwhite Kids comes with a year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+, unlocking an unfathomable treasure trove of eBooks and Audible audiobooks—ideal for the budding bookworm or a parent desperately seeking five minutes of peace.
2020. Amazon issues new update for Kindle Paperwhite 3
Amazon has finally upgraded the Kindle Paperwhite 3 with all the new features it previously lacked. The model hadn't received a firmware update since December and was widely rumored to be discontinued. One of the new enhancements is an improved search experience, making it easier to navigate your search results within the book without losing your place. To use it, simply search for a term in your book and tap on a search result. They have also refreshed the Page Flip feature, which now displays recently read pages as dots on the progress bar, including your most recent page read from another device. If you have a FreeTime Unlimited subscription, children will see a new layout, enhanced search, book details and Audible support. In supported regions, kids with access to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited will see rows of recommended eBook and Audible content that are suitable for their age.
2020. Amazon has ended support for the Kindle Paperwhite 3
Amazon has discontinued support for the Kindle Paperwhite 3 and the e-reader will not receive any further firmware updates. The only exception would be if Amazon updates their Kindle Whispersync program and Kindle Store with a new version of TLS. The 7th generation Kindle Paperwhite 3 was one of Amazon’s most successful e-readers. It was released in 2015 and was heavily promoted for four years before being succeeded by the Kindle Paperwhite 4 in late 2018. The last firmware update for the PP3 was in 2019 and it is currently running version 5.12.2, while all the other modern Kindles are on version 5.13.1.
2020. You can now delete Kindle Books directly from Kindle
Until now, the only way to delete an ebook from your Kindle e-reader was to log in to your account via the Amazon website and remove the book there. With the 5.12.5 firmware update, you can now completely delete an ebook from your entire Amazon account directly on the Kindle. Simply go to My Library, find the title you want to remove and press and hold the cover art for two seconds. This will prompt a confirmation window asking you to confirm the deletion process. Once the removal is complete, the book will be entirely gone from your Amazon account and the title will no longer appear in the cloud section. If you accidentally delete the wrong book, you will need to purchase it again.
2020. Kindle ereaders get new font menu system
Amazon has released a new firmware update (5.12.4) with a revamped Aa menu for all recent Kindles. It provides users with increased flexibility and control over their reading experience. Essentially, Amazon has reorganized the menu and combined some of the additional settings into one section, eliminating the need to navigate through various menus or sub-menus. When you access the Aa menu on the Kindle now, you'll find several sections: Themes, Font, Layout and more. The first section, called Themes, allows you to create custom themes or choose from several presets like Standard, Compact and Large. The Font menu includes a dropdown for selecting fonts, with slider bars to adjust the font's boldness or size. With fewer font options on the screen, more text is visible in the book you're reading, which helps you see how the font settings look as you adjust them.
2019. Amazon heavily discounts the Kindle Paperwhite 4
In the vast digital jungles of Amazon, where deals occasionally burst forth like improbable interstellar phenomena, a most curious event has occurred: the Kindle Paperwhite 4 has been marked down by a splendid $30. This means you can now procure the 8GB base model for the shockingly earthly sum of $99 or indulge in the 32GB WIFI variant for a mere $129. For those who demand an e-reader capable of summoning books from the ether via 4G/LTE, that particular model has been discounted by $40, now priced at $209—though only for residents of the strange and distant land of the United States. This waterproof wonder boasts a harmonious alliance with Audible, allowing you to commune with audiobooks through wireless headphones or a portable speaker. And as if to further nudge it into the realm of improbably perfect devices, its screen, flush with the bezel, invites swipes and gestures with a grace that might just make you believe in magic again.
2018. The new Kindle Paperwhite is thinner and waterproof
The Kindle Paperwhite has taken a leisurely stroll through the upgrade department and emerged rather pleased with itself, flaunting a host of delightful tweaks that lend it a distinctly posh air while stubbornly sticking to its $130 starting price. Chief among its party tricks is waterproofing – an IPX8 rating, no less – which means you could casually drop it in two meters of water and still have enough time to read the entire Vogon poetry section before retrieving it. Borrowing a page from its swankier sibling, the Oasis, it now boasts a sleek flush front, banishing the clunky raised bezels of yesteryear, which not only ups its elegance but also helps keep the watery bits outside where they belong. This svelte redesign also earns it the title of thinnest and lightest Paperwhite yet, because who wants a bookish brick in their bag? And if that weren’t enough, it’s had a subtle glow-up, trading in four LEDs for five – a seemingly modest bump that somehow makes the front lighting as smooth and consistent as a tea-sipping whale on a Sunday afternoon.
2018. Kindle adds new search features
Amazon has rolled out a new firmware update for all Kindles released in the past five years. The in-book search now includes results from your notes and highlights and a clock is now displayed at the top of the screen while you’re reading. You can turn it off in the settings menu. Update 5.9.4 should be distributed to all Kindles in the next few days and will automatically install when the device is in sleep mode. You will likely see a restart the next time you use it, along with a notification window that informs you of the new updates.
2016. Amazon released Kindle Paperwhite USB Audio Bundle
Amazon introduced a new USB audio package that enables Kindle e-Readers to provide audio cues when navigating menus and offers text-to-speech features for listening to e-books. VoiceView for Kindle, which utilizes Amazon’s natural language text-to-speech voices, also allows visually impaired users to read Kindle books. The USB audio adapter connects to headphones or speakers, enabling users to both listen to and navigate the interface, in addition to enjoying books. Currently, the new adapter is compatible only with the latest generation Kindle Paperwhite. Amazon indicates plans to expand compatibility to other models in the future, such as the Kindle Voyage and Kindle Oasis.
2015. New $119 Kindle Paperwhite will be easy on your eyes
Amazon has introduced a new $119 Kindle Paperwhite e-reader featuring a 6-inch 300ppi display and an updated font and book layout system, designed to make it simpler to dive into The Martian during summer break. The device will be released on June 30 and is available for pre-order now. The e-reader is essentially similar to the previous Paperwhite—a bright, nearly white glare-free screen within a simple black plastic frame—but this model boasts “twice as many pixels” as the earlier version and will deliver “laser-quality text.” Typography enthusiasts will be pleased as Amazon has developed a new typeface, Bookerly, which they claim enhances readability. Additionally, a new “typesetting engine” will improve book layouts even at larger font sizes.
2014. Kindle Update for e-readers lets enables sharing books with your family
Amazon introduces a new update to Kindle e-readers, bringing the latest e-reading features of the Kindle Voyage to older Kindle models. The new features include Family Library (allowing users with linked Amazon accounts to access books downloaded by family members), Word Wise (which automatically displays definitions for challenging words above them), Enhanced Search (now retrieving results from your library, Goodreads and the Kindle Store) and About This Book (providing details such as author biographies and additional titles in the series as you begin reading). The update will be available for the 2nd generation Paperwhite, Kindle Voyage and the latest entry-level Kindles.
2014. Kindle Paperwhite gets twice more internal storage
Amazon discreetly updated the Kindle Paperwhite 2nd generation hardware. The newest model is identical to the version released last year, except with doubled internal storage. The international product page for the Wi-Fi Kindle Paperwhite began displaying a banner earlier this summer directing to a “current version” product page. Kindle enthusiasts on the MobileRead forums have confirmed that the new page is for a 4GB Paperwhite, which was previously available only in Japan. Amazon notes that this isn’t a new product — it’s the same Paperwhite, but with increased storage.
2014. Amazon adds Goodreads integration to Kindle Paperwhite 1
Amazon is rolling out a software update for the first-gen Kindle Paperwhite that introduces Goodreads integration and other new features to the e-reader. The currently available Paperwhite, a second-generation model, already includes Goodreads support, which was added last November. The update also brings Kindle FreeTime, which curates books for children and allows parents to schedule reading time, Cloud Collections for organizing content and Page Flip for browsing through material without losing your spot. The Bookmarks, Highlights and Notes feature can now be accessed more swiftly. The update will be rolled out over the next few weeks to devices in the United States, Canada and Australia.
2013. Kindle Paperwhite will nudge kids to read more
After the software update for Kindle Fire tablets, Amazon announced an upgrade for the Kindle Paperwhite e-Ink e-readers. The most notable improvement is the goal-oriented feature designed to encourage children to read more. Parents can now motivate their kids by setting daily and long-term reading targets on the Kindle Paperwhite. Progress reports are accessible for parents and children can gain satisfaction by earning achievement awards based on their goals and reading progress. Additionally, like the Fire tablet, the Kindle Paperwhite now includes Goodreads integration. You can view what titles your Goodreads friends are currently reading and set a Goodreads rating after completing a book. You can even share excerpts to Goodreads directly from a book. Moreover, all your Amazon book purchases, whether print or digital, can now be imported into a Goodreads account.
2013. Amazon announced new faster Kindle Paperwhite
The second-generation Kindle Paperwhite will be priced the same as its predecessor — starting at $119 for the Wi-Fi version with ads — and features a higher-contrast screen, improved lighting and a quicker processor. It also includes several software enhancements that might eventually be available for older Kindles: Kindle PageFlip (allows readers to browse through a book without losing their place), Vocabulary Builder (enables users to test themselves on words they had to look up while reading) and Smart Lookup (provides comprehensive dictionary definitions along with additional reference information about a word, character, topic, or book through X-Ray and Wikipedia). The new Kindle Paperwhite is set to begin shipping on September 30.
2012. Kindle e-Readers sales make no profit to Amazon
During his interview with the BBC, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos stated that the company sells Kindle e-readers and tablets at their production cost and doesn’t profit from their sales. "We aim to make money when people use our devices, not when they purchase them," he said. This is quite different from Apple’s business model, which has accumulated significant profits through high margins on its mobile products. For reference, the latest model Kindle Paperwhite starts at $119 for the Wi-Fi version, while the Kindle 5 is priced at $69. To be fair, Amazon generates revenue not only from selling books and media content through Kindle but also from advertising displayed during the Kindle’s sleep mode.
2012. Amazon unveils Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle 5
The e-reader competition continues unabated these days. Today, Amazon has introduced two new e-ink e-readers—the budget-friendly Kindle 5 and the "frontlit" Kindle Paperwhite. Naturally, the latter is set to rival the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight and the Kobo Glo. All these e-readers enable reading in the dark, but the Paperwhite seems to outshine the competition. The display appears almost flawlessly white, whereas the Nook still has a hint of gray. Additionally, Amazon has enhanced the battery life, boasting eight weeks of use even with the light on (compared to the Nook’s one month). The Kindle Paperwhite features a touch screen, effectively replacing the Kindle Touch in Amazon's e-reader lineup.
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Reviews
The reading experience on the Paperwhite is excellent. The Paperwhite is much more enjoyable to use than the Kindle Touch or the Kindle Keyboard, thanks mostly to the display (more on that below). The Home button from the Touch has been removed, and you now navigate to the menus by touching the top of the screen. Like the Touch, there are no physical page turn buttons. If you want to advance the page, you either swipe, or press the middle/right hand side of the screen (most of the display area is set up to advance the page). To go back a page, you press anywhere on the left 20% of the screen. To access the menu, you press the top 10% of the screen. Contrast for the display can quickly and easily be adjusted with two taps, so it can be brightened or darkened without a lot of menu navigation. There are still eight font sizes like previous generations had, but instead of just three typefaces, you now have six (Baskerville, Caecilia, Caecilia Condensed, Publisher Font, Futura, Helvetica, and Palatino). Publisher Font lets you use the book publisher's embedded font. None of the books I have tried out yet have this option, but I can see how it can provide them with a lot more flexibility. The additional fonts, along with the ability to adjust line spacing and margins, make it much easier to read books that a publisher formats poorly to begin with (as anyone who struggled with the early edition of 'Game of Thrones' can attest to).
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