.Update Sept 2011: The Kindle Touch starts shipping on 21st November and you can pre-order yours now. The device brings a much more attractive look to the most popular ebook reader range (providing you don’t want a keypad!).
The basic guts of the machine is pretty similar to what we already had with the 3rd generation reader, but (and this is important for many), removing the keyboard allows the whole thing to be reduced in size, whilst still retaining its 6″ display AND you get to use IR touch to navigate the buttonless device.
Kindle Touch v Kindle 3
So why are people buying the latest touch screen Kindle in their droves? And is it the right one for you?
There are a lot of similarities between the two devices:
Both available in wi-fi or 3G + wi-fi versions so that you can download new ebooks in seconds just about anywhere.- Both available in ad sponsored or ad free versions so you can choose to save more money so long as you don’t miss the author screen savers (the screen savers on the sponsored ads versions shows ads or special offers amazon think you might be interested in).
- Both have the latest generation Pearl e-ink display for paper-like reading even when in direct sunlight.
- Both are similarly priced (both the Touch, and the Keyboard wi-fi models start at $99, and the 3G models start at $149 and $139 respectively).
- Both have text to speech audio function (where publishers allow it) and access to the same Kindle book store (as well as new library lending features).
- Both have the same experimental web browser should you want to go on-line.
- Both have the same long battery life of up to 2 months, and the same memory of around 3GB available for storing around 3000 ebooks.
- The new generation are significantly smaller and lighter than the keyboard models (nearly an inch shorter and an ounce lighter).
- They keyboard is gone, and instead a virtual keyboard can be displayed on screen for touch-screen typing of notes or browsing. With no buttons at all page turns are easy (tap almost anywhere to page forward, and in the top left for page back). Tap the very top of the screen for more menu options (so you won’t be accidentally turning pages and can hold the device in either hand).
- New X-Ray feature means that books are downloaded to the device along with a whole host of additional look-up information, such as ideas, historical figures, places and topics of interest.
- The latest generation Kindle with touch-screen does not have the audio Voice Guide feature which allows users to navigate the device with an audio description of the various options. It does however have the more often used text to speech option which is great when you get into the car but would like to hear more of the story you were reading.
- The new models are supplied with a USB charger (to plug into your computer), whilst the previous generation come with a charger that can be used from a power outlet or a computer (you can buy these if needed for the new generation eReaders).
- The new 3G Touch Reader only allows internet access to the Kindle store, and to download new books and periodicals, and to access Wikipedia via its 3G service. For all other internet browsing you will need to use the wi-fi connection. The current keyboard version with 3G allows all internet access using the 3G network. This might sound like a problem, but since the internet experience when seen on e-ink is basic at best, this issue is unlikely to affect any but the most ardent fans of social networking.
The key way to compare the Kindle Touch with the Kindle 3 is to determine how important both size, and keyboards are in your world! Personally I find using the keypad a little fiddly, so prefer the idea of freeing up space by removing it, and benefitting from an overall lighter device.But I know some people are not fans of touch-screens and will prefer the more old fashioned keyboard. Since Amazon are continuing to sell keyboard versions everyone should be happy.
Have a look at our run down of the new Kindles in our other piece.
And now back to our original article (from may 2011) detailing why Amazon would eventually bring us a Kindle Touch Reader:
You might already wonder why there is no Touch-screen Kindle already. After all, didn’t Amazon buy a touch-screen developer (TouchCo) in 2009? Why the wait then? Well we don’t know yet, but of course it seems pretty likely that Amazon have something touchy feely in the pipe-line. In fact TouchCo was amalgamated with Lab126 which is the hardware division of Amazon responsible for developing the Kindle reader today.
Of course this led to rumours all through 2010 that a touch-screen version of Amazon’s eReader would be released any day. What we got instead was the fantastically improved Kindle 3, but no touch-screen at all.
Why Create a Touch Screen Kindle?
Now, you can get buy perfectly well without touch, but consumers are getting more used to it since it features so heavily in all our favorite new gadgets. In fact, it is becoming simply the expected way to navigate our hand-held gadgets, thanks largely to Apple.
Late in 2010 Sony actually re-worked their entire e-Reader range so that all included touch-screen navigation. Even the Nook Classic, Kindle’s biggest rival features a small touch-screen panel at the base of the display, for easy browsing.
Of the big ebook reading devices it seems only the Kindle is left without touch. Now, for many users this is no bad thing. After all touch brings the dreaded smears and greasy finger marks that some people really worry about. Frankly, most of the time you are simply start looking at the page so I don’t see this being that much of an issue. In fact a Kindle with touch-screen is likely to get a lot less smeary than all the other touch screen gadgets you own. But, each to their own obviously!
One of the key benefits of adding touch screen navigation would be that you can slim-down the size of the ebook reader even further. The slightly old-fashioned keyboard can be removed and the whole thing made smaller, or else the screen enlarged without having to make the device any larger or heavier.
The real reason to have touch screens though is for doing things other than simply reading. Navigating the web or playing games might be a whole lot easier if we had touch. But the current device really isn’t that great for such things anyway since it uses that slow refreshing e-ink display we love so much.
Ah But Will We Get a Kindle Touch Screen?
Whilst many consumers do continually ask about a future touch-screen Kindle, my gut feeling is that we are more likely to a tablet Kindle with touch instead. That would “kill two birds with one stone” so to speak, and ensure that the current style of Amazon’s ebook reader which already popular with a wide demographic does not alienate any of its loyal fans.
The best world would be one with a new generation e-ink based ebook reader similar to what the current Kindle 3 offers, along-side a touch-screen Kindle tablet for those that want something a little more flexible and multi-functional. The Amazon ebook reader has been continually evolving but perhaps it is time for a very new approach.
It seems to us, that we will see a touch screen Kindle in 2011, but it is unlikely to be just any old ebook reader.
Watch this space…
I hpoe they release it in August as the K3 is outdated by now and us earth non US habitant are able to buy book in Amazon not on Barnes and noble. For me a SD slot is a must, Touch screen a strong desire, color is a bonus.
Color is a must for tech/scientific book readers.
In my opinion, the Kindle doesn’t need a touch screen. its only use would be for turning pages and zooming in or out, which is done perfectly well anyway. We must keep in mind that this is an Amazon Kindle, not an iPad. IPads were designed to be touch screen, but Kindles were designed not to be touch screen. If the Kindle was touch screen without the old-fashioned keyboard, it would be just like an iPad with iBooks installed. Also, if it had downloadable games and all, it would be a tablet, not an eReader, and its graphics would kill any game I know of.