We had a feeling that Amazon had new Kindle devices on the way, but we were expecting a big event, some fanfare and the happy face of Jeff Bezos. That won’t be the case, it seems, as Amazon has very quietly snuck out a brand new Kindle Paperwhite this afternoon.
Popping up on a number of Amazon’s global sites today, the new Kindle Paperwhite hosts plenty of impressive improvements on the original but seems to keep the same design. Chief upgrades include a better screen, longer battery life and a faster, more capable processor.
The screen itself has 25% better contrast and 62% more pixels, both making for much sharper and clearer text – no more squinting! There’s also 6 new font styles and 8 adjustable sizes to help you further with reading without eye strain. You’ve also got Amazon’s patented built-in screen light which means reading in the dark is nice and easy. So in summary, the screen has a higher resolution, higher contrast and is still nice and bright.
A new, faster processor should help readers to zoom through their eBooks with ease, but the main purpose is to allow Amazon to introduce new features such as Goodreads and Kindle FreeTime, plus the existing X Ray feature which allows users to look up words and phrases online.
Speaking of online, the new Paperwhite will be available in both Wi-Fi and 3G variations. On Amazon.com these are priced at $119 and $189 respectively, but on Amazon.co.uk there’s currently only the 3G version, priced at £169.
The new Kindle Paperwhite is available to buy right now from Amazon.