Amazon has launched a few e-readers over the past few years, but it"s been quite some time since the company refreshed its entry-level offering. That changes today with the new Kindle, which brings a few improvements to the table.
The highlight of the new device is that it now has a front light, which should make reading much easier on the e-ink display, regardless of the environment you"re in. This is a feature that"s trickled down from the more expensive Kindle models, and it"s now available in an e-reader that"s under $100. The new Kindle has a refreshed design and an improved e-ink panel for better contrast. Plus, the touch screen is now capacitive, so touch recognition should be a little better.
The new Kindle will also come with three months of Kindle Unlimited, which would otherwise cost you $30, giving you unlimited access to all the books in Amazon"s library. After those three months, you"ll need to go back to paying $9.99 per month for a subscription.
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There are some other interesting features in the new Kindle, such as marking books as read when you finish them, and it can also save the last page you"ve read, your annotations, and bookmarks, syncing that information across your devices. It includes integration with Goodreads so you get access to book reviews and recommendations, you can look up additional information through integration with Wikipedia, and more.
Amazon also announced that it will be improving its own book recommendations based on your reading history, and those improvements will be available to a variety of Kindle devices through a software update "in the coming months". This includes the Paperwhite 6 released in 2013 and newer devices.
If you"d like to get your hands on the new Kindle, it will cost you $89.99, and you can have it in either black or white. It"s available to pre-order right now from Amazon"s website, and it will be officially available on April 10.