Related News
Amazon's odd new Kindle
Online Edition
Amazon unveiled a sleek but pricey new Kindle e-reader in Beijing on Thursday, their most expensive model yet, hoping the radical design shift of the Oasis may tempt paper book readers and those with older e-readers.
The asymmetrical Kindle Oasis features one thick, handle-like edge meant to remind readers of the spine of a book, but thanks to the radical thinness of the rest of the device, it’s the lightest Kindle ever made.
It’s also the priciest. The Kindle Oasis costs 2,399 yuan (US$370), 900 yuan more than the Kindle Voyage and 1,441 yuan more than the Kindle Paperwhite, which both offer essentially the same suite of features. It is available for preorder at z.cn starting today and will ship within weeks.
As with both the Paperwhite and Voyage, the Oasis features a front-lit greyscale 300ppi screen, ensuring glare-free high resolution reading in both direct sunlight and complete darkness.
That high price includes a leather battery case, which Amazon said allows the Oasis to last two months on a single charge, presuming around half an hour of use every day. Without the case around two weeks is expected. The case comes in a choice of black, orange, or red.
Despite its name, the Oasis is not waterproof, as the competing Nook tablet is.
Kindle product management head Herve Letourneur, who was in Beijing for the launch, said the Oasis represented a substantial rethink of the underlying Kindle design, which has stayed relatively consistent since the first device launched in 2007.
"We challenged ourselves to build a device that would not only be the most comfortable reading experience, but also make a fashion statement,” he said.
“If you’re reading without the cover you have the lightest kindle ever built. As soon as you place the device back into its cover you have the longest battery life of any Kindle ever built."
Most of the Oasis is 3.4mm thick - half the thickness of an iPhone 6. That razor thin profile means it weighs just 131 grams, while the asymmetrical design means the centre of gravity is always in your hand, where two buttons allow one-handed page turning. An accelerometer flips the device based on whichever hand you are holding it in.
A nanocrystal metal enclosure gives the device the sturdiness of metal while only weighing as much as plastic, Letourner said.
"This is the first consumer electronic device to feature nanocrystal metal. This unique material was first developed for aerospace applications."
The e-reader market is known to be much slower than the smartphone market, where users upgrade regularly, with buyers holding onto the same readers for years at a time.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
