Amazon has finally arrived at an e-reader product that not only slays its current competition, but also
feels ready to meet the mainstream masses. With the Amazon Kindle (third-generation), Amazon addresses many of the transgressions of earlier Kindle iterations, such as relatively heavy weight, slow page turns, and finger-unfriendly button designs.The third-generation Kindle comes in two versions: The Kindle Wi-Fi, has both Wi-Fi and 3G.
It's worth noting that this is the first smaller-sized Kindle in two colors: eye-pleasing graphite (the same as the Kindle DX launched earlier this summer) and standard Kindle white.
However, the display itself has been enhanced, too: Like the Kindle DX (Graphite), the Kindle now has a 6-inch E-Ink Pearl display, one of whose benefits is 50 percent better contrast. In use, the difference in the screen contrast is striking: As on the Kindle DX (Graphite), blacks look more solid, and text looked smoother. Another benefit of the Pearl display: Faster screen refresh rates, which provides a significantly improved user experience.
Between its lighter weight and its more compact design, the third-generation Kindle delivered a more pleasing reading experience than earlier models. I also liked the subtle rubberized, curved back cover, which also made it easier to hold.
Given the Kindle's tighter design, Amazon redesigned and reorganized the keys and buttons to great effect.
The navigation buttons have been clustered together and rearranged; and more notably, the page-forward and -back buttons have shrunk dramatically, to just one-quarter of an inch wide.The keyboard layout is tighter, with the keys slightly closer, and the dedicated row of numbers removed (to get to numbers, you now must press the symbol button, much as you do on a touchscreen cell phone's keyboard). The keyboard buttons are more rounded, and because they're closer together, I found this keyboard easier to type on than that of the second-gen Kindle. I'd liken the typing experience to being similar to typing on a physical cell phone keyboard.
Though e-reading on the device overall remains unchanged, Amazon has added some new and noteworthy features. For the first time, you can directly change line spacing from within the menus (choose among small, medium, and large), and you can finally change typeface, too (choose from regular, condensed, and sans serif). Both of these options are directly accessible from the fonts button, now on the bottom row between the space bar and the home button.
The PDF viewer is improved this go-round, but ultimately, Amazon needs to figure out how to reflow PDFs so we can read them directly on the unit.
The new Kindle doubles the internal memory from 2GB to 4GB, which Amazon says translates into 3500 books (up from 1500). Amazon now claims Kindle has up to one month of battery life; the company says its battery technology hasn't fundamentally changed, but rather it has achieved double the performance of the second-gen Kindle through software.
For those who want the advantages of a dedicated e-reader--namely, long battery life, a paper-like screen that can be read in bright light--right now the third-generation Kindle can't be beat for its mix of price, features, and performance.
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