Amazon introduced its third generation Kindle ebook reader on Thursday. It will be released with redesigned body and in two versions, with Wi-Fi and 3G, or Wi-Fi only. The new device uses the same E-ink display as the Kindle DX, and shares the same (graphite) shell color too. It weighs 8.7 ounces and can run up to a month on a single battery charge, and it can store up to 3,500 books — substantially more than the 1,500 books the second generation Kindle could hold.
Amazon has also worked to increase Kindle’s capacity, there’ll be some new features: highlighting, note-taking, Wikipedia access and dictionary lookup, and support for password-protected PDFs. The device also includes a WebKit-based browser, free to use over WiFi.
But Amazon’s biggest dream is to beat the iPad: “Last night, Apple stated it has shipped 3.27 [million] iPads since the April product launch, surpassing our estimate for an installed base of [around 3 million] Amazon Kindles to date despite supply constraints” said Marianne Wolk, an analyst of Susquehanna Financial Group, in a report.
Both the third-generation Kindle, which retails for $189, and the new Kindle Wi-Fi, which retails for $139, will ship on August 27.