Kindle 3

Now the Amazon Kindle 3 is here. The lowest priced, most advanced Kindle Reader to date. With improved clarity and a new even more slimline design the new Kindle really does rock!

^{Order the New Kindle 3rd Generation via the link at the right. Choose your color (graphite or white) and whether a wifi only model or a Kindle with 3G and wifi is wanted.}

Best of all for US customers at least there is now the option of a cheap Kindle 3 - with special offers. To give customers a $25 - $50 discount both the 3G and wi-fi only models can be bought with special offers and advertisements instead of author related screen-savers. Sounds like a simple way to grab a bargain to me!

But with improvements for Facebook and Twitter integration, faster page turning, improved contrast for a much clearer screen, AND support for Chinese and Cyrillic fonts that really is fantastic news.

The standard 3G and WIFI version Kindle 3 offers you the choice of having a white or a graphite Kindle, whilst the WIFI only cheaper version comes in the graphite color option only - like the new Kindle DX.

The new generation - or Amazon Kindle 3 is available now.

We saw some pretty crazy sales over the Black Friday period and up till Christmas 2010. In fact it was touch and to for a while, whether stocks would hold up, with customers being limited on how many they could actually order for many months.

Now things are a lot calmer, but sales are still strong and it seems the Amazon Kindle 3 is still the hottest ebook reader around today. Roll on Kindle 4 and then we'll know if this will be master of ebook reading devices in the long term!

2011 has been a busy year for Amazon.

• February bought us lots of improvements to the software (see below for more details).
• These changes also allowed us to get social with our Kindle ebooks - sharing passages and even following authors online.
• May and June gave us the Ad supported Kindles. A $25 discount on the wi-fi model and $50 on the 3G version, offset by big name sponsors showing advertisements and special discounts at the bottom of the home page and instead of screen-savers. The tech news blogs thought the discounts wouldn't be a big enough incentive for people to accept ads on their personal electronics. They were wrong! Sales soared.
• August - the price of refurbished Kindles dropped.
• Kindles became available in store in both New Zealand and Australia for the first time.
• All year rumors of new Kindle tablets and 4th generation eReaders have circulated. New domain registrations on behalf of Amazon, such as kindlescribe.com and kindlewave.com have helped fan the flames too!
• September 2011 we expect news of a Kindle 4 release date.
• October 2011 we imagine we'll also have one or two new Kindle tablets to play with!

As the 3rd Generation Kindle Reader has now been with us a while it is no surprise that we have had a pretty significant software update recently.  I love Kindle firmware upgrades because you don't have to do anything.  They just appear, downloading behind the scenes one day as you are connected to a wi-fi hot-spot, and then installing themselves the next time your ebook reader goes to "sleep" - genius! 

Of course you can be an early bird and download any new software that comes out manually but frankly that just takes the magic out of the whole thing!

Anyway, I digress - what's new with the Kindle 3.1 software update?  Okay then folks here's the low down...

1. The Kindle gets even more social, with Public Notes and Before You Go features.  The first is a Facebook style site where you can follow friends or famous faces and share your reading progress, notes, reviews and more.  The second is a pop up whenever you finish a title asking you to review the book which of course you can then publicise on yoru Facebook or Twitter account if you like.
2. The arrival of page numbers might seem like a small step, but if anyone has tried to explain where they are up to in an ebook, to an old-timer still using paper and ink, you will know that this is actually a giant leap forward.
3. Periodicals, newspapers and magazines have had a make-over.  The new newspaper layout means it is far easier to browse what's in the edition and select particular articles you wish to read.

Okay, so now we have the Kindle 3 Release Date - what is going to be so special about the new improved 6" display Kindle Wireless Reading Device?  Read on to find out all about the Kindle 3 Specs and Kindle 3 features that will actually affect you the book-lover:

• Improved contrast for a clearer, brighter viewing experience.
• Darker, more defined fonts.
• Support for more font styles and scripts including Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, Korean, Cyrillic (Russian), Latin and Greek.
• Smaller, slimmer, lighter design (but keeping the same 6" screen size).
• Massively increased storage to cope with up to 3500 books.
• Improved battery life (read for a month with Wifi switched off).
• Built in Wifi.
• Choice of Wifi only or Wifi and 3G models.
  
• Softer feel to the back, making the new Kindle 3 easier to hold onto.
• New web-browser with support for easy posting of your favorite passages to Facebook and Twitter.
• A new VoiceGuide "read to me" menu.
• Improved PDF reader with zoom facility.
• New mp3 support. Download music or podcasts onto your new Kindle to listen on the go or simply as background music whilst you read.

These are just some of the highlights of the new generation Kindle 6" wireless reading device.

The definitive Kindle 3 Review is somewhat difficult to track down.  We each have different reasons for wanting or using an ebook Reader.  

1. If wireless downloading of books is important (and you live somewhere covered with 3G or wifi) you will be happy.
2. If you want to use an ebook reader straight "out of the box" without having to understand too much technical nonsense you'll also be pretty pleased with the Kindle.
3. If you want updates to be delivered automatically when improvements are made again the Kindle will suit.

I realise this article is outdated in places, but I think it's pretty cool to have a record of how we felt about the best ebook reader around, what we expected, and how we reacted to the Kindle 3 Release.  

With that in mind I have maintained the original content and older updates below as a record of what has happened in the wonderful world of the 3rd generation Kindle!

Black Friday Kindle Deals are expected to be rather limited. Hardly surprising when we already have a 3 Kindle limit on customer orders at full price. But we might expect to see some limited time offers. The links above will take you to today's best online price for the Kindle and will include any Black Friday discounts.

Rumours not suggest that there will be a limited number of the second reader available for well under that dream $100 price but will there be many takers when the newer models are so much better?

We should see a few bundle offers including accessories such as covers and cases included through the week. And, if we're really lucky industry trend analysts suggest we could see $20 or more off the 3G reader.

The Kindle 3 Release Date is something that keeps coming up again and again. But, whilst the Kindle gets itself into the news, there is never any concrete information given.

Sad but true. For now, at least it looks like those that would like an amazon Kindle will have to make do with the Kindle 2 Wireless Reader or its bigger brother the Kindle DX. With the popularity of both far from diminishing that isn't so bad anyway. But the competition is hotting up, and it isn't just down the the Sony Touch, iPad or Que Readers either.

The whole world is getting touchy feely and the desire for touchscreen technology and color is something that simply isn't going to disappear from the wish list of gadget fans.

The nook showed amazon a thing or two by adding a little bit of touchscreen magic and a little bit of color to pretty up their version of the Kindle. The display technology is pretty similar but fans of the nook love its full color screen at the foot of the main display.

Rumours really got going in early June 2010 about the possibility of a new and improved version of the ever-popular Kindle 2 Wireless Reader.

Could it be, we wondered that all the investment we have heard about in color technology, faster processing and touchscreens could be finally coming to amazon customers?

Thankfully the new Amazon Kindle 3 is definitely here, and you just need to check out the spec and the low price to see why it is proving so popular.

Its all good though. The thing is speeding up the page turn speed and display improvements will appeal to those torn by desires of iPad excellence and a newer thinner Kindle will appeal to all as everyone loves their electronic gadgets to shrink in size. Don't they?

Back at the end of spring in 2010 we asked what are we to do, if we planned on buying a Kindle Reader now? The thing is, until amazon confirm insider reports about improvements being imminent it is highly disturbing for anyone that really wants the best wireless Kindle they can buy.

Wait till the summer, or buy now?

Well hey, take a look at the Kindle 2 and decide if you like it as it is.

• If you really cannot stand its massive 1/3inch thickness wait a few months and get the thinner version.

• If you want the oh so clear display to be even more defined, wait a few months and get the sharper pictured version.

• If you simply haven't got time to hang around waiting for the page turn refresh, wait a few months and get the faster response Kindle in the summer.

But, if you, like many many thousands of consumers love the Amazon Kindle don't worry about it, buy one now.

The thing is that new improved Kindle Reader is sure to be overshadowed at some point in the next six months or so, by the new Kindle 3. After all amazon are hardly likely to buy touchscreen developers TouchCo if they weren't going to benefit sometime soon.

So, what will the Kindle 3 be? Should we all be halting our Kindle purchases to find out. Will we all want it?

Well, my guess is that the new improved Kindle 2 will still satisfy an awful lot of people's needs. After all many of us just want something easy to use, easy to view and relatively inexpensive on which to read ebooks.

But, sure there will loads of eager gadget freaks just salivating over the possibility of a more flexible display rather than that hard glass, a touchscreen, color perhaps, faster speeds and well, who knows. But after all the drama and rumor we guess that the amazon Kindle 3 will be worth the wait.

And when will the Kindle 3 be released? Oh come on after last years bumper holiday season when would you release it? October I guess, just in time for the busiest gadget buying season of the year! Not that I'm at all cynical obviously - who could blame them, its what I'd do for sure! And of course there will be tons of Kindle 3 Covers to buy with your Christmas money come January I'm sure! In fact, since the new Kindle is so much more stylish than the old one, the range of Kindle Covers is looking a lot more funky too. Some of the best Kindle 3 covers are far brighter and younger looking than those clunky old versions for the bigger Kindle 2!

I am so glad I was wrong and that the Amazon Kindle 3 arrived so much earlier than expected, and that it was so much better than expected too, with its cool new smaller, sleeker design and huge list of technical improvements. Check out how the Kindle 3 Compares to its predecessor to find out more.