Amazon has announced a new, improved and cheaper version of the Kindle, boasting that the price cut will make it a “mass market” device. The new, slightly smaller, device boasts a higher-contrast screen and a one-month battery life, but can be had for just $139 for the WiFi-only model. Adding 3G connectivity boosts the price to $189. “We developed this device for serious readers,” Amazon boss Jeff Bezos tells the Wall Street Journal. But “at these price points, it may be much broader than that.”
The prices put the Amazon just one step ahead of Barnes and Noble’s Nook in the price wars. The WiFi-only Nook sells for $149. Bezos resists comparisons to his other big competitor, Apple’s iPad, stressing that the Kindle is a pure reading device. He says he purposely left off bells-and-whistles like color or a touch screen controls, which would have necessitated a screen with glare. “For the vast majority of books, adding video and animation is not going to be helpful,” he says, “It is distracting.” (More Amazon stories.)
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