aMazon’s first Kindle with a color screen faced significant challenges, including a rough landing, yellow screen issues, and shipping delays last year. However, with these issues resolved, could the introduction of color screens revolutionize the e-reader market?
While Amazon was not the first to utilize Color E-Ink screens in its e-readers, the company believes that the technology has significantly improved over the past four years. Competitors like Boox and Kobo offer greater contrast and speed, enhancing the overall reading experience.
Priced at £270 (€300/$280), the Kindle Colorsoft exceeds the £125 black and white Paperwhite model it is based on. It is also more expensive than its top-tier color E-Ink rivals. Positioned below the larger 10.2-inch Scribe tablet, Colorsoft is Amazon’s top 7-inch model.
Regular textbooks resemble a monochrome Kindle, lacking added colors. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Despite the new screen technology, Colorsoft retains the traditional Kindle design. It features a smooth black plastic back and a matte touchscreen on the front, with only a power button next to the USB-C port for physical controls. Page turns and other functions are all touchscreen-based.
Compared to black and white books, the grayscale on Colorsoft appears slightly grayish. However, page turns are swift and text remains clear and legible. The adjustable front light with 24 brightness levels and automatic adjustment based on time of day works effectively.
The color screen enhances browsing in libraries and Kindle stores by displaying book covers in color. Diagrams, maps, and photos within books are now rendered in color, aiding comprehension. Users can highlight passages in various colors and easily navigate through content. When a color image covers one-third of the screen, the entire display shifts to color.
While comic pages are visible on the 7-inch screen, some text may require zooming for comfortable reading. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The matte screen on Colorsoft may not be as vibrant as that of a phone or tablet, resembling newspaper printing rather than glossy magazines. However, with increased brightness and vibrant color mode, Colorsoft effectively presents graphic novel artwork.
Reading texts within speech bubbles may pose a challenge due to the 7-inch screen’s size when viewing a full comic page. The Panel view mode on Kindle displays multiple panels simultaneously, though zooming and panning on the Colorsoft touchscreen provide a faster and smoother reading experience.
One of Kindle’s key advantages is Amazon’s extensive e-book store, catering to a wide range of genres including comics and graphic novels. Amazon’s acquisition of Comixology in 2014 expanded the library offerings, seamlessly integrating with the Kindle store.
Zoom in to see the artwork details and read the text easily. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Users can load Epub or PDF files onto their Kindle and purchase books from sources other than Amazon, though only documents sent via Amazon’s Send to Kindle Service will display color on Colorsoft.
Colorsoft would benefit from improved library management capabilities, especially for users with extensive collections of comics and books. While Kindle offers book and manga filters, graphic novels may not be identified as manga. However, the filter functionality works with the Kindle app on tablets.
specifications
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screen: 7-inch color e-paper (B&W 300ppi; 150ppi)
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size: 127.6 x 176.7 x 7.8mm
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Weight: 219g
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water resistance: IPX8 (2m up to 60 minutes)
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Connectivity: Wifi 5, Bluetooth
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Storage: 32GB
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Battery life: 28 hours of reading
A full charge of ColorSoft with a 9W USB-C power adapter (not included) takes about 2.5 hours. It also supports wireless charging. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The battery life of Colorsoft varies slightly due to the color screen, but in testing, it outlasted Amazon’s estimates. Reading a standard black and white book at 40% brightness yielded about 45 hours, dropping to approximately 32 hours when reading a color graphic novel at 70% brightness. Standby battery life was also impressive, with less than 1% drain per day with the Power Save option enabled.
Sustainability
The smooth plastic back feels good in your hand, but it’s no different from the much cheaper Kindle. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Colorsoft will receive software and security updates from Amazon for a minimum of four years. The battery’s expected lifespan is not specified, but it should endure over 500 full charge cycles at 80% capacity. Repair options availability varies by region. The device contains 28% recycled materials, including cobalt, magnesium, and plastic.
Amazon offers trade-in and recycling programs, detailed in the environmental impact report of Kindle Colorsoft here.
price
The price of the Kindle Colorsoft is £269.99 (€299.99/$279.99).
Comparatively, the standard Kindle is priced at £79.99, Kindle Paperwhite at £124.99, Kindle Scribe at £379.99, Kobo Libra Color at £199.99, and Boox Go Color 7 at €279.99. The iPad costs £329.
verdict
Despite its rocky start, Colorsoft demonstrates the potential of Color E-Ink technology. It is poised to become the standard for e-book readers, enhancing not only manga and graphic novels but also regular books with color illustrations.
Viewing book covers and images in color elevates the reading experience without significant drawbacks compared to black and white models. Manga also appears engaging, making outdoor reading on Kindle more enjoyable than on a tablet. However, the 7-inch screen may be insufficient for a detailed graphic novel experience, requiring a larger display like that of an iPad.
Despite its price point, Colorsoft lacks the luxurious feel of higher-end Kindle models such as Oasis. It embodies a utilitarian approach akin to the Paperwhite model.
While the color screen on Colorsoft is impressive, the cost may be hard to justify for a screen of this size primarily suited for standard text. Purchasing during a promotional offer may mitigate any reservations. For users experiencing issues like a yellow tint on the screen, contacting Amazon support for a replacement is recommended.
Strong Points: The vivid color and black-and-white book images, water resistance, fast pinch-and-zoom, extended battery life, automatic front light adjustment, USB-C connectivity.
Cons: Black-and-white page screen flashes, absence of physical page turn buttons, high cost, limited 7-inch screen for detailed graphics, less vibrant than tablets, ecosystem lock-in with Amazon.
www.theguardian.com
Google Maps upgrades to enhance user experience in India
Google on Tuesday introduced a range of new features and updates to its mapping services in India as it closes out the year and lays the foundation for next year.
The latest in a series of new features is Lens in Maps, which will be launched on Android in 15 cities across India by January. The feature was introduced in the U.S. and select global markets in October and uses a combination of artificial intelligence and augmented reality to show people information such as opening hours, ratings, reviews, and photos when they point their smartphone camera on the street. I will provide a. Go to a restaurant or cafe.
Google has also launched Live View Walking Navigation in India, providing overlays of arrows, directions, and distance markers on the map screen to help users navigate to their destinations easily. Google says the feature will initially be available on Android and will be rolled out to more than 3,000 cities and towns across the country.
“India is a huge country with very diverse needs,” Miriam Karthika, vice president of Google Maps Experience, said at the event. “The scale on which we have to operate for India is enormous.”
In addition to the visually immersive viewing experience with Lens in Maps and Live View walking navigation, Google uses a combination of machine learning signals to discover the most relevant lands around your pinned address. We announced an address descriptor that provides up to five mark and area names and displays landmark references. Users share their location information. This India-first feature was introduced for Google Maps Platform developers earlier this year and will be available across his 75+ cities in India.
Image credits: Google
Google is also bringing fuel-efficient directions to India, which will be available to users starting in January. This feature works on domestic four-wheelers and two-wheelers and helps users reduce fuel consumption and limit carbon emissions. The feature will be available to users in Indonesia in addition to India next year.
Since its initial launch in October 2021, through September this year, Google said its fuel-efficient directions had prevented more than 2.4 million tons of CO2e emissions worldwide. The company says the feature uses AI to understand real-time traffic data, road elevation, and vehicle engine type to identify routes that limit fuel and emissions.
Apart from launching global features in India, Google has partnered with India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and mobility app Namma Yatri to bring metro schedules and reservations directly to users through Google Maps. . The experience will be available from the Kochi metro by the middle of next year, and will be rolled out in stages as other metros come on board with the open e-commerce network.
Google is also expanding its Where Is My Train app, which helps more than 80 million users every month to navigate their intercity train journeys, to local trains in Mumbai and Kolkata, with plans to add more cities in the future. .
To date, Google has mapped millions of kilometers of roads and 300 million buildings across the country. More than 50 million searches are made every day on the domestic map, 2.5 billion kilometers of directions are recorded every day, and more than 60 million unique users contribute to the map. Additionally, Google said it has mapped 30 million businesses and locations across the country, enabling direct connections between 900 million merchants and consumers.
Last July, Google introduced the Street View feature in India, six years after it was banned due to security concerns. The company has partnered with local companies Genesis and Tech Mahindra. According to Google, more than 50 million users in Japan are currently viewing Street View.
Source: techcrunch.com
