Amazon Kills Kindle Touch In Favor Of The New Paperwhite

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Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is embracing a less is more stance, and has condensed its Kindle product line. Starting on Monday, the company will end sales of its $99 Kindle Touch.

In place of the Kindle Touch, the company is directing consumers to its new Paperwhite device. While not exactly an upgrade to the Touch, its retail price is $119, and it includes a “paper-like” experience to read books. It has come with some flaws, but it hasn’t stopped consumers from ordering it, resulting in the device immediately selling out.

Amazon Kills Kindle Touch In Favor Of The New Paperwhite

The new Kindle is available in the, UK but only via Amazon’s retail partners such as Tesco, reported Tech Radar, and U.S. consumers may also be going to this venue for the device.

Amazon has high expectations for it, and it appears that the front-lit Kindle Paperwhite may be the new normal. It does come with ads and a $20 higher sticker price, which includes a touchscreen with higher-resolution.

But the Paperwhite doesn’t have either audio or text-to-speech features, and has half the 2 GB of storage vs. the Touch’s 4 GB. According to VentureBeat, Amazon has noted that that “under certain lighting conditions, the illumination at the bottom of the screen from the built-in light is not perfectly even.”

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has attempted to protect themselves through a special disclaimer page on its Kindle Paperwhite’s product page.

The news of the Touch discontinuance comes after the company stopped selling its big-screen Kindle DX last week; it just didn’t find a lot of success.

So what’s left for Kindle fans?

There’s the simple Kindle for $69 (with ads) sans a touch screen and the $89 version(without ads). The seasoned Kindle Keyboard can also be purchased for $139. This comes with 3G and ads.

 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) also recently announced its Kindle Fire HD. Prices begin at $199.

Earlier this month, the tablet received FCC approval to sell their 4G version. The company is taking pre-orders and it plans to begin shipping them on Nov. 20–just in time for the holidays.

So what’s new with the Kindle Fire HD? It is 8.9-inches and includes Dolby Audio, Dual-Band-Antenna Wi-Fi; it is offered in either 16GB or 32GB. On the higher end with the 4G LTE Wireless tablet, it has either 32GB or 64GB. Both have a 1920×1200 HD display that has been described as a “polarizing filter and anti-glare technology for rich color and deep contrast from any viewing angle.”

The tablet also includes a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor, with an Imagination PowerVR 3D Graphics core.

 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is currently trading at $233.05, down 2.90%.

 

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