# Has Kindle Been Abandoned?



## drafter69 (Mar 21, 2009)

Month after month all I hear from Amazon is Alexia.... alexia...alexia.    I am starting to wonder if Amazon has abandoned the Kindle??


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Not abandoned. But, arguably, there's not a lot that can be added to the current models. So it's not surprising that they're not releasing new models as quickly as they did in the early days.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I can't even imagine any realistic feature they could add that would attract me. I doubt they've abandoned Kindle, but I agree with Ann that updates will be slow unless they come up with some breakthrough feature.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I can't even imagine any realistic feature they could add that would attract me. I doubt they've abandoned Kindle, but I agree with Ann that updates will be slow unless they come up with some breakthrough feature.


I suppose, as there are always better processors and batteries to make it faster and last longer between charges. 

Many folks want color but I don't see the need for that and certainly wouldn't want to pay a premium for it. There's also been talk of a waterproof option but, again, I don't think that's something I'd pay a premium for.

I expect that they'll just have updated versions of existing models going forward as the technology (processors and batteries) improves.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

What they could do for me is enlarge the home screen on the Voyage. I can't read the titles on the books which is odd, because I can read them just fine on my phone.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

They are trying to cement their foothold right now in home automation, since they already have such a head start over the other companies. So as far as media coverage and announcements, those devices make for a better widespread appeal. 

E-readers just don't have that kind of impact I think on the masses. On us readers yes, but we all already have a kindle. Several in fact.  . And they seem to last some time. They do one thing and they do it well. Sure, some tweaking stuff they could do, but most of that would be software related. Bigger font on home screen listings, more fonts and more font sizes, etc. 

Who knows. They might come up with a few new ones closer to the end of the year. Once they done milking the publicity about all the Echos. It might be a more quiet release on new kindles. They aren't quite as flashy for news articles as the thing that shall not be named.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah, I think you're right: Home Automation is the latest 'thing' . . . . so that's why the splashy reveal. Even when they brought out the Oasis a bit over a year ago, there wasn't a big to-do about it. They knew it'd only appeal to a certain subset of readers. I suspect both the PW and the basic models still sell the best because most people are more casual readers and don't want to spend a premium. And, like you say, they last a long time, and that same bunch of casual readers don't get the need for more than one kindle.    So the market might be sort of saturated. 

BUT -- I don't think they'll abandon the dedicated kindle device altogether; as noted, it's more a matter of "what more could they add?"


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## John Hopper (Mar 31, 2013)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Atunah, I think you're right: Home Automation is the latest 'thing' . . . . so that's why the splashy reveal. Even when they brought out the Oasis a bit over a year ago, there wasn't a big to-do about it. They knew it'd only appeal to a certain subset of readers. I suspect both the PW and the basic models still sell the best because most people are more casual readers and don't want to spend a premium. And, like you say, they last a long time, and that same bunch of casual readers don't get the need for more than one kindle.    So the market might be sort of saturated.
> 
> BUT -- I don't think they'll abandon the dedicated kindle device altogether; as noted, it's more a matter of "what more could they add?"


I was disappointed that no new Kindle was announced the other day, but I accept the logic of the arguments above. Increasing the internal storage to 8 or 16 gb, and a slightly bigger screen are, in that order, my priorities. A Voyage 2 with one or both of those properties would have me pre-ordering right away.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

John Hopper said:


> I was disappointed that no new Kindle was announced the other day, but I accept the logic of the arguments above. Increasing the internal storage to 8 or 16 gb, and a slightly bigger screen are, in that order, my priorities. A Voyage 2 with one or both of those properties would have me pre-ordering right away.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


More storage would be o.k. . . . not that I have it filled now, but more free space would probably make it faster to switch books and do collection management.

I'm not sure whether I want a bigger screen . . . maybe just a tad? I really like the size of the device as a whole so wouldn't want that to be negatively affected.

I've said before: the Voyage would be just about perfect (for me) if the the haptic buttons were very slightly raised to make them easier to find by feel, and if there was a dedicated home button that didn't require touching the screen.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> More storage would be o.k. . . . not that I have it filled now, but more free space would probably make it faster to switch books and do collection management.
> 
> I'm not sure whether I want a bigger screen . . . maybe just a tad? I really like the size of the device as a whole so wouldn't want that to be negatively affected.
> 
> I've said before: the Voyage would be just about perfect (for me) if the the haptic buttons were very slightly raised to make them easier to find by feel, and if there was a dedicated home button that didn't require touching the screen.


That and the bezel is too small on the Voyage for me to be able to hold it, trying not to touch the screen and pressing the faux buttons. I just mostly can't do it. I have hands on the small size. I just don't have anything to grab on when my main holding goes to the thumb to press. Don't know how else to explain that.

Larger device I have no interest in. Even less way to hold it and storage? I never managed to fill one up yet, but I don't think storage costs that much now in production, does it? They make larger ones for markets where they read those large size comics. So they could just use the same model here. I would like a home button also. So you don't have to go through all the steps, touching the screen and touching an icon. Sometimes I don't touch it in the right place and it changes page instead.

We'll see. I have a feeling something is coming.


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## Laran Mithras (Nov 22, 2016)

No one in my house owns a Kindle...


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Laran Mithras said:


> No one in my house owns a Kindle...


Well, _there's_ your problem!


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I can't even imagine any realistic feature they could add that would attract me. I doubt they've abandoned Kindle, but I agree with Ann that updates will be slow unless they come up with some breakthrough feature.


I agree although I would like to see a Paperwhite 4, with six LED lights and a USB C port for fast charging.


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## drafter69 (Mar 21, 2009)

The one thing I find disappointing about the Kindle is that it sucks when there is an illustration in the book.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I think the hardware is fine. It's the software that needs more work. There just aren't anywhere near enough customization options.

IMHO.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Mike D. aka jmiked said:


> I think the hardware is fine. It's the software that needs more work. There just aren't anywhere near enough customization options.
> 
> IMHO.


While I'm content with what it has, this is something that a lot of people ask for: More font choices, more in-between sizes. AND, the ability to add your own sleep-pictures on devices without special offers.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> While I'm content with what it has, this is something that a lot of people ask for: More font choices, more in-between sizes. AND, the ability to add your own sleep-pictures on devices without special offers.


Haven't we been asking to add our own sleep pictures since the first Kindle? Remember those awful people pictures? <shudder>


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Haven't we been asking to add our own sleep pictures since the first Kindle? Remember those awful people pictures? <shudder>


 I liked them, I miss them on my kindles now. .


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Haven't we been asking to add our own sleep pictures since the first Kindle? Remember those awful people pictures? <shudder>


I didn't think they were _that_ bad . . . but some were hugely unflattering (Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wild). I think the hue and cry for personalized sleep pictures died down when they switched to the sorts of images they're using now.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I didn't think they were _that_ bad . . . but some were hugely unflattering (Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wild). I think the hue and cry for personalized sleep pictures died down when they switched to the sorts of images they're using now.


And maybe also when we started to have covers with the auto on feature. That way it just opened to the book so the screen savers weren't seen as much anymore.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> And maybe also when we started to have covers with the auto on feature. That way it just opened to the book so the screen savers weren't seen as much anymore.


Good point . . . .the only time you see a sleep picture now is if you have special offers and it's an ad. On the kindle where I removed SOs, I rarely see the sleep picture, certainly not for longer than a second at a time, because thats all the longer it takes to go to the book when I open the cover.


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## gdae23 (Apr 30, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Good point . . . .the only time you see a sleep picture now is if you have special offers and it's an ad. On the kindle where I removed SOs, I rarely see the sleep picture, certainly not for longer than a second at a time, because thats all the longer it takes to go to the book when I open the cover.


Unless you're like me, and with the Kindle open on a stand, you get distracted and fail to turn the page for a while. Then, before you know it, the sleep picture is on.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Haven't we been asking to add our own sleep pictures since the first Kindle? Remember those awful people pictures? <shudder>


On the original Kindles we were able to add our own pictures without having to hack it. Mine has Tolkien illustrations if I remember correctly.

But yes, with the newer models that wake up when you open the cover, I don't notice the sleep pictures nearly as much.

I'd like to see more customization options and on the Oasis, I'd like a way to charge the cover separately from the Kindle (or a way to disable that annoying message about the cover running low).


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Andra said:


> I'd like to see more customization options and on the Oasis, I'd like a way to charge the cover separately from the Kindle (or a way to disable that annoying message about the cover running low).


Good point about the Oasis. I agree the device needs a charging port, but it would be great if the cover had a separate one. That way you could keep a second cover (and they'd sell extra covers!) charged while using and swap out when both are low. OR . . . I find I use my Oasis without the cover so don't get the annoying messages so much. I do put it back in the cover each night -- it would be nice if I could just leave the cover on charge all the time.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Haven't we been asking to add our own sleep pictures since the first Kindle? Remember those awful people pictures? <shudder>


Thank goddess the people at mobilereads have put years of work into making custom screensavers and fonts as easily accessible as possible. i still understand the advertising revenue and the incentive to avoid screensavers for that but for those of us who pay not to have those ads, i've found it more and more difficult to understand. that said, I've had custom screensavers since my baby kindle and it's easier than ever on the paperwhites, voyages and oasis' if you're willing to put in some work...and yes, the legendary author pics. shudder indeed.


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## ChadMck (Feb 25, 2011)

I highly doubt the Kindle has been abandoned, it has merely reached Market Saturation. Everyone who would ever consider purchasing a Kindle...has purchased a Kindle. There is no sense in throwing money at advertising to people who are still on the fence, it would be too expensive. In fact, I rather applaud Amazon for not releasing "new" Kindles on a consistent basis. They have created a great product that lasts years and aren't creating slightly improved versions to get people to buy again. Think of how much physical waste this saves? 

Now when it comes to Alexa, that's a hot new area. Home automation, something that people are just starting to come around on. That's worth throwing money at for Amazon. I'm actually surprised they haven't come out with more versions of Alexa. 

There will be new Kindle's in the future, but they will only be released when they provide value to the customer (or when Amazon wants to bolster ebook sales).


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

northofdivision said:


> ...and yes, the legendary author pics. shudder indeed.


It scared the shit out of me the first time Jane Austen came up...because I'd just been reading a Jane Austen book. (Turns out classics are a lot easier when you can make the print big + use the read aloud feature!) Big Brother was watching me, and its name was Amazon and the Kindle!! Glad that didn't turn out to be the case. I mean, I don't really care if Amazon knows my reading habits, but putting the author of the current book I'm reading as my screensaver would be just a bit too intrusive.

It used to make my day whenever the picture of birds came up instead of the authors, because I liked that one so much!

I wish they'd turn their attention to an e-ink computer system for writing, email, and lite browsing or social media. I think it would save my eyes if I could use e-ink for more things. In the past, I've browsed forums with my e-ink Kindle Keyboard, and it wasn't the easiest thing in the world...but I felt very modern with all of that 3G power and e-ink display! I'd love an updated, more widely usable version of that, preferably something all-in-one, like a Chromebook, that could be used without having extensive background in tech.

As for Alexa...bah. I can certainly see it has its place, and would offer some people better access to what they need, but it's not for me. (And can you imagine how risky it would be if you had a small child? A machine that lets you order things verbally. I'm sure nothing could go wrong around a curious little kid with an obsessive need to repeat themselves or ask question after question.)


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## 9 Diamonds (Oct 4, 2016)

I'm more than happy with my Voyage, and can't think of any improvements I'd want for it. If I'm typical of Voyage owners, then maybe Amazon have good cause to leave it as it is ...


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## lindnet (Jan 25, 2009)

I love my Voyage, but would love for it to have actual page turn buttons instead of the haptic things.


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## BettyR (May 11, 2010)

Perhaps Amazon will have a surprise for us in November, the 10th anniversary of the very first kindle.  Kindles are on sale right now, so that is another clue that something may be up.


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## SerenityEditing (May 3, 2016)

HSh said:


> And can you imagine how risky it would be if you had a small child? A machine that lets you order things verbally. I'm sure nothing could go wrong around a curious little kid with an obsessive need to repeat themselves or ask question after question.


A small child, or a parrot, or a television airing a news story about a small child ordering by voice command... 
https://www.techspot.com/news/71075-parrot-activates-alexa-when-mimicking-owner-places-online.html



> At the start of the year, a six-year-old Texan girl ordered a $170 doll house and four-pounds worth of cookies using an Amazon Dot. When reporting the story, a TV anchor said: "I love the little girl saying, 'Alexa ordered me a dollhouse.'" This statement caused complaints from some viewers, who said their smart speakers were activated and tried to make purchases when they heard the command.


I can't imagine using Alexa to order only because when I order almost anything I have to spend a really stupid amount of time comparing this to that, and do they have it in a multipack, and what colors does it come in, and I can get it for $3 cheaper in white but the blue is really pretty, and do I want the glossy finish or the matte, and... The idea of saying "Order me a dollhouse" or "Two boxes of dog treats please" is the most sci-fi part of the whole thing, for me!


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## John Hopper (Mar 31, 2013)

I don't think it has. I listen to Len Edgerley's Kindle Chronicles podcast and he mentioned an announcement next week that would interest his listeners, which surely points to some kind of e-ink Kindle announcement. There is also a thread on Mobile Reads about an Amazon press event next Tuesday. A Voyage 2 with bigger storage and a slightly bigger screen would do it for me.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## ShinyTop (Apr 25, 2016)

I turned off purchasing with my Echo first thing.  I finally renamed the one in my TV room because it kept coming to life with each Echo commercial.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

John Hopper said:


> I don't think it has. I listen to Len Edgerley's Kindle Chronicles podcast and he mentioned an announcement next week that would interest his listeners, which surely points to some kind of e-ink Kindle announcement. There is also a thread on Mobile Reads about an Amazon press event next Tuesday. A Voyage 2 with bigger storage and a slightly bigger screen would do it for me.


Great news! My Paperwhite (PW2) crashed this morning and I lost everything on it (it's all in the cloud, so not a big deal, but still a pain).

This is second *major issue* I've had with it in two years, so I'm ready to upgrade.


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## etexlady (May 27, 2009)

My Oasis has been the perfect Kindle for me.  I like the shape, size and the page turning buttons.  What I would like to see improved is the software.  Setting up "collections" is slow and cumbersome at best.  It would be so much nicer if we could arrange our books, lists, collections, etc. on the Manage Your Devices and Content page and have it automatically load onto the Kindle.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

etexlady said:


> My Oasis has been the perfect Kindle for me. I like the shape, size and the page turning buttons. What I would like to see improved is the software. Setting up "collections" is slow and cumbersome at best. It would be so much nicer if we could arrange our books, lists, collections, etc. on the Manage Your Devices and Content page and have it automatically load onto the Kindle.


Not sure if this is exactly what you're talking about, but after my Kindle crashed the other day, I created a new folder on it - "Unread" - and then added a bunch of books to it from the Manage Your Kindle page on the web. Of course, that only added the books to the cloud - they still have to be manually downloaded onto the Kindle itself. Is that what you mean?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

etexlady said:


> My Oasis has been the perfect Kindle for me. I like the shape, size and the page turning buttons. What I would like to see improved is the software. Setting up "collections" is slow and cumbersome at best. It would be so much nicer if we could arrange our books, lists, collections, etc. on the Manage Your Devices and Content page and have it automatically load onto the Kindle.


You kinda can.

On Manage Content and Devices, you can now organize books in collections -- not with perfect efficiency, but much easier than via the kindle. And you can send up to 10 books to a device at a time. In fact, you can send up to 10 books to more than one device at the same time.

Further, if you have books on the kindle and you sort them into collections on the MYC&D page, the next time you sync your device, the books will move themselves into whichever collections you've chosen.


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I can't even imagine any realistic feature they could add that would attract me. I doubt they've abandoned Kindle, but I agree with Ann that updates will be slow unless they come up with some breakthrough feature.


I can. Waterproofing. USB C port for fast charging. Paperwhite, my favorite, with six LED lights instead of four. That didn't even take much imagination. Imagination brings me to a Kindle that will read audio books with a voice as human as the Android Assistant. Or, how about a Kindle that would navigate by voice commands. "Find......" Or, "Page" or, "settings" or, "Notation...." I don't imagine color or email or web browsing. For that I have my phone. My Kindle is simply for reading.


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## etexlady (May 27, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> You kinda can.
> 
> On Manage Content and Devices, you can now organize books in collections -- not with perfect efficiency, but much easier than via the kindle. And you can send up to 10 books to a device at a time. In fact, you can send up to 10 books to more than one device at the same time.
> 
> Further, if you have books on the kindle and you sort them into collections on the MYC&D page, the next time you sync your device, the books will move themselves into whichever collections you've chosen.


Well, yeah, there's that but I was thinking more along the lines of "drag and drop".


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

HSh said:


> (And can you imagine how risky it would be if you had a small child? A machine that lets you order things verbally. I'm sure nothing could go wrong around a curious little kid with an obsessive need to repeat themselves or ask question after question.)


The ordering feature can be turned off. Amazon may have made a mistake when they shipped the product with it turned on by default.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Mike D. aka jmiked said:


> The ordering feature can be turned off. Amazon may have made a mistake when they shipped the product with it turned on by default.


You can also set a PIN that must be entered to process an order. We had to do that to make sure that we knew which profile was ordering stuff.


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

Pretty happy with my Voyage and cant really think of anything that would make me want to spend another $200 on another K.

Dont take a bath with mine so dont need waterproof. I think screen size is just right. Lighting works just fine for me.

I guess it could always be lighter but there are just physical limitations to that.


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

OK, I thought of a feature I'd pay $$ for again: yes to an ergonomic design that favors one hand holding it, similar to Oasis. _THEN_ (because I use both hands pretty equally), have automatic page re-orientation the way our smart phones and tablets (most anyway) are.

So I can just turn it over, switch hands, and viola! ergonomic grip feature for that hand and page flips as well.

Quick! Somebody call Amazon! LOL


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Lursa (aka 9MMare) said:


> OK, I thought of a feature I'd pay $$ for again: yes to an ergonomic design that favors one hand holding it, similar to Oasis. _THEN_ (because I use both hands pretty equally), have automatic page re-orientation the way our smart phones and tablets (most anyway) are.
> 
> So I can just turn it over, switch hands, and viola! ergonomic grip feature for that hand and page flips as well.
> 
> Quick! Somebody call Amazon! LOL


That is a feature of the original Oasis . . . and I suspect they've not taken out of the new 7" model they just announced.


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> That is a feature of the original Oasis . . . and I suspect they've not taken out of the new 7" model they just announced.


Really? I didnt realize that. Does it work well? Smoothly?

Shoot! There go my royalties....


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

It works perfectly, every time.


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

Atunah said:


> It works perfectly, every time.


Nice! Then not this yr unless, God forbid, something happens to my Voyage, but maybe next the Oasis may be my next K.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> It works perfectly, every time.


Yep. Might be quicker with the better processor in the new oasis.


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## Lisa5 (Oct 23, 2012)

They have released a waterproof one? https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/amazon-launches-waterproof-kindle-oasis-for-rs-21999/articleshow/61049662.cms

And apparently it talks. But you have to wear head phones so that's no good. I want one that talks to me while I do dishes. I USED to have that with my ancient old Touch that died but then they got rid of that feature on new ones. I have a more recent Touch but it doesn't talk.  Anyway my old early generation Touch talked but it was very glitchy with the talking. Still I used to do house work listening to it which is what I want.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Lisa5 said:


> They have released a waterproof one? https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/amazon-launches-waterproof-kindle-oasis-for-rs-21999/articleshow/61049662.cms
> 
> And apparently it talks. But you have to wear head phones so that's no good. I want one that talks to me while I do dishes. I USED to have that with my ancient old Touch that died but then they got rid of that feature on new ones. I have a more recent Touch but it doesn't talk.  Anyway my old early generation Touch talked but it was very glitchy with the talking. Still I used to do house work listening to it which is what I want.


Yep: a new model of the Oasis 

We have a whole thread discussing it here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,256438.0.html

By way of clarification, it has audio support specifically for Audible books. Also the Voice View that lets you do commands by voice. To listen you do need a connected Bluetooth speaker which can be headphones but could also just be a speaker. There's no physical headphone jack and no on-device speakers.


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## Cindy64 (Oct 17, 2017)

Seems like amazon is also opening the gates for a new audience to appeal to. That's just my two cents. What do you think?


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