From The Verge: Amazon has been selling Kindles for 10 years now, but “waterproof” never appeared on its list of incremental technological advancements — until now. The company just announced a new version of its popular e-reader that builds on last year’s Kindle design and has an IPX8 waterproof rating.
The new Kindle Oasis — the same name as last year’s premium Kindle — has jumped up in size, moving from a 6-inch screen to a 7-inch screen. It has an aluminum back, which gives it a more premium look and feel than the Kindles with soft-touch plastic.
Unlike last year’s Kindle Oasis, which used a magnetic case you attached to the e-reader to extend its battery life, the new Oasis relies entirely on its built-in battery. It has a similar physical design, with one thicker side that tapers down on the other side, for one-handed reading. But Amazon has made a point of saying that it managed to fit in a bigger battery, while keeping the tapered side of the device at 3.4 millimeters.
The resolution of the e-paper display is the same at 300 ppi, but it has a couple extra LED lights now for a brighter, more even-looking display. And it also has ambient light sensors that adjust the brightness as you move from room to room, or from outdoors to indoors. (The earlier Voyage Kindle does this, too.)
There are physical page-turn buttons, plus the touchscreen page-turn option; Amazon says it’s worked on both the hardware and software side of things to make page-turning feel faster.
But the big news with the upgraded Oasis is its waterproofing, a long-requested feature from Kindle fans. (Calling last year’s model Oasis when it wasn’t waterproofed, or even water-resistant is almost insulting to Amazon’s customers.) The new e-reader has been tested in two meters of water for up to 60 minutes. It’s also been tested in different water environments, like hot tubs, pools, and bubble baths. Amazon declined to say how it waterproofed the Kindle, but since it still has an open USB port for charging, it’s recommending that people stand the Kindle upright after it’s been submerged.
View: Article @ Source Site
