Amazon has prematurely announced the new Kindle Colorsoft, the first Kindle with a full-color display, alongside three more new Kindle products in a now-withdrawn Spanish press release.
The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition was unveiled in a Spanish-language announcement through an official Amazon blog (spotted by The Verge). It’s likely the reveal was a mistake, as no English announcement has been made, some product links don’t work, and the whole page has now been taken down.
The Kindle Colorsoft was announced alongside a new AI-powered Kindle Scribe, an updated Kindle Paperwhite, and a refreshed entry-level Kindle, with US pricing and availability information given for each.
The release stated that the Kindle Colorsoft offers “rich, paper-like color” in either standard or vibrant styles, a “custom-designed oxide backing layer”, new algorithms to enhance color and increase brightness, eight weeks of battery life, and the fast page-turns and high contrast that Kindle users have come to expect. It’ll seemingly be available for preorder at $279.99 (which is around £215 / AU$420), with the first units shipping on October 30.
The release also says that users will be able to “search for color covers in your Library or Kindle Store, view photos and images of books in color, or highlight text that you can easily search for later” thanks to the custom Colorsoft display, new light guide, and nitride LEDs. You’ll also apparently be able to “zoom in on images without worrying about pixelation”.
As mentioned, the Kindle Colorsoft also boasts eight weeks of battery life with support for wireless charging, and is waterproof.
AI comes to Kindles
The new Kindle Scribe, meanwhile, refreshes the design of Amazon’s writing tablet, with new white borders, a 300ppi display with a “smooth, paper-like texture”, and all-new AI tools.
The new Scribe’s AI capabilities will include summarizing “pages and pages” of notes into bullet points and converting handwritten notes into font, though the latter feature is currently only available in English.
The Kindle Scribe also brings the new Active Canvas feature that keeps book notes in place when you change the layout or font size. The ereader will seemingly ship with the Premium Pen stylus, which comes with a “soft-tip eraser”. If the leaked release is acccurate, the Kindle Scribe will be available starting at $399.99 (which converts to £310 / AU$600), with the first units shipping on December 4.
The new 7-inch Kindle Paperwhite is the “fastest Kindle ever” according to the release, with 25% faster page turns and the highest contrast ratio of any Kindle display. It’s going to be the thinnest Paperwhite model yet and boasts a three-month battery life and waterproofing.
The release says the new Kindle Paperwhite will be available at $159.99 (about £125 / AU$240) for 16GB of storage in the Raspberry, Jade Green, and Charcoal color options, and the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition at $199.99 (around £155 / AU$300) for 32GB of storage in the Raspberry Metallic, Jade Green Metallic, and Charcoal Metallic color options.
The release also detailed a new base-model Kindle, which seemingly comes equipped with a 300ppi display with a 25% brighter front light on the max setting, which matches the brightness of the Kindle Paperwhite. It comes in the new Matcha color and has “weeks” of battery life. The release lists the new Kindle at $109.99 (£85 / AU$165).
The announcement also suggests two new Kindle Kids products could be on the way, a new entry-level Kindle Kids and new Kindle Paperwhite Kids. As GoodEReader reports, UK retailer John Lewis began listing the new Kindle 12 Gen Kids Edition, with a 6-inch display, higher contrast ratio, glare-free display, and faster page turn than its predecessor.
We’re still light on official details, though the pulled Amazon announcement suggests the two new Kindle Kids products will come with a free cover with either an original design or branded design based on popular kids books.
For the moment, none of these announcements can be considered properly official as the press release has been taken down, but it seems we can expect official confirmation soon – and we’ll update this story as soon as we get that. For the latest official updates as we hear them, be sure to keep up with our ereader coverage.