Amazon preps a Kindle for people on a budget

Not keen on spending over $200 on an eReader? No worries, because this week, Amazon has unleashed an eReader on the Australian public that costs a little over $100.

While it’s not likely to offer the same experience as the deluxe Kindle Voyage we checked out recently, if you’re only looking for a way to keep hundreds of books with you and don’t need the 300 pixel per inch perfection that is used on that eReader, Amazon’s latest budget Kindle may do the job.

It’s called the “White Kindle”, and if the name doesn’t give it away as being a white Kindle eReader, well, there’s not much more we can tell you.

kindle-white-touch-2015-announce-01

Seriously, this is a white Kindle, with a return to the white colour scheme Amazon’s Kindle once had when it was first released, but without the built-in keyboard and 3G like that first model featured.

Rather, the 2015 “white Kindle” features a touch electronic ink display showing 167 pixels per inch and allowing you to flick your fingers left and right to change pages, up and down to scroll other places, and touch the top section of the screen to get the toolbar up.

That should make it easy to upgrade from this Kindle to a different model later on if need be, and Amazon tells us other features from the Voyage and Paperwhite models are also here, including “Whispersync” to keep your reading place shared between devices, “X-Ray” to check out more information about characters in books, and the integration of Amazon’s “GoodReads”, a social network designed to help you connect with other readers.

kindle-white-touch-2015-announce-02

Beyond that, it’s sure to be the same 4G and WiFi friendly Kindle we’ve seen in stores in a sort of a greyish, except this time it’s white.

We’re told this one isn’t a replacement to the Kindle Touch WiFi, but rather an addition to the lineup, though this model has only ever been launched in China and Japan, with this announcement making it available in Australia and New Zealand, the first two places outside of the Asia to see it.

kindle-white-touch-2015-announce-05

Pricing on this one sees the White Kindle start at $109, though, and you’ll find this one in Dick Smith stores shortly with access to Amazon’s electronic book store as the main way of getting books to the reader.