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Amazon.com Inc. is revamping its Kindle lineup with its first Scribe device with a colour screen and is rolling out a slew of home security and TV devices as part of a renewed hardware push.
On Tuesday, the company unveiled three new versions of the Kindle Scribe, a reader that includes a stylus for drawing and note-taking. While the new devices share the same design, they differ in screen type: a new colour model, a black-and-white version with a high-powered backlight, and lower-end offering without lighting.
Amazon launched its first colour Kindle last year but that version is solely an e-reader. The new colour model, called the Kindle Scribe coloursoft, is the most expensive Kindle to date at $630.
The mid-level Kindle Scribe with the backlight costs $500 - a $100 increase from the current model - while the lower-end variant, called the Kindle Scribe without Front Light, is priced at $430. Amazon previously only offered the backlit Scribe.
All three devices look more like tablets, featuring uniform borders around the larger 11-inch displays. They’re also thinner and lighter than any previous Kindle, each coming in at 0.9 pounds and 5.4 millimeters thick.
The prior Scribe was closer to a pound and 5.6 mm in thickness, the same as the recently released iPhone Air from Apple Inc.
"We’ve manufactured in our minds that we’re going to recreate a piece of paper and we’re going to make sure it always feels that way,” hardware and Alexa chief Panos Panay said in an interview. He called the new Kindles the "next level of how you would think about that product,” adding that the "fundamental details of every single part” of the device have changed.
The Kindle is Amazon’s original hardware device, launched by Jeff Bezos in 2007 - the same year the original iPhone went on sale. But even with the proliferation of tablets and smartphones that can function as e-readers, the Kindle line is performing stronger than ever, according to Kevin Keith, an Amazon vice president who has been part of the unit since 2012.
The company attributes the growth to Gen Z and Millennial users, who discuss the device and book recommendations on TikTok.
Amazon's expanded home-security push includes appliances from its Ring and Blink brands, in addition to its first $40 4K Fire TV Stick and upgraded television sets. Ring is rolling out its first 4K devices, stepping up competition with rivals like Eufy and others.
The higher-resolution cameras are an important upgrade for home security setups. Blurry footage can make it harder to identify a trespasser or piece together what actually happened. And as TVs and related peripherals increasingly shift to 4K, it’s just as important for users to be able to capture media in that format. Siminoff said not all 4K video on cameras is alike and that Ring will be the "Ferrari” of tuning such footage.
Another priority for Ring this year is a feature called Search Party, which uses Ring cameras within a given area to help locate lost pets. The idea is that a person can submit a photo of their missing animal, and if a nearby Ring camera spots it, the camera owner will receive an alert and have the option to notify the owner of the lost pet.
Amazon’s $40 Fire TV Stick 4K marks the first time it has released a stick supporting the higher-resolution format at that price point. The current stick is priced at $50, though it’s frequently discounted by Amazon and third-party retailers.
TV sticks are typically purchased by users with televisions that lack Amazon or competing smart software, offering a way to add streaming features without replacing the set.
Amazon is also introducing several new full-fledged television sets, including updated versions of its 2-Series, 4-Series and Omni QLED Series. The new models feature faster processors and enhanced support for the artificially intelligent Alexa+. In addition, all Fire TV devices are getting a redesigned user interface designed to reduce the need to jump between apps to find content.
