Amazon unveils first color Kindle, and new Kindle Scribe with ability to write directly in books
Amazon will release its first color Kindle, dubbed the Kindle Colorsoft, for $279.99 on Oct. 30, expanding beyond the realm of black-and-white e-readers for the first time.
Users will be able to see book covers and interior pictures in color, and add highlights in color. The display is 7 inches, about the same size as Amazon’s black-and-white Kindle Paperwhite device.
Amazon is late to the game with its color e-reader, following smaller competitors such as Kobo and Onyx that have already released their own color E Ink devices.
The company on Wednesday also announced its second-generation Kindle Scribe writing tablet and e-reader, with the ability to take handwritten digital notes directly in the flow of e-books for the first time, a feature the company calls Active Canvas.
“Your note becomes part of the page, and the book text dynamically flows around it — if you increase the font size, change the font style, or the book layout changes, the note remains visible exactly where you want it so you never lose any meaning or context,” Amazon says in a press release about the new Kindle lineup.
With the first Kindle Scribe, released two years ago, it’s currently possible to take notes directly in PDFs, but notes in e-books are scribbled instead in a larger window overlaying a large part of the screen. Active Canvas will also be made available as an update to existing users of the original Kindle Scribe, Amazon says.
Another new note-taking option, to be made available in the months after release, will let users write notes in the on-screen side panel, with the ability to hide or show them afterward. It’s called Extended Margin.
An additional new feature for the Kindle Scribe uses generative AI to summarize handwritten notes, condensing them into bullets in a script font, in a format that can be shared from the notebook tab.
Amazon says Extended Margin and AI summarization will also be made available via software update to users of the original Kindle Scribe. Active Canvas and AI features are coming later this year, and Extended Margin in 2025.
In the new model, the Scribe display and the premium pen have been upgraded to make the writing experience more like scribbling on real paper, according to the company. The front-lit display is 10.2 inches, the same size as the original Scribe.
The price starts at $399.99 for a 16GB version with a basic pen, shipping on Dec. 4.
The Kindle Scribe competes with products from companies including reMarkable, which released its reMarkable Paper Pro color tablet in September and continues to sell its black-and-white reMarkable 2 device.
Amazon also announced an updated Kindle Paperwhite, for $159.99 to $199.99 depending on the model; and a revamped entry-level Kindle, for $109.99. The entry-level device also comes in a $129.99 Kindle Kids version with kid-oriented cover designs and six months of Amazon Kids+ with access to books and audiobooks.