Amazon's latest version of its popular Kindle Paperwhite has arrived, marking the sixth iteration if you're keeping score at home. The new model is the thinnest Paperwhite yet and has a refreshed 7-inch screen that's a touch larger than the previous model's 6.8-inch display. It also has the highest contrast of any Kindle thanks to the oxide thin-film transistor display tech.
Amazon boosted the speed as well, promising 25 percent faster page turns. It's waterproof as before but uses a new material with a premium soft touch grip. The Kindle Paperwhite comes with 16 GB of storage and is available in three colors, Raspberry, Jade and Black. It's now available at Amazon for $160.
As before, the company also released a premium version with more bells and whistles, the Paperwhite Signature Editing. Storage doubles on that model to 32 GB and it features an auto-adjusting front light along with optional wireless charging. The Paperwhite Signature Edition comes in Metallic Raspberry, Metallic Jade and Metallic Black for $200.
Amazon
If it's a budget reader you're after, Amazon has refreshed the entry-level Kindle, too. The new 12th-generation model comes with an updated 6-inch screen, offering a higher contrast ratio for more legible text, plus a front light that's 25 percent brighter at the maximum setting. It also gets a performance update that boosts page turning speeds. It comes in black or a new "Matcha" color and is now on sale for $110.
Along with those models, Amazon also unveiled its first color Kindle, the Colorsoft, that could be ideal for graphic novels and other digital color-oriented content. It promises "rich, paper-like color" using an oxide backplane display, plus high contrast on both color and black-and-white content. It's now on pre-order for $280 with shipping set for October 30th. Finally, Amazon is releasing its second Kindle Scribe reader that doubles as a note-taking device (not unlike the reMarkable tablets). It'll arrive on December 4, but you can pre-order it now for $400.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/amazons-new-kindle-paperwhite-reader-has-a-larger-screen-and-faster-page-turns-130050515.html?src=rss
Seventeen years is an odd anniversary to call out. But at an event launching four new Kindles, Amazon’s head of devices and services Panos Panay reminded a group of media that “Kindle is 17 years in the making, almost to the day.” Panay added that the device is currently seeing its highest sales numbers, and that 20.8 billion pages are read each month on a Kindle. But people aren’t just reading on Kindles. Since the introduction of the Kindle Scribe in 2022, there has been even more development in e-paper writing tablets, with a notable recent product in the reMarkable Paper Pro. While that $580 device supports a color writing experience, Amazon’s Kindle Scribe still only works in black and white. But it might offer enough by way of software updates to make up for its monochrome manner.
Plus, being able to write on what’s already a popular ereader makes that book-like experience even more realistic, and the Kindle Scribe represents what Panay called the “fastest growing category” of Kindles. You could almost call it a 2-in-1, since it’s an ereader and writing tablet at once. “I have a lot of passion around 2-in-1s,” Panay said at his presentation, and he used that term repeatedly to describe the Kindle Scribe. I haven’t thought about it that way, but I was less worried about semantics and more about how the Kindle Scribe and its new features felt at a hand-on session yesterday.
I’m the sort of person that needs to physically write out something while I plan a project. Whether it’s lofty goals to get my life together or draft up a strategy for covering certain software releases at work, my hands grasp at the air for an imaginary pen and paper. For that reason, the Kindle Scribe and other writing tablets call out to me. I reviewed the original Kindle Scribe almost two years ago and since then Amazon has slowly expanded the feature set and made the device more useful.
With the original Scribe, Amazon got a lot of the basics right. The latency and smoothness of the writing experience were close to feeling like pen and paper, and the device felt sturdy and slick. The new Scribe felt very similar in that sense, with little noticeable difference in the way the stylus interacted with the screen, and I didn’t encounter any jarring lag in the brief time I had with it.
Where the Scribe left me wanting more was software, and that’s also the area Amazon appears to have focused on this year. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not like the company didn’t tweak the hardware. There are some refinements like new white borders, a smaller grip, different color options and an updated stylus with a soft-tip top that feels more like a conventional eraser.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget
But inside the device lie the more intriguing changes. Most significant in my opinion is the new Active Canvas. It directly addresses one of my biggest complaints in my review, which is that the writing experience within books and publications was a little wonky.
To quote myself, this was what I said in 2022: “You can also take down notes when you’re reading an e-book. But it’s not like you can scribble directly onto the words of your e-books. You can use the floating toolbox to create a sticky note, then draw within a designated rectangle. When you close the sticky note, a small symbol appears over the word it was attached to, but otherwise, your scribbles are hidden. No annotating in the margins here.”
All of that has changed with the new Kindle Scribe. When you’re in an e-book, you can now just start writing on the page, and a box will appear, containing your scribbles. You no longer need to first find the floating toolbox and select the sticky note tool. Just write. It’s so much simpler, and in the Kindle Scribe I played with it worked almost instantly. Not only is the box embedded within the text, with the book’s words rearranging and flowing to accommodate it, but you can also resize the rectangle to take up however much space you like. The rest of the page will reflow to make room as necessary. I was particularly impressed by how quickly this happened on the demo unit — it was more responsive than switching between notebooks on my existing Scribe.
Plus, the box containing your note will stay in place instead of being hidden and replaced by a small symbol. It’s clear that Amazon’s earlier implementation was a rudimentary workaround to allow people to write on fixed format media, whereas the new approach is more deeply integrated and thought out.
And unlike what I said two years ago, you can now annotate in a new collapsible margin. Tapping the top right corner brings up options to pull up the column, and you can choose from having it take up about a quarter of the width or spread out to about three quarters. Content in the margin will be scrollable, so you theoretically won’t run out of space.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget
Now, this isn’t a perfect replica of annotating on a real textbook, but it might be better since you won’t have to scrawl all around the borders or write upside down just to squeeze in your thoughts. I’m not sure yet, as I really need to spend more time with it to know, but I like that Amazon clearly has taken in feedback and thought about how to add these requested features.
The company also added the ability to use the Pen and directly highlight or underline within those books, and pretty much any Kindle title will support most of these features. They’d have to be content that allows for font resizing, to start, so things like PDFs, which are fixed, won’t work with the Active Canvas. Word documents are compatible as well.
I spend more time writing in blank notebooks than in actual books, and for those scenarios, Amazon is using generative AI in two new tools: Summarization and Refined Writing. The former is pretty straightforward. If you’ve handwritten 10 pages worth of brainstorming meeting notes, the system can scan all of it and collate just the highlights. You can have this be added as a page to the existing notebook as a summary, or save it as a separate document on its own.
Refined Writing, meanwhile, is like Apple’s Handwriting Assist on iPadOS 18 but on a larger scale. While Apple’s software feels like it’s about nipping and tucking stray words that are out of alignment, Amazon’s takes your entire handwritten page and converts it into text in a script-like font. This works best if you tend to write in a single column with clear indentations and paragraphs. I tend to draw random boxes all over the place for breakout thoughts, and the system will not perfectly replicate that. For example, a two-column shopping list I quickly drafted on a demo Scribe was merged into one, and the checkboxes I drew were interpreted as capital letter Ds that were inserted at the start of every bullet.
Amazon
It might not seem immediately useful, but if you’re the sort of person that’s shy about their handwriting, this could save you some shame. More importantly, it can make you writing more legible in case you need to share, say, your screenplay treatment with a production partner. Or if your scrawled shopping list just isn’t making sense to your partner. I also like that even after you’ve converted your notes into text, you can still erase them using the top of the pen and make edits. You’ll have to run Refined Writing again to regenerate a neatly formatted page. Oh, and I appreciate the flexibility you get here. You’ll have a few fonts and sizes to choose from, and can select the pages you want to reformat or have the entire book done up altogether.
None of the notebook features are destructive, meaning you’ll usually be able to retain your original written content and save the generated material as addendums. The AI work is done in the cloud, with your data being encrypted throughout the process. The Kindle Scribe also displays an animated page showing it’s busy with the generative AI task, which in my experience so far took at least 10 seconds. It might be different on the original Kindle Scribe, which will also be getting these software features either later this year or, in the case of the expandable margins, in early 2025 when it arrives on the new Kindle Scribe.
In its 17 years, the Kindle has done a lot to disrupt physical books, and since the introduction of the Scribe, it’s been poised to do the same for notebooks. As someone who’s relished being able to carry around the equivalent of a thousand books in a super thin device, the idea of replacing a bunch of notebooks with a Scribe is immensely intriguing. Amazon does find itself up against some stiff competition from reMarkable and Boox, but it has its sheer size and the power of its Kindle library in its favor. The Kindle Scribe will be available in December for a starting price of $400, and I hope to have a review unit in soon enough to see if I love or hate the new annotation and AI features.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/kindle-scribe-hands-on-you-can-scribble-on-your-books-130043335.html?src=rss
Amazon has launched its first ever ereader with a color display, in addition to the latest versions of the other models in its Kindle lineup. The company says it designed the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition to deliver "rich, paper-like color." You'll be able to see book covers, images, comics and graphic novels as authors intended on the device, and you'll be able to highlight passages in colored markers instead of in the usual gray.
Since it is a Kindle, and you're mostly going to use it to read, Amazon made sure that the device has a good color and a good black-and-white experience. It promises high contrast, high resolution and high clarity whether you're looking at a full color image or a black-and-white page. Zooming in on images will not make them look pixelated, Amazon says. Based on what we'd seen at the company's event for the new ereaders, the model does deliver accurate colors. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' green skin and different-colored eye masks looked accurate in the comic book we looked at, even under direct sunlight or the orange lights in the event.
The model is pretty much the new Paperwhite Signature Edition with a different display, and that one promises 25 percent faster page turns than the previous iteration. However, putting a color display on an ereader can slow it down, lessen its contrast ratio and drain its battery life faster. To make up for that, Amazon made some hardware and software changes, such as using nitride LEDs that work with the company's algorithm to enhance color and brightness without washing out images. Its custom coding focuses the light through each pixel so that colors don't blend together on the screen.
The Colorsoft is the first Kindle with a color display, but it's not the first color e-ink product. There's the reMarkable Paper Pro, for instance, which you can write on in colored digital pens. You can't write on the Colorsoft like you can on the Paper Pro (or the Kindle Scribe), but it is cheaper: It's now available for pre-order for $280 and will start shipping on October 30.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/amazons-kindle-colorsoft-is-its-first-color-ereader-130032884.html?src=rss
Small language models (SLMs) are transforming the field of artificial intelligence, offering a compelling alternative to their larger counterparts. Among these, Zamba 27B, developed by ZRA, stands out for its impressive performance and efficiency. These models are becoming essential for tasks that demand speed and precision, marking a significant shift in AI technology. These smaller […]
Last October, Axiom Space and Prada partnered to create a new spacesuit for NASA's Artemis III mission — it's first crewed venture to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. One year later, the pair has revealed a first look at the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit during Milan's International Astronautical Congress. The suit is white with red and gray accents that admittedly does look chicer than a typical spacesuit.
The pair claims the new spacesuit's design improves on flexibility, can manage an eight hour spacewalk and will sustain two hours of the lunar south pole's coldest temperatures. "Prada’s design and product development team worked alongside Axiom Space engineers on customized material recommendations and features that would both protect astronauts against the unique challenges of the lunar environment and visually inspire future space exploration," the companies said in a joint statement.
The suit is almost finished, having undergone testing and simulations at Axiom Space, SpaceX and NASA facilities. It should enter a final review in 2025, following completion of the remaining evaluations. NASA initially planned to launch Artemis III in 2025 and pushed it to at least September 2026 early this year. The space agency originally awarded Axiom with the mission in 2022.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prada-reveals-its-spacesuit-for-nasas-artemis-iii-mission-123014149.html?src=rss
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if your business could be available 24/7 to answer customer inquiries? Imagine never missing a call and having every customer interaction handled with precision and care, no matter the time of day. Thanks to the wonders of AI technology, this vision is becoming a reality for many businesses. If you’re interested […]
Unlock the full potential of your Apple Watch with these essential tips. From app management to health monitoring, these guidelines will help you customize and optimize your device for a seamless experience. With a few simple steps, you can transform your Apple Watch into a powerful tool that enhances your daily life and keeps you […]
September brought a whole range of innovative designs from the architectural world. These designs challenged conventions and pushed the boundaries of creativity. We had the pleasure of covering some unique and special projects that boast impressive aesthetics, cutting-edge technology, and eco-friendly practices. We’ve curated a collection of the 10 best architectural designs we came across in September. This architectural structure showcases different approaches adopted by architects to solve modern problems, designing contemporary homes that offer comfortable and functional living spaces. These exemplary designs will inspire you – irrespective if you’re a designer yourself, or an admirer of unique buildings.
1. Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link
Named the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, China opened this new cross-sea tunnel a few months ago. It is a one-of-a-kind cross-sea tunnel and bridge system in Guangdong Province. It broke 10 world records and was designed to help people get around the Pearl River Estuary – one of the most densely populated places in the world.
Why is it noteworthy?
The link covers around 15 miles and will connect the two cities it has been named after. It isn’t just one whole bridge; it also consists of an underwater tunnel in the middle and different bridges connecting every island to the city. It has eight lanes that allow speeds up to 100km/h, reducing a two-hour drive to half an hour.
What we like
Equipped with innovative safety features such as novel firefighting and smoke exhaust systems
Fourteen robots patrol the entire panel
What we dislike
The construction of a cross-sea tunnel and bridge system does tend to disrupt marine life and affect the water quality
2. Nestron’s Tiny Homes
Designed by Nestron, these tiny homes are sleek and futuristic. They have an attractive and customizable prefab design, and the collection contains the Cube One (C1), Cube Two (C2), and Cube Two X (C2X). These cost between $42.2k to $126.6k. You can select the configuration at Nestron’s online showroom.
Why is it noteworthy?
The homes have solar electricity, heating, and a fully equipped bathroom with a smart toilet. The interiors can be customized, making them a great fit for sci-fi fans who want their own homes.
What we like
The entire process is handled by Nestron
The homes are built from recyclable materials
What we dislike
The tiny homes arent well-suited for big families
3. The Casuarina
Designed by Evergreen Homes Australia, the Casaurina doesn’t include any stairs! This tiny home is designed and arranged on one level, functioning as a comfortable home for two people, and some guests. It has a length of 8.4 m and is based on a triple-axle trailer. It is an excellent option for people who don’t want a tiny home with ladders or stairs.
Why is it noteworthy?
It has a black metal exterior, complemented by timber accenting. The inside of the home is pretty airy and free-lowing with a simple layout that maximizes space well. The bedroom is situated on the ground floor, making it quite easy to access, unlike the typical loft-style bedrooms found in tiny homes.
What we like
Eliminates stairs, making it an easily accessible and inclusive space
It can be paired with solar panels, if you want to go off-the-grid
What we dislike
Since it has a single-floor layout, the home can feel cramped or stuffy for people who need more living and storage spaces
4. Jaumur Marina
Announced by Neom, this new marina for superyachts is called Jaumur, and it is an enormous space with a luxurious community placed around it. Billionaires will be able to park their expensive superyachts below an “aerofoil” shelter, and it looks like an arrow pointing towards the desert from above.
Why is it noteworthy?
The marina can hold 300 superyachts, and it measures around 492 feet in length. Most of the big yachts will be able to fit with ease, although some of the smaller ones may not be able to. The main attraction is the marina, but Jaumur will also include around 500 apartments, 700 luxury villas amped with waterfront access, and a private mooring for small boats and yachts.
What we like
Will include a lot of green, providing a natural respite from the concrete
Will feature an international boarding school, and a deep-sea research center
What we dislike
Construction of the marina can affect local marine ecosystems and pollution from boating activity and infrastructure
5. Freedom Tiny Home
Named the Freedom Tiny Home, this compact little house features an open interior layout, with all rooms placed on one level. The tiny home focuses on the simplicity of micro-homes, doubling down on their minimalist nature, to create something that is even more stripped-down.
Why is it noteworthy?
For those who want a truly simple and subtle life, the Freedom Tiny Home is an excellent option. It was designed by Australia’s Lusk Tiny Home, and it has plenty of generous glazing, minimal finishing birch plywood or tongue, and groove paneling. The home is a good pick for those who travel frequently, and or someone who wants to truly adopt the off-the-grid and micro-living lifestyle.
What we like
Equipped with airy free-flowing spaces with a high ceiling
What we dislike
Not a good choice for families
6. Pego
Dubbed the Pego, this tiny home will support you on all your adventures in the great outdoors. It is supported by a solar panel setup and is quite compact. But despite its small size, it is packed with functionality and great features.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Pego features a finish in wood, and the shutters on the windows have been expertly crafted. The house is always powered by solar panels, irrespective of where you park it. It also includes a standard RV-style hookup.
What we like
Equipped with a mini wood-burning stove, much like the ones you use while camping in a tent
What we dislike
The house is pretty small by European tiny home standards
7. Fàng Sōng
Named the Fàng Sōng, this unique houseboat is created by Crossboundaries, and powered by a solar panel setup. It is blessed with a clever space-saving interior and was created so that the owners can live near the coast, making the most of a calm and tranquil life on the water. The house is tiny but comfortable to live and work in.
Why is it noteworthy?
The houseboat’s interior is spacious, occupying almost 667 sq ft on one floor. It floats above the water and has plenty of generous glazing which is operable. Light streams into the home all day, supporting ventilation and creating a living environment that is open and welcoming.
What we like
Has a cozy terrace area with seating
Powered by solar energy
What we dislike
We are unsure of the capacity of the solar panels, and whether they are sufficient to meet different living requirements
8. MGA’s Timber Skyscraper
Micheal Green Architecture designed the world’s tallest timber skyscraper in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The project is currently unnamed and is MGA’s newest creation. It is designed to push boundaries in the field of timber-based architecture. It will include 55 floors and will be equipped with multiple terrace areas and loads of greenery.
Why is it noteworthy?
The property will include around 750 residential units, 190,000 square feet [roughly 17,600 sq m] of office space, 40,000 square feet [3,700 sq m] of retail space, 300 hotel rooms, parking spaces, and vibrant public plazas and walkways.
What we like
Integrates greenery into the structure
What we dislike
We are unsure of the long-term durability of timber in different weather conditions
9. Sakura Tiny Home
Say hello to the Sakura tiny house – a home amped with an innovative space-saving interior. Designed by Acorn Tiny Homes, the house includes a transforming bedroom and kitchen. It isn’t equipped with wheels and is a true game changer when compared to typical tiny homes today.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Sakura tiny home is breaking ground in the tiny home arena, by taking this popular housing style to a whole new and upgraded version. It is inspired by popular Japanese design trends, which can be even witnessed in its name.
What we like
Draws inspiration from Japanese design philosophy
Designed to be a flexible multi-purpose space
What we dislike
It can only accommodate two residents and two guests
10. Browny
Dubbed Browny, this adorable tiny house is versatile, functioning as a home office, guest bedroom, or exercise area. All these amenities have been fit into a length of 6 meters, but the home is still quite comfortable.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Browny is supported by a double-axle trailer, and it has a finish of red cedar. This red cedar is complemented by aluminum accenting and a roof. It has a healthy amount of glazing, which allows maximum natural light inside the home.
What we like
Includes multiple amenities in a small space
Equipped with integrated storage space
What we dislike
The home doesn’t include a proper kitchen and bathroom, which can be inconvenient for users
If you find the process of transforming your prototypes and mock-ups from images into code a bit tedious or daunting, you might be interested in a new workflow that can turn your screenshots into real apps instantly. Those brilliant app ideas, sketched out on a napkin or captured in a screenshot, can now be made […]
Apple just announced the seventh-gen iPad mini, three years after its sixth-gen model. It has a faster A17 Pro chip, originally found in the iPhone 15 Pro, which means it’ll be able to handle Apple’s incoming AI features — although it’s not Apple's most powerful mobile chip. There’s more RAM too.
Power aside, it has the same 8.3-inch screen as the previous model and an identical 2,266 x 1,488 resolution at 326 ppi. The refresh rate remains a modest 60Hz, in an era of 90Hz or higher. It’s not any bigger, wider or slimmer than its predecessor either.
It’s been a while since a new iPad mini, so we were overdue an update. However, this is a very mild update with no design changes. Also, while the size is smaller, no M-series chip. The new iPad mini arrives on October 23, starting at $499 for 128GB storage. It’ll arrive in blue, purple, starlight and space gray colors.
Don’t mention the disastrous app. Sonos announced the Arc Ultra and Sub 4, with the former replacing the $899 Arc as the company’s flagship home theater product. It’s the first Sonos soundbar to include its new Sound Motion technology, which apparently results in a much smaller product. The Arc Ultra can produce up to twice as much bass as its predecessor, according to Sonos. The new Sub 4 ($799) features more processing power, additional RAM, and a new Wi-Fi radio for improved connectivity. It’s also more efficient, with the company claiming an almost 50 percent reduction in idle power consumption. Both will go on sale October 29, so you can upgrade your sound system just before a Halloween movie marathon, I guess.
DJI’s dual-camera Air 3S drone has some cutting-edge tech in the nose: a LiDAR sensor to provide extra crash protection at night. The Air 3S also has a new main camera with a larger sensor better suited for capturing video in low light. And it now comes with the company’s ActiveTrack 360, which it first introduced in the Mini 4 Pro, allowing the device to zoom all around your subject while tracking and filming them. See how those features fare in our review. (Of course, there’s video too.)
