Kindle Scribe Brings Writing To Amazon's Popular E-Reader 23
[T]he Scribe brings something altogether new to the line: writing. For the first time since the first Kindle was introduced in late-2007, Amazon's added the ability to write on-device with a stylus. TechCrunch reports: Amazon's entry in the space has a 10.2-inch screen and a design partially reminiscent of the premium Kindle Oasis, include a large side bezel (no page turn buttons, unfortunately) you can hold onto while reading. It has a battery the company rates at "weeks," keeping in line with its fellow readers. At 433 grams, it's (predictably) the heaviest Kindle, which could put a bit of a crimp in those bedtime reading marathons. The device ships with its own stylus, which magnetically snaps on the side -- similar to what you see on a lot of tablets. The stylus doesn't requiring charging, and instead relies on EMR (electro-magnetic resistance) -- that means, among other things, that other styli will likely work with the Scribe, though the company cautions against that (naturally), stating that their own is tuned specifically for work on the Kindle.
A more premium model will also be made available with a built-in button for quick actions. These styli allow for a variety of different line styles, though the tips are permanent, so that's happening through the on-board software accessible via a software toolbar. The company says it specifically designed the display/stylus combo to mimic the feel of a pen on paper. [...] Strangely, handwriting recognition will be missing at launch, though the feature is almost certainly on the company's roadmap. It will, however, have a newly Streamlined software offering, allowing files to be shared off the device through the Kindle app, a web browser or email. The company also says it has updated the notoriously outdated Send to Kindle feature to help remove some of the friction from the process. Meanwhile, a deal with Microsoft will bring Word functionality to the product at some point early next year. [...] Preorders for the $340 device start today, with shipping expected before the holidays (think November). Amazon announced more than ten new products at their event, including four new Echo devices, a new TV, and sleep tracker. CNBC highlights the biggest announcements in their report.
A more premium model will also be made available with a built-in button for quick actions. These styli allow for a variety of different line styles, though the tips are permanent, so that's happening through the on-board software accessible via a software toolbar. The company says it specifically designed the display/stylus combo to mimic the feel of a pen on paper. [...] Strangely, handwriting recognition will be missing at launch, though the feature is almost certainly on the company's roadmap. It will, however, have a newly Streamlined software offering, allowing files to be shared off the device through the Kindle app, a web browser or email. The company also says it has updated the notoriously outdated Send to Kindle feature to help remove some of the friction from the process. Meanwhile, a deal with Microsoft will bring Word functionality to the product at some point early next year. [...] Preorders for the $340 device start today, with shipping expected before the holidays (think November). Amazon announced more than ten new products at their event, including four new Echo devices, a new TV, and sleep tracker. CNBC highlights the biggest announcements in their report.
Remarkable! (Score:4, Funny)
Amazon finally got around to this? Remarkable! [remarkable.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Remarkable! (Score:4, Informative)
The problem with these things isn't the price, or well it's just half of it, the other half is they aren't actually solving a problem, just introduce a new clunky software nobody is used to and with countless shortcomings compared with anything else somehow known like OneNote.
As for getting one for $50 this won't be happening, except for second hands when totally obsolete in who knows how many years and with a shot battery. Kindle Oasis 2019 (8GB with ads, the cheapest model) launched at 249.99 and is now the same 249.99. Keepa tracks as it with 174.99 on the deepest discounted sale (and that happened only twice in total over these years, once over BF/pre-Christmas sales and once last Prime Day). And this "Scribe" would be quite a few notches above the Oasis being larger and with pen and all the "scribe" support and marketing. Heck, the Oasis mentioned doesn't even have USB-C!!!
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ePaper displays are getting more usable for this kind of thing now, but there is still going to be significant lag between the pen and what you wrote appearing on screen. Reminds me of ancient PDAs from the 90s.
I'd pay a few hundred for one if I thought it was going to be a really good experience for document viewing and some basic notation. Even better if it offered a decent web browsing experience for mostly text sites like Slashdot.
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Have you had a chance to try a Remarkable tablet? I have the original, and one of its claims to fame was the lack of lag between the pen and what you wrote appearing on screen. The newer one is supposed to be even better. This type of review [pcmag.com] comment is common:
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I haven't tried a Remarkable tablet myself. I don't think they sell them anywhere round here. I note from the review you linked that some features are subscription only, which is a deal breaker for me. Even if the price was okay (I didn't check) it means that one day it's going to brick itself because the server was turned off.
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The cloud storage and OCR is subscription. That's a new addition as their original scheme was very off-the-grid. The core features all work without the subscription (which I NEVER use). Plug a USB cable in and it gives you an IP address. Drag-n-drop works fine.
Also, it is a Linux box that you can just SSH into if you want. There's a healthy third-party ecosystem [toltec-dev.org].
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Thanks so much for answering the question I was going to ask! This looks awesome.
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Soon [pine64.org] you can have one that runs Linux.
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Oh, wow, 10", Linux, and $400? That's really appealing.
I got a bunch of Kindles and then every OS upgrade would eventually make them too slow to use. I have a 6" HD that takes 45 seconds to launch a browser now. Used to be about 5-7s. The only other option is to avoid all security updates. Terrible.
Big screen reader (Score:3)
Bought the Kobo large screen reader, having thought for a long time that what I really wanted was a bigger, probably 10 inch screen.
Wrong. In practice I rarely use it, preferring instead the 8 inch screen Kobo. Its just so much more convenient, lighter, easier to handle. I use the Plato interface which seems to work better than the Kobo native one, and its perfect.
I haven't ever used the note taking facility on the Elipsa. The main appeal seems to be the larger high res screen. But if my experience is any guide, think hard about whether you really want the bigger screen along with the bulk and the weight it brings.
For me the sweet spot is the almost 8 inch screen of the Aura One. Its been perfect.
Yes, they are expensive now compared to a tablet. And yes, the operating system does not make it easy to organize a library, they are very much transfer from an organized collection and read. But the reading experience is so much better on the e-ink hi res screen that its worth it.
Re: Big screen reader (Score:1)
Also: No page turn buttons? Why the feck not ?!
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In most ways, I agree. I'd bought the Elipsa with the intent that I'd use it as a note-taking device with the bonus of having a really big screen. I still love the really big screen and use it in preference to my Aura One (6.8" screen) except while travelling. I still prefer to read without reading glasses, and having a 10" screen means that I can embiggenate the text enough to read comfortably while still being able to fit more than 10 words on a screen.
As much as I like the size, I was horribly disappo
Don't care about the stylus, but... (Score:2)
I have wanted a bigger screen for a long time.
"handwriting recognition will be missing" (Score:3)
Darn, I'll have to keep my ancient Newton Messagepad a bit longer. Though in the years since the Newton, my handwriting has deteriorated so badly I should give up.
This is long overdue in a tablet, and with Word coming soon this Kindle could be a contenda. I've long wondered why handwriting recognition is so rare. Apple's Newton did it well. In screenwriting class I was able to take notes in the dark while a video played. Didn't even have to look at the device.
Unfortunately recent reports suggest that a large percentage of high school grads can't read or write cursive these days--and it isn't taught at many schools.
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Darn, I'll have to keep my ancient Newton Messagepad a bit longer. Though in the years since the Newton, my handwriting has deteriorated so badly I should give up.
If it was almost anything else, you could use graffiti on it :)
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> If it was almost anything else, you could use graffiti on it :)
Newton ROM 2 had cursive recognition that worked better than Graffiti (and much better than print on Newton, somehow).
Must've been aliens since nobody can do that in 2022 apparently. Not even machine learning can decipher doctor-grade chicken scratch? Utterly bizzare.
Finally EPUB? (Score:1)
The website says that it supports annotations in all kinds for formats including EPUB. Does that mean that Kindles finally support EPUB natively? Or is it still converted using "send to Kindle"?
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I just got a Send to Kindle message that .mobi and native kindle was being phased out. Maybe they are actually doing epub.
10 years too late (Score:1)
My first and only ebook reader was purchased 10years ago - Sony PRS-650 is beautiful, metal cabinet, touch screen e-ink, stylus, writing and reading, music player and with elegant chrome buttons. It is slow but beautiful, and it still works and I used it to sit down with a cuppa in the evening reading books on it on the armchair.
Graphs! Maps! (Score:1)
Will it spy on writing like it spies on reading? (Score:2)
Catching up to Kobo? (Score:2)
Kobo has multiple models w/stylus support. Their Sage [kobobooks.com] model is water proof, supports stylus input, plays audiobooks, as well as supports a power-cover that doubles read-time.
Maybe it is standard, but the stylus also supports stylus input to text, math symbols, and svg diagrams. Nice that amazon is playing catchup.
The sage also supports users adding their own content via USB -- with the internal "HD", showing up as a removable drive when plugged in to Windows
(as well as other methods of transferring ex