Amazon Kindle Scribe, an e-ink tablet for free reading and writing

Amazon has introduced a new model in its Kindle family, the Scribe, which offers a 10-inch e-ink screen and the ability to annotate texts with a pencil and your own handwriting.

Amazon introduced it yesterday You light the scribe, one of the biggest changes to its e-ink display e-book readers since this family of devices was born in 2007. Since then, there have been many versions that improved the e-ink screen, expanded the capacity and added some features (such as screen lighting, water resistance, etc.). The latest update arrived last week, with a model with a 300 dpi screen, more storage for e-books, and USB-C charging for $100.

Yesterday, the company announced the Kindle Scribe, a much more ambitious device. to begin with Electronic ink screen (in which the letters are formed by magnetic balls under the surface, which allows excellent visibility in sunlight and huge battery savings, as it does not use electricity until it is replaced) It is now 10.2 inches; Keep it at 300 dpi To make it look good quality and now add a pencil to write on the screen. This allows you to use it as a regular (but paperless) notebook to add comments to the text. Amazon has already allowed the latter, but with a smaller keyboard; Now this can be done in a more natural way, writing with your own hand, making circles on the paragraph, arrows, etc.

It’s all synced and exported for viewing on other devices. For example, Allows you to add comments to PDF and Word files, to view later on your computer and make the specified changes. And in 2023, it will be possible to send documents from Word to Kindle Scribe to continue reading or editing.

has 16, 32, or 64 GB of storage, a Wacom-supplied stylus is included with purchase and magnetically attaches to the Kindle; and does not use batteries. The second model has Bluetooth and a programmable button. Kindle Scribe is half a centimeter thick, Wi-Fi and USB-C connector for charging the battery, which allows autonomy for about 3 weeks.

and has a Base price $339An amount that directly points to what has been standard in these devices until now: an e-ink tablet It is worth noting 2which was born in 2020, which has a slightly higher price ($378 for the basic version) and a similar idea: an e-ink notebook with a 10.3-inch screen that allows you to write freely, write PDF files and other formats, and convert those handwritten strokes into digital text. The company doesn’t focus as much on e-book reading (Amazon’s strength), but it can be done. It is said to have already sold over a million units.

Amazon and Remarkable are by no means the only ones thinking of this type of device: several manufacturers, e.g OnyxIt has long been selling tablets with e-ink screens, writing or drawing pens, and an Android operating system to perform basic functions (or adding various e-book stores, for example). huawei i Xiaomi also participate in this segment. The Onyx has a more compact model (with a 7.8-inch screen), a pen and colored e-ink.

What these companies lack is Amazon’s sales and marketing prowess and the strength of its book offering; Competition will be tough. It’s not yet known what the Kindle Scribe’s screen latency is, that is, how long it takes between making a mark on the glass and displaying the pixels on the screen; The Remarkable team is known for allowing near-instant updates in this regard, though it’s a far cry from what conventional tablets offer, which also allow writing on the screen. Apple, Lenovo, Microsoft or Samsung; The latter in its latest models achieved a refresh rate of 2.9 seconds, which is the lowest on the market. Amazon or Remarkable devices are slower, but they have a different purpose: to be able to read or write without the distractions offered by an Android or iPadOS tablet.