If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
The differences between Amazon's Kindle e-readers used to be stark. The cheapest base model had paltry storage, bitsy battery life, and a slow, low-resolution screen. Meanwhile, the extravagant Kindle Oasis luxuriated in its sleek aluminum chassis, fully adjustable lighting, big battery, and physical buttons for turning pages.
But the models have slowly begun to blend together, with the less expensive Kindles adopting premium features previously only found in the Oasis. The mid-tier Paperwhite got some sprucing up in 2021, when Amazon added adjustable lighting and a USB-C port. (It’s still WIRED's pick for best e-reader.) At last, Amazon is juicing up the base-model Kindle as well.
The new Kindle gets an upgraded display—a 300-ppi-resolution screen versus the previous Kindle’s 197 ppi. Storage is doubled to 16 GB. The new Kindle also—finally!—features a USB-C port like the newest Paperwhite models. It charges in as little as two hours over USB-C.
Unfortunately, the prices have started to converge too. The new base-model Kindle costs $100, which is 10 bucks more than the previous version. Spend another $20 and you get a version that doesn’t bombard you with ads on the lock screen.
If you’re in the market for an e-reader, check out WIRED’s guide to the best Kindles and the best ebook readers overall.
Here’s some more news from the world of consumer technology.
The worst thing about searching for something on Google is all the ads that show up at the top of the page. Well, now Amazon is planning something like that for its Echo smart speakers.
In a blog post with the not-at-all-dystopian title “Alexa Can Now Help Brands Answer Customer Questions,” Amazon laid out a new business strategy that will allow brands to provide answers to user questions that might relate to the products the brand wants to sell. Amazon gave an example of asking Alexa how to remove pet hair from the carpet. Such a query could cause a brand-backed response to spring forth, offering to send you links to Amazon pages selling the brand’s products.
In Amazon’s brand registry system, sellers will be able to view common user questions and attach their branded answers to them. Amazon says the questions and branded answers will be reviewed by content moderators before they can be used by Alexa. Amazon insists these are not ads and that brands won’t be able to pay to submit answers. The company also says branded answers will be attributed to the brand that answered them, but it didn’t elaborate on what form that disclosure would take.
The company plans to test the feature starting in October, then roll it out across the US after that.
Every app is trying to be TikTok, but sometimes the viral video-sharing app has to play a bit of catch-up itself.
If you are hip and cool (read: young), then surely you know about BeReal. The popular app prompts users with a notification at a random time every day that reads “Time to BeReal.” Users then have two minutes to snap a photo that captures images from both the front and back cameras. The results are quick and candid; the point of catching people unawares is to encourage more “authentic” moments than the carefully staged shots you see on platforms like Instagram.
Of course, if something is being billed as authentic and cool, TikTok’s going to want in on it. On Thursday, TikTok announced a new BeReal-esque feature, which the company is calling TikTok Now. It works nearly the same as BeReal, except that you can also share short videoclips, and TikTok's version of its surprise call to action reads ⚡Time to Now⚡.
Speaking of TikTok, the app’s parent company, ByteDance, also owns the VR hardware company Pico. This week, Pico teased an upcoming VR headset that may be an attempt to take on Meta’s Oculus dominance. Pico announced the event in a LinkedIn post, along with a dark photo of what could be the new headset. (It also kinda looks like a couch, so you decide.)
Other than that tease, Pico hasn’t revealed any info about specs, price, or release date. There have been some leaks, though, which point to the device being positioned to compete with Meta’s forthcoming Project Cambria headset. A Pico headset could feature eye tracking and a color see-through mode that lets you keep tabs on the real environment around you. It also might come in two models: one base version and one “Pro” version. All should be revealed at Pico’s launch event on Thursday, September 22.
Speaking of VR …
Seems like damn near everybody is making a VR headset right now. Meta leads the pack with its Oculus goggles, but that hasn’t stopped other manufacturers from trying to horn in on the virtual realm. Sony’s upcoming PlayStation VR2 headset and controllers might not aim to compete directly with Meta, but it does seem keen on dominating the gaming market. The devices are slickly designed, feature some advanced tech, and should be available early next year. VR technology might actually be getting good enough to convince people to wear uncomfortable, uncool headsets.
This week on WIRED's Gadget Lab podcast, we dive face-first into the wide, weird world of virtual reality and talk about the PSVR2 and Meta’s VR ambitions.
