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Amazon Reveals its First Color Kindle E-reader after Years of Development

Amazon's Kindle e-book app is seen on an iPhone in an illustration taken April 11, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Amazon's Kindle e-book app is seen on an iPhone in an illustration taken April 11, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Amazon Reveals its First Color Kindle E-reader after Years of Development

Amazon's Kindle e-book app is seen on an iPhone in an illustration taken April 11, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Amazon's Kindle e-book app is seen on an iPhone in an illustration taken April 11, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Amazon on Wednesday announced its first color Kindle e-reader following years of effort to bring the more immersive device to market.

The 'Kindle Colorsoft' carries a $280 price tag that compares with similar devices from other manufacturers available on Amazon in the range of $149 to $330. The Colorsoft relies on LEDs and other technologies to achieve the color display, according to a company statement.

Amazon had tried in prior years to develop color e-readers using eInk -- the technology available in its standard Kindles that requires minimal battery power. The Colorsoft will have a roughly eight-week battery life, compared with up to three months for its latest generation Paperwhite e-reader, Reuters reported.

The Seattle retailer also unveiled a new Paperwhite with a 7-inch screen, measured diagonally, two-tenths of an inch larger than the most recent generation's. It also revealed an updated Kindle Scribe e-reader, which allows users to jot onto the screen with a stylus and convert that into more legible text.

Users' in-book notations can be summarized by artificial intelligence software that can convert pages of notes into bullet points, the company said.

Amazon is still the market leader in e-readers, commanding more than three quarters of the market, by some measures. The devices are built to last for years and the company has said it sells them for close to cost, making money when people purchase books or other reading materials.

The COVID-19 pandemic fueled a surge in e-reader use, as many libraries stayed closed to enforce shelter-in-place policies but still offered wireless downloads of e-books.

Kindles are often put on sale during discount events, such as Prime Day. The Colorsoft will ship to customers on Oct. 30 and the new Scribe will ship on Dec. 4.

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A Social Media Ban for Under-16s Passes the Australian Senate and Will Soon be a World-first Law

A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)
A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)
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A Social Media Ban for Under-16s Passes the Australian Senate and Will Soon be a World-first Law

A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)
A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)

A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Senate Thursday and will soon become a world-first law.

The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts, The AP reported.

The Senate passed the bill 34 votes to 19. The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the legislation 102 votes to 13.

The House has yet to endorse opposition amendments made in the Senate. But that is a formality since the government has already agreed they will pass.

The platforms will have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.

The amendments bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.

The House is scheduled to pass the amendments on Friday. Critics of the legislation fear that banning young children from social media will impact the privacy of users who must establish they are older than 16.

While the major parties support the ban, many child welfare and mental health advocates are concerned about unintended consequences.

Sen. David Shoebridge, from the minority Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support.

“This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off,” Shoebridge told the Senate.

Opposition Sen. Maria Kovacic said the bill was not radical but necessary.

“The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Kovacic told the Senate.

“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she added.

Online safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, whose 15-year-old daughter Carly was murdered by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online, described the Senate vote as a “monumental moment in protecting our children from horrendous harms online.”

“It’s too late for my daughter, Carly, and the many other children who have suffered terribly and those who have lost their lives in Australia, but let us stand together on their behalf and embrace this together,” she told the AP in an email.

Wayne Holdsworth, whose teenage son Mac took his own life after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, had advocated for the age restriction and took pride in its passage.

“I have always been a proud Australian, but for me subsequent to today’s Senate decision, I am bursting with pride,” Holdsworth told the AP in an email.