Amazon has just attained FCC Certification on two new e-readers with e-paper screens. They filed for the certification on September 16th, and there are two products 2A4DH-5698 and 2A4DH-5688. Both models appear to be variants of each other; the only difference between them is the inclusion of Wireless Power Transfer. These two devices are the 12th generation Amazon Kindle Paperwhite and the 12th Generation Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.
Almost everything of note is under embargo for the next 180 days. This includes test photos, external photos, internal photos and the user manual. We only know that they will have Bluetooth, WIFI, and USB-C. Usually, when Amazon products hit the FCC and attain certification, they announce products about a week later. Many of the Kindles on the Amazon website now list the year in the product description title, which is new, and they have just done this in the past few days.
It has been heavily rumoured all year that Amazon will release a colour Kindle Paperwhite with a Gallery 3 screen and a refresh of the Kindle Scribe, also with a Gallery 3 screen. It doesn’t make sense for Amazon to release a new Paperwhite in 2024 without a colour screen. Good e-Reader did issue a report today that E INK upgraded Gallery 3 this year, delivering optimized performance and enhanced visual experience for customers.
In June of this year, E INK issued a press release which said they formed a joint venture with Himax for the T2000. If you don’t know what this means, it is a next-generation colour ePaper timing controller. The new TCON design drives screen updates faster with lower power consumption, supporting a broad spectrum of colour e-paper technology platforms aimed at e-readers, e-notebooks and digital signage. The T2000 eNote handwriting function enhances screen refresh speed to provide a smooth writing experience. All of this tech is found in the new reMarkable Paper Pro.
This is a developing story; more information will be coming out soon.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.