Amazon released a new Kindle e-reader in Japan a few months ago and it was designed to give manga readers the best experience possible. The Kindle Sleeve Reader features 32 GB of internal memory and a new Ultra-Fast Skimming engine that dramatically enhances the page turn speed when reading manga and e-books.
Hardware
The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Sleeve Edition has an e-ink Carta display screen with a resolution of 1430×1080 resolution and 300 PPI. This device has a sunken screen, whereas the Oasis and Voyage both have flush screens and bezels. Underneath the hood is a 1GHZ processor and 512MB of RAM. There is 32GB of internal storage, which will hold over 700 volumes. Basically you could fit every issue of Naruto, Asari-chan, and Kochikame on the new Manga Reader.
I think it is important to note that the Sleeve Reader is not the new e-reader, it is simply the Kindle Paperwhite 3 with specialized firmware and 32GB of internal storage. It is available in two different colors, black and white. It costs around $ 180 US dollars when we purchased it while on a trip to Japan.
Software
The Kindle Sleeve Reader has a new enhancement called Ultra-Fast Skimming. It will give users 33% faster single page turns, delivering a fast-paced, immersive reading experience that mango lovers are looking for. Also, by simply tapping and holding, readers can now rapidly skim through the manga at seven pages per second to find a specific place in the story, spending less time searching and more time reading.
I found that the page skimming engine is utterly amazing! I have never seen the Kindle turn pages in the sleeve or an ebook so quickly. When Peter and I filmed the video review for this e-reader we put it head to head with the North American version of the Paperwhite 3, and there was no contest. The Sleeve Model turned pages in an e-book faster and was more robust.
Amazon has disclosed that they will be pushing out a firmware update sometime in the new year and bringing this new ultra-fast rendering engine to other Kindle models. They failed to mention specific e-readers, but at least there is hope that their current lineup will be supported.
There are a couple of new options that are exclusively available on this device. One is called "Virtual Panel" and this feature is very much akin to Comixologies Guided View technology. It isolates panels, so you do not need to pinch and zoom each page if the text or images are too small. Each panel is blown up and fills up the entire six inch screen and whenever you turn the page, there is a small map displayed on the bottom right hand corner. This is designed to help orientate users on where they are in the specific manga page.
One of the big differences with the Japanese Manga Reader is that there is on GoodReads functionality. There is simply the blank space next to the shopping button, I suppose GoodReads is not yet available in Japan and rather than locate it, they decided just to not even include it.
Wrap Up
The Kindle Sleeve Model has left me speechless. I have never seen an e-reader with such amazing page turn speed in both e-books and manga files. Being able to rapidly turn pages in such a quick fashion that has never been done before, even the A2 mode on some European e-Readers fails to match the speed of the Kindle.
I think it’s important to note that the firmware on the Sleeve Model is not just application to the content you buy from the Japanese version of the Kindle Store. We tested various open source and royalty free content from Amazon from the US store and page turns continued to be lightning quick.
I would love for Amazon to start offering the 32GB version of the Kindle Paperwhite in the North American market or at least offer it as an upgradable option. You can buy the 4GB version for cheap or pay a little bit more for additional storage.
PROS
Page Turn Speed is lightning quick
Panel View is a welcome new change
32GB of storage
CONS
Costs $ 180 dollars US
Only available in Japan
Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about electronic readers and technology for the last four years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the Huffington Post, CNET and more. Michael frequently travels to international events such as IFA, Computex, CES, Book Expo and a myriad of others. If you have any questions about any of his articles, please send Michael Kozlowski an email to michael@goodereader.com