Amazon releases new Kindles, including first color, AI models, ahead of holidays

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is releasing its first new Kindle models in two years, including its first color and artificial intelligence-powered e-readers, the company announced today.

The new Kindle Colorsoft provides the same high contrast, fast page turning, auto-adjusting light and long battery life as other Kindles, but now adds color to images. It allows for highlighting passages in color as well.

It will be available on October 31 with a price tag of $279.99.

Also revealed was the new Kindle Scribe, which is the most expensive of the new models at $399.99. Shipments begin on December 4.

“The display has new white borders, and the screen has a smooth, paper-like texture that makes it look and feel like you’re writing on a sheet of paper,” Amazon said.

The new Scribe also has AI features.

“The all-new, built-in AI-powered notebook enables you to quickly summarize pages and pages of notes into concise bullets in a script font that can be easily shared directly from the notebook tab,” Amazon noted.

The new Kindle Paperwhite is marketed as its fastest model ever, with a larger 7-inch display and up to three months of battery life. It comes in raspberry, jade and black. It also comes in a Signature Edition which has double the storage at 32 GB and metallic colors. It is available now at $159.99 and $199.99, respectively.

Lastly, Amazon introduced a new entry-level Kindle with a six-inch display and available in matcha. It is available now at $109.99.

The Kindle announcement by Amazon comes one day after Apple (AAPL) revealed its new iPad mini.