Yesterday, the Amazon Kindle’s battery life was listed at a respectable one month. Today – a day after the Nook Simple Touch Reader claimed a two-month battery life – Kindle experienced a sudden leap in longevity. Keeping up with the Barneses, eh?
No, Amazon didn’t hustle to magically switch in a new battery overnight. They just tweaked how they measure battery life to more closely match the way Barnes & Noble does. As CNET discovered in Amazon’s promotional copy:
A single charge lasts up to two months with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time. If you read for one hour a day, you will get battery life of up to one month. Keep wireless always on and it lasts for up to 10 days. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store, Web browsing, and downloading content. In low-coverage areas or in EDGE/GPRS-only coverage, wireless usage will consume battery power more quickly.
And if you use it for 15 minutes a day you’ll get three months, etc.
It’s understandable to want to present yourself in the best light, sure, but also maybe a little silly. Because if you haven’t bothered charging your ebook reader in 4-8 weeks, you’re probably not using it at all. [CNET]