Amazon is adding a new ebook font choice for the Kindle Oasis e-reader and, despite the high price of the Oasis, it seems to be pulling in impressive sales figures.
The first Oasis devices which start at $289.99, are set for shipping this week (April 27) but anyone ordering now will have to wait until June 1 for the next shipping date.
This shows some text setting samples using the Amazon Ember Regular typeface
Ember is the name of the new typeface designed for the Oasis. It is a sans serif font and provides a decent contrast with the Bookerly serif font which Amazon introduced across a range of e-readers and tablets last summer.
The Ember font is, in fact, the typeface used on Kindle home screens, so you can see what it looks like in action there. As far as I can ascertain, Ember has not yet been made available as a reading font on other Kindle devices but I would expect Amazon to add an update at some time.
There’s always been a view that sans serif typefaces shouldn’t really be used for books but the digital tide seems to be turning on that one as many ebook readers find it easier to read a sans font on a screen.
The first reviews of the Oasis are now starting to come in and The Guardian has given it a glowing assessment, saying it ‘really is something special’ and awarding it a full five stars.
The de luxe aspects of the Oasis particularly impress reviewer Samuel Gibbs, who says, ‘It’s a luxurious-feeling item that makes you want to hold it, to read it. Like a fine pen makes writing a more enjoyable act, the Oasis accentuates the reading experience.’