Kindle Oasis is beautiful, pricey and still not like reading a book

I’ve spent the last week trying to pretend the new Kindle Oasis is the same as reading a real book. It’s not.

I love books. I love Kindle’s e-readers and was hoping this was the melding of the two.

That real book feel was part of the inspiration for the latest Kindle in the family and why it comes with a protruding one-sided grip handle able to flip from left to right to give it that “book spine feel.”

But there’s something about holding a real book in your hands, thumbing through and dog-earing the pages, underlining and making notes.

You know your book, you know you can easily flip to the page with that one passage. You can spend your afternoon rapt in good literature, cupping the old book’s spine, smelling the dried parchment and traveling to far off imaginary places without moving anywhere at all.

Kindle, unfortunately, isn’t there just yet. But it’s getting closer.

The new, radically different, squarish Oasis design is beautiful and arguably enticing as the newest shiny e-reader, but like older versions, the latest Kindle also has a lagging touch response – forget about easily thumbing through pages, writing in the margins or quickly pulling up another title. Too tedious.

The visuals aren’t much better than the earlier Voyage, either with the same 300 ppi resolution – though it does have 4 extra built-in LED lights.

And at a starting price of $290, compared to a $190 Kobo Aura H2O or iPad Mini 2 for $270, which does much more than an e-reader, it might be too much for most consumers.

Though the e-ink display is easier on your eyes than an iPad and the added side buttons for flipping pages also seem to help speed up the process a bit.

Oasis without the dual-battery cover.

Here’s where Oasis wins me over – Travel.

E-readers are better for hauling around than heavy books in general, but the lighter, slimmer, yet surprisingly sturdy Oasis is easy to throw in a bag – the molded polymer housing is made to take a beating – and can give you access to more than 4.4 million books through Amazon’s ever-expanding list of titles (up from 90,000 in 2007); along with a modest 4 GB storage on the device.

The 60-day battery life (when hooked into the dual-battery cover system) also makes Oasis a great travel companion for long voyages.

But Oasis isn’t meant for everyone, just those most devoted to a luxury experience. It’s niche, but a devoted niche of avid Kindle fans.

It really comes down to whether or not you really care about the weight and sturdiness of your e-reader and believe it’s worth the price to pay for that luxury experience.

While I like the upgrades, the difference is slight enough I’m personally okay paying $90 less for the $200 Kindle Voyage.

Koh-i-noor: India says it still wants return of priceless diamond

The Indian government says it is still seeking to reclaim the Koh-i-noor diamond from Britain, despite telling India's Supreme Court otherwise.

The gem came into British hands in the 19th Century and is part of the Crown Jewels on show at the Tower of London.

Ownership of the priceless gem is an emotional issue for many Indians, who believe it was stolen by the British.

On Monday, India's solicitor-general had told the court that it was "neither stolen nor forcibly taken".

Ranjit Kumar, who was representing India's government in the hearing, had said the 105-carat diamond had been "gifted" to the East India company by the former rulers of Punjab in 1849.

But a statement by India's ministry of culture on Tuesday said the government "further reiterates its resolve to make all possible efforts to bring back the Koh-i-noor diamond in an amicable manner".

Mr Kumar's comments, which elicited surprise in India, did not represent the views of the government, the statement said. The official submission to the court has yet to be made, it added.

Explaining India's confusion: Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi

India's culture ministry appears to have misread the popular mood - the solicitor general's comments sparked a full-scale political row, forcing the government to backpedal.

The main opposition Congress party said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government must make all efforts to bring the diamond back since "it's connected to our emotions".

Mr Modi's allies in Punjab state, the Shiromani Akali Dal, joined the criticism, describing the government stand as "wrong". One party MP said the Punjab government would even be willing to join the court case seeking its return.

Rattled by the criticism, the prime minister's office intervened, and the culture ministry issued a clarification.

The Koh-i-noor is undoubtedly an emotional issue in India where many believe that in 1849, the 10-year-old ruler of Punjab was forced to give it to the British and that it should be returned to India, its rightful owner.