Kindle Scribe Gets 4 Powerful New Features, Like a Multi-Column Layout

Amazon’s flagship hybrid e-reader, the Kindle Scribe, just received a handful of new features to make it easier and more fun to use. 

The most notable feature is a multi-column layout for those who want to use that large 10.2-inch screen to read multiple pages at once. This only works in landscape orientation, but the screen is big enough to accommodate another column when placed on its side. 

This hybrid device is just as much for handwriting and drawing as it is for reading, so Amazon also made it easier to peruse and institute batch changes to notebooks. The newly-implemented bird's eye view tool for notebook page management lets you see up to nine pages at once and make changes to single items or entire groups, such as adding new pages, moving pages around, and deleting pages. 

Another cool feature of this update is the ability to send documents directly from Microsoft Word to the Kindle Scribe. This lets you read documents on the go due to the design's portability and also make physical annotations with the stylus/pen. An active Microsoft 365 subscription is required to access this service. As an aside, Amazon already provides a similar web tool called Send to Kindle to instantly transfer files to the e-reader. 

Finally, a new contrast slider makes it easier to physically annotate PDF documents sent to the device. You can adjust the slider to increase the readability of the document or any of the handwritten notes you add after the fact. This feature is available for any PDF, no matter where you source them. 

Amazon's new Kindle Scribe update is available now. The company also says this is just the beginning, as the future brings more updates, including a lasso select tool.