In Kindle's new e-reader lineup released last fall, the most groundbreaking addition was probably the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (7/10, WIRED Reviews), featuring Kindle's first-ever color display. For the past nine months, it's been the only color Kindle Amazon offered. That changed today.

First thing this morning, Amazon announced both a cheaper 16-GB version of the Kindle Colorsoft ($250) and a new Kindle Colorsoft Kids ($270), and both models are available now. They're both a little less expensive than the $280 Signature Edition that came out last year. The Signature Edition has had some issues with faulty devices, and only time will tell (plus our testing, which is coming soon) if these new versions will have the same problem.

Given the size of the numerals on the screen, I often found them harder to read when against a bright or varied background. My usual watchface is a rotating set of photos of my wife and kid, which can have a lot of fine detail—I made a separate Photos face with nature pictures, which fared better (and definitely ended up with cooler layering effects for the numerals).

One interesting note: as opposed to the iPhone, where the clock changes from Liquid Glass to a more solid look when the display is dimmed in its Always On mode, the Apple Watch retains the glass look when dimmed. I think I prefer the iOS approach here; it’s less attention-grabbing and more legible, which is what I want when the display is inactive.

You’ll also see the new look in other places throughout watchOS’s user interface, such as notifications, the Smart Stack, and Control Center. Even the numeric keypad you use to unlock your Apple Watch has gotten a a glassy overhaul. As with all of Liquid Glass, one of the challenges is that it can seem somewhat distracting: for a stated goal of getting the UI “out of your way” it all to often seems to yell “look! look how cool I am!” And on the watch, where the UI is rarely overlaying actual content, I have questions about how much that stated goal really applies.

For all of that, Liquid Glass is generally less prominent on the Apple Watch, given the more limited screen size and content. If you don’t like it for the clock on the Photos watchface, good news: you can easily switch the tint of the colors to solid white or any color you like.

Workout, buddy?

Sometimes it feels a bit like Apple has one of those machines they pick lottery balls from, and every year it picks a ball to decide which app is going to be lavished with attention. This year it’s Workout’s turn. Not only does it get a big new Apple Intelligence-powered feature, Workout Buddy, but it gets an extensive redesign that reminds me of the overhauls seen by Fitness and Weather back in watchOS 10.