Amazon unveils Kindle 2

Amazon unveils Kindle 2

Brad Sams on 09 February 2009 - 16:46 · 18 comments & 4342 views

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Amazon has finally taken the wrap off the long awaited Kindle 2. The much rumored and leaked Kindle 2 was announced by Amazon today sporting a thinner profile and improved ergonomics; also bundled with the Kindle will be an exclusive Stephen King novel "UR".

The Kindle 2 is thinner than an iPhone at .36 inches, boasts a read to me feature that will read the audio books out loud, 16-level e-ink display that turns pages 20 times faster, and will have 25 percent longer battery life than its predecessor. The Whisper Net service that comes with the Kindle 2 will also see software upgrade that will allow for book marking that lets you to move from one Kindle to another without losing your place.

The Kindle 2 will be sold by Amazon for $359.00 and is available for pre-order now. Judging by the last sale of the Kindle, this will fly off the shelves and may be hard to come by for some time.

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(2 replies) #1 rakeshishere on 09 Feb 2009 - 18:23

Nothing beats reading a hard copy of a book... and $359 is really expensive . No thanks

#1.1 pmac1328 on 09 Feb 2009 - 18:27

yet, for heavy readers, nothing beats getting discount books, having extreme portability, not worrying about the condition of your books and not having 6000 books cluttering up your house. I'll buy one prolly at the end of the year.

#1.2 bdsams on 09 Feb 2009 - 18:35

i agree to an extent with you rakeshishere but when traveling space is everything...i could see myself using one for the NYT and such when I fly...books are to big to cram more than one into your carry-on

(1 reply) #2 jameswjrose on 09 Feb 2009 - 18:47

While some may think that a paper book is better, as a person who lives in an apt in Manhattan NYC, I can tell you that being able to keep all the books I have read over the years and not have to have tons of books and shelves is what is causing me to move, finally, to a digital book reader.

The $359 is a savings when you consider that most eBooks are cheaper than their paper counterparts. Not to mention the cost savings when you move.

Peace,
James

#2.1 Dashel on 10 Feb 2009 - 03:13

Or brave the horrors of your local public library...

#3 ripgut on 09 Feb 2009 - 18:51

I like the idea of this device but for $359 bucks i'd like at least a colour screen, reason being is that some books have some nice art work.

#4 FusionOpz on 09 Feb 2009 - 18:54

This thing so reminds me of the pads from startrek LOL!

#5 TRC on 09 Feb 2009 - 18:56

Still no support for the ePub format? Boo! Too expensive anyway.

(2 replies) #6 bankajac on 09 Feb 2009 - 18:57

Why the keyboard? Isn't a eBook reader an output device? If it is really necessary why not make a bigger screen and on onscreen keyboard? Maybe apple should dive into creating their own device and sell books on iTunes.

#6.1 TRC on 09 Feb 2009 - 19:01

It's for doing things like searching for text or making notes, but I agree it's absurd when they could have used a touch screen and gotten rid of the bulky keyboard. Sony's model is beating this one in almost every way. It is more compact, looks much nicer, better usability, supports more formats, etc.

#6.2 macrosslover on 09 Feb 2009 - 19:06

TRC said,

yeah but a bigger screen and color would probably eat a ton more battery life.

#7 Sam Symons Live on 09 Feb 2009 - 19:27

The interface reminds me of the old Macs.

#8 Matrix78 on 09 Feb 2009 - 20:16

just ordered one for my wife, we're having a baby in 2 weeks and she'll have two months off of work, her and her daughter love to read. they will both get ALOT of use out of this thing.

#9 +vip on 09 Feb 2009 - 20:44

just pre-ordered one

can't wait. my wife and i have many books, this will be great for saving up some space.

#10 DanielZ on 09 Feb 2009 - 20:46

I just use Stanza on my iPod Touch. Smaller screen, but battery life is still decent.

#11 bankajac on 09 Feb 2009 - 21:32

I would so buy one if the screen was bigger. I just feel that they wasted so much space.

#12 quick on 09 Feb 2009 - 22:13

Why wouldn't someone just buy a 7"-10" Netbook instead for the same price? This thing is way too overpriced, greyscale screen with 2gb space lol...

#13 TheProphecy on 10 Feb 2009 - 05:35

I recently bought Peter F Hamilton's The Night's Dawn series. Having the Kindle to read those on would be a godsend... too bad I live in Canada. Amazon better hurry up and make these available internationally, or I won't bother buying one.

Oh and quick: I would buy a Kindle over a netbook anyday, if for no other reason, than to be able to be able to read books on it for 2 weeks without having to charge it up again. Netbooks realistically get about 6 hours at most.

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