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Amazon unveils Kindle 2 e-reader
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos this morning unveiled the next-generation Kindle, the company's e-reading device that first appeared in November 2007. The new Kindle improves upon the old one by making the chassis even thinner, increasing the battery life, jacking up the memory, and adding a few extra features. As expected, the chassis is exactly what we've been seeing in leaked photos, but it's surprising just how slim it is: Kindle 2 is 0.36 inches thick, half as thick as the old one. It also has 25% more battery life, said to be good for two weeks of reading without a recharge. And the 2GB of memory is a huge improvement over the 256MB in Kindle 1, letting you store up to 1,500 books onboard.
Also new is Whispersync, which uses Amazon's 3G Whispernet wireless tech to automatically sync your content between multiple Kindles (old and new) and, in the future, other wireless reading devices (iPhone, anyone?). The built-in dictionary lookup has been improved as well, with definitions of highlighted words appearing instantly at the bottom of the screen.
Interesting upgrade: The new Kindle has built-in text-to-speech, so the device can actually read to you when you want it to (say, while you're doing dishes). Unfortunately, the voice sounds like the most awful GPS you've ever heard (think the evil computer in WarGames), so you probably wouldn't want to use it for anything but the most basic of articles.
Kindle 2 will be available Feb. 24 (but Amazon's site actually estimates a March 2 ship date) for the same price as the original: $359. If you have an old Kindle and want a new one, you should order before 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 11 so you can get to the front of the line.
See for yourself just how thin the new Kindle is in the gallery below.
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By Traveler at 12:39 PM ON 02/09/09
Why does an e-reader need a clunky keyboard? Make the screen as large as possible and everything else as small as possible.
By Eric at 1:17 PM ON 02/09/09
It's sort of a cool device but it's just not quite cool enough to pay all that money for.
My friend and I had been talking about what we thought of it and here are some reasons we just can't quite justify buying it.
1) Screen is too small. Feels like you can only read one paragraph at a time
2) it can store a ton of books...but honestly who cares how many times are you going to re-read most of those books anyway...at least with a paperback you can sell/donate the book to someone else
3) more on the storage...how often do you read more than one book at a time anyway
4) ~$400 = about 40 paperback books... I could not buy the reader and buy 40 books instead...
5) For my job i need to read tons of scientific journals so carrying 1500 journals around with me would actually be pretty cool...but I need color to be able to look at the graphs properly and, the older version anyway, doesn't fully support PDF files...
...hmm I think thats about all we had
if it was cheaper, had a bigger colored screen and did away with that stupid looking keyboard...maybe...but still probably not
By rhelwig at 1:46 PM ON 02/09/09
I agree that they could do without the keyboard. Trade the keyboard for Bluetooth and you can use whatever keyboard you like.
Also, COLOR!!! B&W is SO 1920s.
Make those two changes and you've got something.
By Phil M at 1:47 PM ON 02/09/09
I agree.
1) Screen is tiny.Its got such a thick margin.
2) Its in black and white.
3) keyboard is pointless, could be onscreen.
Why is there such a big deal about it,its rubbish, were in the 21st century and thats the best they can do.
Im surprised no competitors have entered.
By Stan Winstone at 2:12 PM ON 02/09/09
Yep- slightly less fugly but unless they want to give me one for free I see zero reason to ever get something that looks so completely dorky. If the iPod and the iPhone have taught us anything it's make it look cool. Keep these clunky mid-90s Palm designs coming at your own peril, Jeff.
By Shakefire at 2:25 PM ON 02/09/09
Did amazon pay for this one, like google must've paid a few days ago. How many posts are there going to be about one device that really hasn't change THAT much, kind of like going from the PSP-2000 to PSP-3000. Couldn't these all have been one post? It's not like this is macworld and a bunch of different news stories are coming out of this "conference".
Also, this is still pretty expensive for what it is, especially with the jetBook now out there with a similar look and color options, and it also supports book downloads from amazon, among other sources.
By murc at 6:04 PM ON 02/09/09
meh.
its better looking then the old one, thats for sure.
I'm not a book guy, But I like magazines. For me to buy an e-reader it would NEED to be color.
now I realize its black and white because its e-ink, and not lcd. which is good and all, but come on, I've seen some prototypes of color e-ink...I wish amazon would have looked into it more...unless they did I guess, and decided it wasn't mature enough tech...which is possible. Hopefully the kindle 3 is color, and no more then $199.
oh, and everyone is harpen on about the keyboard. (I dont own one) but if I recall, I read once that the keyboard is for buying the books straight from amazon using wifi...which is pretty cool.
By Beren at 9:23 PM ON 02/09/09
While I think e-reading devices like this really are part of the future of publishing, it still seems to me like they won't have truly wide usage until the prices come down considerably. I'll look forward to the day the Kindle comes down to a sub-$100 price. Until then, I'm quite happy with good old paper codices, supplmented by my little Asus netboook.
And, of course, while this gizmo can hold many books that I can pay full price for and delete, there's a public library down the street that stores thousands for me that I can read for free any time I like. I'd still call that the best deal in town for the avid reader.
By Pennarin at 9:40 AM ON 02/10/09
A cover could be made to slide, revealing the keyboard. This owuld allow those people - like me - who won't use the keyboard to hold the Kindle any way we want without pressing buttons.
By NickR at 8:45 AM ON 02/12/09
The reason for no colour is because e-paper doesn't allow for it yet, and e-paper is required for the extended battery life--the screen draws no power except when it's being redrawn.
By Sarafimm at 4:29 PM ON 02/14/09
The reasons why I'm not buying it:
1) Lower the Price, people can get books for free at libraries or buy boxes of books for ~$400.
2) Cover the keyboard so I can hold it.
3) Enlarge the screen. I don't care how thin it is (most books are about an inch thick).
4) Color, color, color! I'm an avid magazine and comic book reader. I'd love to get either THAT I CAN READ/SEE on an e-reader.
5) Not enough research or they would have known the above. Plus, if you can get the above, you can put college and school level books on it and get a whole new purchasing group.
By Edward at 10:45 AM ON 08/06/09
It is a bit expensive but it has so many incredible functions!
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
editor@dvice.com
Edward:
It is a bit expensive but it has so many incredible functions!...More »