Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device

How do I get one? I prefer reading from screen to the printed books. 

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images

Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging

More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books

Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns

Read-to-Me: With the new text-to-speech feature, Kindle can read every newspaper, magazine, blog, and book out loud to you, unless the book is disabled by the rights holder

Large Selection: Over 275,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available

Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise

Kindle 2 Will Woo You, Despite its Price

It won't woo me Enchanted my dear;there is nothing better than the feel of a good book, or the musty smell of an old one from the library. It's just not the same reading from a screen (well in my humble opinion anyway)

: )

Iain_D - I'm the opposite. Perhaps I'm addicted to screen...lol

They are supposed to be bringing out an even bigger one, for reading text books, magazines, and newspapers etc.

Mind you, there are rumours of Apple bringing out some form of tablet compuer which may compete with it.

I don't like to read books on a screen but I didn't want to carry ca. 25kg books with me everyday. So i had to check out these "ebook-reader".

The Kindle2 is really stylish and looks like one of those "high-quality" devices you can show in public off.. but it doesn't support .pdf and other opensource format. An absolut no go for me.

That's why I bought the "Sony Reader PRS-700"... touchscreen, backlight, searchengine, support almost every format.

But it was still crap. It took up to 2-20 seconds to skip to the next page. Multitasking between books was almost impossible. Pages with pictures took sometimes several minutes to pop up.

I brought it back to the store.

I'm pretty sure that I'll buy an ebook reader once... but not yet. They don't worth a penny yet.

btw..

I bought the Samsung NC10 Netbook and i don't regret it! Runs up to 7,5 hours, 1,2kg, 10" LED Display and it has an UMTS modul.

Unfortunately, technology kill us slowly...smell of a books, waiting a postman to bring you letter from faraway friends...soon, people will forget handwriting...oooh, am I too old? Must go to my library, to read something...

Omg i just lost a huge post here.

Damn. Well Ian and Travel - i agree with you about the reading experience, its different and its not the same, and ive got the same passion for books as you apparently do. But on the other hand i will have to say, that you are just getting old - and you have to get used to this format one way or the other, because it is really the direction we are heading. And it is something you can get used to. I had to read a good bunch of ebooks before i levelled with it, and have just accepted its abit different, but still its great.

What it lacks are availability still, and i dont get it, it should be a win/win situation for the publishers to put it out as an ebook, but its a few new titles that are, and thats annoying. It also lacks the correct way of presenting the read, everybody PC based or reader/kindle based are trying to achieve the book-format in digital form, i dont think thats the way to do it, i think the digitial read should be treated differently to come across the right way.......just dont how exactly, but think that Steve Jobs will show us in very near future

The most annoying thing though, that is ebook-readers - including "kindle". I really hate the idea behind it, they want to lock their amazon shop to a hardware device ? ive already got alot of hardware devices, ive got my phone, my ipod, my laptop - all of the actually perfectly suited for doing an ebook read. I really dont need one more to carry around, unless its absolutely exceptional and lifesaving for me.

And an ebook-reader are not in my opinion - it may be the technology sometimes will move somewhere, and i actually want to buy one, right now i can only think of one single reason to considering buying one and that is:

- Battery usage

None of my 4 units today has battery enough to perform anything anymore, and then its get hard reading a book. So i might consider a kindle but only from battery point of view.

Personally i think that Kindle will die, and that Amazon will fail their quest to bind customers to their product and discriminate customers who doesnt have their hardware unit, when the ebook-market explodes, anyone can sell them and no way a special hardware device will win that game, we will get used to reading it on either phone or PC.

Well, I think it is how people evolve out of new technologies. I've been accustomed to read from screen for nearly 8 years. I never fail to visit BBC website everyday, reading a few news. I've been working in front of PC several hours a day, reading and replying loads of email. And a fact that I've never been a printed book reader. I only read textbooks because I had to.

One technology emerges from the old tradition and if you don?t keep up with that then that?ll be a major problem on adaptability i.e.telegraph for example we ended that service in Thailand early this year when mobile phone and emails are widely in use. I don?t know if Post Office will still exist in the next 10-20 years. I don?t know if those stamp collectors would collect something like electronic signature instead. We buy our drinks from vending machine instead of the tradition shops or mini marts. The future is not that far out.

Mainly new technologies ease of time usage, we can perform the same tasks a lot faster and more efficient. I can't imagine using typewriter which I can't undo or redo when typo. I must admit that I hate my handwriting and if I have to write something, I will type instead. If I have to calculate something, never mind a calculator I just open Excel spreadsheet which is faster and easier to detect if any wrong formula.

It doesn't matter when you were born but we are growing older together in this fast growing pace, I learn the new technologies when it comes out as same as you do.

*Thank you so much for the review on Kindle 2, the major concern is yet the availability of eBooks. I must agree that it doesn't worth a penny now but later it will. I'm not confortable buying eBooks online using my CC card all the time either. Just a wait a little longer, more producers will produce the similar product and when it gets competitive in the market that when we can benefit from the market.

I have a mobile phone that can read PDF files, viewing MS office, camera, music player. But still I bought a digital camera, MP3 player, laptop. One thing cannot do everything without compromising other functions especially shorter battery life.

Yep, not many ebooks available yet. I tried ebook-ing a few years ago and quickly ran out of books that i wanted to read.

Kindle2 has a nice e-paper screen, but better ones are coming. Also the rumoured 10" Apple device will probably *not* have an e-paper screen, so it would be like reading from a computer (i.e. crap outdoors).

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10232556-82.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Here is the article on the Big Kindle that may be coming out soon.

Neo - I'm not a fan of Apple though I want something stylish and suits my requirements. If Apple provides a better solution at a reasonable price, it's not difficult to shift from one brand to another. Sony Reader PRS-700 seems nice too but a bit too small judging from image I saw on website. So Kindle2 makes a prefect size for me.

I like reading Time Magazine and here it costs 150 bt per copy but the eMagazine version costs just a fraction of the printed version ($1.49). That's a good deal. Besides, I always like to keep things I read in soft copy. Not to mention that I have piles of magazine on my desk now and I'm undecided what to do with it because I don't have a heart to throw them away. I'm too afraid of getting bored when waiting for someone or something to happen so I normally grab a book or magazine with me. Doesn't matter if I read it or not, I feel boring free ) My purpose of having eBook Reader is because I can read outdoor. I like going the beach and to have something to read under the shade. So backlight feature is essential.

funky_house - Thank you so much for the update on Big Kindle. I prefer something larger than my mobile phone screen but obviously not that large ) Anyhow, for me the features, functions and then design are taking into consideration when making buying decision.

nice comments, Enchanted : )

I too looked at the Sony, but the screen was far too small. I shall wait a few months and see what else comes out. FYO there are other e-book readers e.g. Iliad, but nothing that attracts me at the moment

AAAum - thanks )

funky_house - thanks for additional eBook reader device ) For what I've seen so far iTablet & Kindle2 won for their styles. But it would be a lot better if they also include web browser on this device. I heard that Apple is planning to do that.

The iphone rules the ebook world !

AussieGuy - couldn't agree more lol