Amazon Kindle 2 no longer rumored for this holiday season, according to rumor

So we heard from Amazon back in August not to expect that rumored Kindle 2 anytime this year... but then there were those leaked photos of the new device, so people kind of went back to expecting it again, but, apparently we should stop doing that now (again). According to unnamed sources talking to TechCrunch, the Kindle 2, will arrive in a vaguely termed "early next quarter." The source says the device has been 'delayed' by Bezos himself, that the leaked photos we saw a while back are the real thing, and that a student version of the reader, which will ironically have a larger screen and be better than the standard one, will hit in the first half of 2009 as planned (rumored). Hard-copy of Wuthering Heights, your execution has been stayed another few months.

[Pete @ Nov 25th 2008 12:51PM]

Maybe it's just because I have the first one, but I hope the new Kindle doesn't look like this. It's UGLY.

[sjdurfey @ Nov 25th 2008 2:44PM]

i concur, this one is ugly, but the original is fugly.

[Anthony @ Nov 25th 2008 12:51PM]

If the new Sony Reader PRS-700 weren't so darned fuzzy (touchscreen makes the view dim) it'd be the ultimate e-reader. That QWERTY is a real non-starter for me. Make it touchscreen & metal & I'm all over it- PRS-505-esque but w/ 100k titles.

[Bryan @ Nov 25th 2008 1:34PM]

Have you seen the review over at Gizmodo? It's pretty much what I feared with it, the screen picks up way to much glare, and really isn't going to be good for outside or high light usage. Other than that, I really like the way it looks.

Overall, I really like the thinking behind the Kindle. There would be some things that I would change, lower the price, tweak the design a little bit, but the biggest thing would be to add more books! And right now, being a law school student; I want my damn books to be e-books! I'm tired of lugging around all these damn books. If all my law school books were available for the Kindle, I would have one, or at least have on order already...

[Anthony @ Nov 25th 2008 1:40PM]

I don't need a review on Gizmodo. I played w/ one @ a Sony Style store for about 30 minutes. I have the 500 & 505. Will stick w/ those for now. 700 was just not sharp enough.

[Matt @ Nov 25th 2008 1:57PM]

If you want books published on Kindle, tell your publishers! Trust me, Amazon would love to have every piece of printed material available for the Kindle, it's the publishers that are holding them back.

[Plothole @ Nov 25th 2008 5:17PM]

The reduced sharpness and contrast on the PRS700's screen actually relates to the diffuser used for its front light. In fact unless I'm mistaken the Sony is uses the same style of touch screen that PVI announced awhile back. These don't need the conventional light eating membrane, as they use a grid of pressure sensors beneath the screen instead.

[Mike10010100 @ Nov 25th 2008 7:54PM]

For the people who are able to read 4 different books depending on their mood, like me, the kindle is an amazing device.

For instance, right now I'm reading "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "Beloved" for school, "Dewey" and "Neuromancer" for pleasure.

And the internet is snappy! I love going on Engadget and reading the internet like a living newspaper.

I wouldn't trade the scroller for anything, I love that little LCD bar on the side.

It's really easy to type on the keyboard. The off-center space bar takes a bit of getting used to.

I'm going to love this thing for as long as it functions!

[Cargo Jack @ Nov 25th 2008 1:10PM]

Can I get one in Liberty City?

[pavlindrom @ Nov 25th 2008 12:52PM]

"according to rumor"... Rumor killed by rumor now?

[hakunin @ Nov 25th 2008 1:07PM]

Not exactly.

Assuming that a rumor gives something a probability of 1/2, the killing rumor only subtracts 1/2 of probability introduced by the first rumor, meaning that you get 25% chance of Kindle 2 being out for holiday season.

[pavlindrom @ Nov 25th 2008 1:26PM]

I always looked at rumors as 90%, which would take it now to... 9%, which is dead to me.

[KarlW @ Nov 26th 2008 6:20AM]

Rumors have 90% probability? You haven't been reading Engadget long, have you?

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 25th 2008 12:56PM]

I'd kindle your amazon, Laura...

[samir @ Nov 25th 2008 1:07PM]

watch out i think shes dating the editor

[dc @ Nov 25th 2008 1:00PM]

Kindle 2 is just as ugly as the first. Can a BILLION dollar company produce anything better looking than this? The buttons look like my cold medicine tablets.

[Fanfoot @ Nov 25th 2008 1:04PM]

Hopefully they're retooling it to make it even bigger and adding more buttons!

[bob sakamano @ Nov 25th 2008 1:06PM]

is anyone watching the show summer heights high?

[JamesM @ Nov 25th 2008 3:27PM]

Did anyone see the 24 special on Sunday? How about the last episode of the Simpsons?

[ED @ Nov 25th 2008 5:23PM]

Stargate Atlantis. what's left of it, that is.

[John H. @ Nov 25th 2008 1:07PM]

I saw a Sony e-reader with a fake screen on display at Target and was like, "Dang, I wanted to try it out." Out of instinct, I just pressed a couple buttons and the words changed! Turns out the screen looked so crappy I just thought it was fake.

[metfoo @ Nov 25th 2008 1:12PM]

My wife has a kindle and loves it. People are expecting LCD quality of of eink, and thats not what einks about. Eink is made to replicate the look and feel of printed paper.

The kindle does have some drawbacks, like the side buttons, however overall its a great device. It could use some polishing, and the picture above is not the way to do that. I would start with a metal case like the sony, changing the size of the side buttons, and changing the back cover. Hot swapable SD cards would also be nice. The power and wireless buttons should also be moved so they can be accessed from the top while in the sleeve

[Nomi @ Nov 25th 2008 1:17PM]

They need to get rid of all that extra white space around the screen...and the keyboard could be smaller...

[dan @ Nov 25th 2008 1:18PM]

If the Kindle's innards were placed in a PRS-700 case, I would buy one in a moment. Amazon have a fantastic idea, but this thing looks seriously shit.

[PH0ENIX @ Nov 25th 2008 1:23PM]

Don't worry -- the Oprah drones will still make this a best seller.

[eddy @ Nov 25th 2008 1:24PM]

At least there's still news, er, rumor on the Kindle 2. I'm waiting to buy one, dammit.

[Saad Rabia @ Nov 25th 2008 1:40PM]

A smaller screen would be even better, let's say 4 inch, or, what the heck, 3 inch.

Way to go Amazon.

[ran @ Nov 25th 2008 1:44PM]

And that requires good vision something many people lack. Even if you had good vision, a small screen would mean small fonts resulting in eye strain. Reading is suppose to be fun and relaxing, not tedious and harmful.

[sjdurfey @ Nov 25th 2008 2:47PM]

a smaller screen? my problem with these readers (other than price) is that the screens are already too small. these things need to get bigger if text books on these will ever be a truly viable option.

[Jake @ Nov 25th 2008 2:03PM]

The font size can easily be adjusted.

On of the beefs about Kindle 1 is the sharp corners that irritate you after hours of use. They look to be rounding those.

Previous and next page buttons are a bit too big for me and I have to be very careful not to accidentally change pages.

The eink or virtual paper, whatever it is called, is much easier on the eyes than an LCD.

I am very happy with my Kindle. I mainly read the WSJ and lots of sci-fi on it.

[sockatume @ Nov 25th 2008 4:10PM]

What's so ironic about the student version having a larger screen and more features? Joe Paperback spends his whole time turning pages one one palm-sized block or another, students are the group who spend their time scribbling all over foot-square tomes. They're the group most likely to want one of these.

[CL @ Nov 25th 2008 7:06PM]

Wuthering Heights.... argh.
Damn that book was horrid, stupid high school reading list.
That said, Heathcliff was one vindictive mofo.

[Sarah Haman @ Dec 8th 2008 4:21PM]

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Prizes: Kindle Reader

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[cory @ Jan 2nd 2009 12:09AM]

This supposed new kindle is very ugly. Uglier than the first. I hope it is just a prototype. Man it's nasty!