Just as
expected, Amazon announced the second-generation Kindle ebook reader with the exclusive Stephen King novel UR today -- the page actually went live during the press event. The new version will still cost $359, but it's much thinner than the angular original -- in fact, it's thinner than an iPhone at just .36 inches. Arguably the biggest new feature is Read to Me, which can read any content on the device back to you in a decent-sounding computerized voice, but there's also seven times more storage, a sharper 16-level e-ink display that turns pages 20 percent faster, 25 percent longer battery life, and a new five-way joystick that improves navigation. Amazon's Whispernet service is also getting a feature bump, adding in Whispersync bookmarking -- if you start reading a book on one Kindle, you can pick up again on any other Kindle automatically. Sadly, it's still only available in white -- the pink Kindle here is just a one-off made to promote UR. Video after the break.
A few more informations:
- Amazon is still working on international release, but has nothing to announce at this time, and wouldn't even confirm a launch this year.
- Battery is non-removable.
- There will be no Kindle 2-exclusive content, and some of the software improvements will be pushed to the original Kindle -- Whispersync is a shoe-in, text-to-speech is a no.
We spent some time playing with the Kindle 2 hands-on -- check it out
right here!
posted February 9th 2009 12:20PM
Hooray!
Wait... I'm broke!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
.036 isn't that like a human hair or something. Announcing kindle picano!
The post actually says 0.36. Announcing decimal misplacement!
actually .003 is about a human hair.
This thread reminds me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJ3Oz5JVKs
4/100th of an inch thick? Man, that is thin. How thick is a piece of paper?
Did you misread the article as well, or just read the comment above you without consulting the source?
If you read the article, rounding fail.
If you only read the above comment, judgment fail.
Either way ...
*yawn* wake me up when they ship it outside of US.
Wake me up when it's not GROTESQUELY overpriced.
wake me up when it displays porno
Black and white porno is no fun. (And I don't mean interracial.)
What's the point in letting a country who can't read have an ebook readers (jokes!)
finally I can realize the dream of having a robot read "everyone poops" to me!!
Hahahahahahahahaha yes!! All my dreams!
I am thinking that this thing is too expensive and I would never buy it (with the recession and all), but theres going to be tons of stupid housewives who get it simply because fat Oprah loves it. I also don't read books so no need for this.
you dont read books? OMG HOW SURPRISING. =|
I think that the fact that you do not read books is very clear from your comment.
"Don't" or "Can't"?
this site is experiencing a serge of illiteracy
as evidenced by your "serge" vs "surge" comment
if you want to make people cry, you need aimbot accuracy
Umm. You do realize that he was making a play on words with his Serge comment. Right? I think I will hazard a guess that Phanbouy knows the difference between Serge and surge.
What I want to know is does it read PDF documents or not? I read a lot of journals and this would be great if it could read PDF filles.
Amen. The fact that you had to convert PDFs one at a time to some other format—and pay for the privilege—made me totally not care about the rest of Kindle 1's features.
Not that native PDF would necessarily sell me on the new one (I'd still rather have a lower price and Wi-fi-only connectivity (with maybe an option to use a cell phone as a modem)), but it would make it worth considering. I'd bet a lot of other folks in academia feel the same.
Looks like you still have to pay your 10 cents per document converted
This is the big question....it's really the reason why I would rather buy a Sony Reader at this point, even though there are many more books available from amazon, and they're easier to get.
Making me pay to put free PDFs on this thing is absurd
Actually, you can convert any PDF file to the Kindle format for free by simply e-mailing it to your Kindle address. If your Kindle email is BRAINS@kindle.com, and you email as an attachment a PDF or txt or .doc file to that address, it will be sent through Whispernet to your Kindle.
If you send the document to BRAINS@free.kindle.com, you will receive an email back with the converted file in AZW format. It really is easy then to use the usb connection to transfer it to your Kindle.
I read many professional articles one my Kindle which i transfer that way.
Okay, I dug a little and it looks like you still have to convert PDFs, but you only have to pay if you want to e-mail them and have them just show up over the wireless connection. If you send 'em over from your own computer via USB, no payment.
Still, it puzzles me that they don't have native support for the format. Almost any researcher reads dozens of papers per month that they acquire in PDF form. So many folks I know hate all the printing they do but want to be able to read their references away from the computer.
10 cents a doc isn't terrible.
Especially considering I get many of my ebooks free from, well, you know, that internet site with a ship and cassette skull and cross bones on it.
No native PDF is a major reason for me not getting this. I was hoping they would change that with v2. The whole things just reeks of the iPod/iTunes proprietary ecosystem. Yeah, there are ways around it but why do I want to deal with the hassle? The reader from Foxit is looking better and better.
For me, pdf support on these devices is not that useful.
The issue is the screen size. Most pdf documents (older ones) are not reflowable. They are often just scans of printed documents. This means that reading on a 6 inch screen is a pain (or should that be 'a pane'). You basically get a zoomed out image of a crappy scan. Or you zoom in and you have to page right/left and up/down. If pdf's are your thing you need to wait for the upcoming 9.7inch screens (upcoming from other vendors, don't know about Amazon's plans).
Michael
p.s. Reflowable refers to the ability to reset the amount of words based on the screen/form-factor of the reading device. Formats that are not reflowable always fit the same page image on the screen -- no matter whether you are using a cell phone or a video wall.
Wow - after all this time, some folks still need to research their PDF answers before replying...
A FREE utility (Mobi) will convert PDFs to Kindle-readable files...AT NO COST!
Granted, you have an option to pay, but why would you?
@carlwf: So the best solution for my 1000+ PDF articles is to convert them (even for free) and then maintain two libraries? Or maybe, just maybe, the better solution is to have a device that supports a well-established standard? I'll choose the latter.
The comments about PDF are exactly right. Having to send off a possibly confidential or private PDF to Amazon so it can mangle it into an unrecognizable form is just stupid. Competing devices such as the Sony Reader manage it.
Amazon should just suck it up and realise that not everyone wants to go through their stupid service. Some people don't like submitting their books, especially when they're likely to be mangled out of all recognition. Support HTML, PDF, RTF, LIT and all the various other common formats natively and let users discover the Amazon service for themselves. In other words make it a great device even if someone has no intention of buying a book, because the chances are they will eventually assuming it does other stuff well. The strategy worked for the iPod and it would work for Kindle.
But as long as they demand silly money for a DRM'd and hobbled device, the thing is always going to be a waste of time and money. But hey, maybe you can buy a pink version.
why does it have a keyboard?
I'd prefer a touch screen too, but it probably wont look too good on the super slow refreshing eink material.
So you can search for books.
"free access to wikipedia"
"browse the online store"
"search for your favorite title"
You think you're going to lick the entries into the kindle or perhaps it has super advanced speech recognition or perhaps telepathy...
Looks like they could use sliding Keybd or someother option.
Once you are in reading mode, why do you need the extra space of the keybd there. Doesnt look right.
The keyboard is also useful for taking notes. Making it a sliding keyboard would increase cost, weight, bulk, and reduce durability. The keyboard area is actually useful as a place to hold onto while reading. most of the keys are inactive while you are reading.
Thought they were going to start shipping it outside of the states by now....
So basically for the cost of five paperbacks per month for a year I can have just the reader? Considering my monthly reading falls more along the lines of one or two paperback novels, this is closer to the cost of three whole years of reading for me. For just the reader.
Sorry but no thanks, as cool as it is.
Don't forget that the Kindle is also a free 3G web browser, although it's usefulness depends on what web pages you visit. Engadget and other blogs work well. Video sites or high graphics sites hardly work at all. It's great for checking email on the go.
Also, after a year of ownership, you can still sell the Kindle 2 for close to the price you bought it for. Ask the Kindle 1 owners (or former owners) or check ebay. Also, if you subsribe to any magazine/newspaper, that's where the real savings are because I admit that some books really aren't worth the $10 pricetag.
I love the idea of a Kindle, but two things would have to happen before I would consider buying it:
1) A $99 price point for the device itself. $359 is way too expensive.
2) A subscription-based model, where I pay a subscription fee to check out books from a "Kindle Library." (A Netflix-type model where $10/month might get me "two books out at a time" or whatever.) This would put the Kindle on a more even playing field against public libraries, and open it up to a wider customer base that (like me) doesn't see the utility in buying a book that you are only going to read once.
You are not the Kindle's audience. People who would not buy a book that they read once also wouldn't want to buy a hard copy of a book and would not collect books.
Remember the cost of the device includes 'free' lifetime access to titles via a built-in cell service. Instead of paying $5-10+ a month for wireless access from anywhere, that's a pretty good deal.
They've been completely missing their opportunity to catapult these things into, um, usefulness: textbooks. Once your average student can choose to buy his $100 Abnormal Psych textbook on a Kindle for $35, then all the pistons will be firing on this device. It will save weight and bulk versus physical books, and they could even come up with a way for the Kindle to email or IM you text that you highlight along with the citation in the format of your choice.
Bonus points if they can figure out a way for libraries to "check out" books to them without upsetting rights/profits schema in place.
Yes! Exactly.
I would buy the kindle today if it met those two points.
I'd even pay a little more if it could open regular PDFs as well!
"They've been completely missing their opportunity to catapult these things into, um, usefulness: textbooks. Once your average student can choose to buy his $100 Abnormal Psych textbook on a Kindle for $35, then all the pistons will be firing on this device. It will save weight and bulk versus physical books, and they could even come up with a way for the Kindle to email or IM you text that you highlight along with the citation in the format of your choice."
Ah you poor poor silly! Textbooks are an absolute profit goldmine, and are in fact changed year to year in incremental amounts to ensure you have to buy the 'new' version...no buying old copies!
jeez.... two books a month... too much free time
So the page turns are 20% faster but does it still "blink black" when the pages turn?