Amazon announces Kindle 2

CB Droege 9 Feb, 2009 at 7:30pm ET Article published in Tech

The Kindle 2 (Image courtesy of Amazon)

Amazon, the world’s largest online book retailer, announced today the upcoming release of the Kindle 2. This successor to their popular eBook reader will boast a more convenient size, and a grand assortment of new features.

It still has a prominent keyboard (unlike its main competitor, the Sony eReader), but almost everything else is changing. The new device will now run its wireless connectivity on 3G mobile network (as opposed to the Kindle’s WiFi capability) allowing users to download books on the go with no contract or airtime charges. The reader will be thin as a pencil, and have a face about the size of a trade paperback. Amazon claims that the display will be more crisp, and reflect light more like paper does, and less like a screen does. The battery life has also been increased 25%.

Amazon, however, failed to upgrade the price. at over $350, it’s still out of reach for all but the most dedicated gadget consumers.

Update 02/10/2009:

Pre-orders are now being taken.

Comments

9 Feb 2009 ~ 8:02pm Bandrik Very nice. I was interested in the Kindle, but I can't afford to be an early adopter at this point. The Kindle 2 may win me over, but the jury's still out.

Though... I must add, I thought the Kindle 1 had access to cell towers. In fact, I'm quite certain that it was always connected to cell towers in order to access downloadable content (ebooks) as well as access to Wikipedia at any time, for no additional cost. Which explains in part why the device is so much up-front: you pay high now, but the free services come with it.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
9 Feb 2009 ~ 10:13pm CB I think you're right. When the info in the release pointed to it as an upgrade over WiFi, I guess they were referring to the eReader, not the Kindle. Odd wording on their part. Good catch on your part. Thanks
9 Feb 2009 ~ 10:35pm Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy I think the Kindle is a wonderful device and Amazon really did a good job with it. I'm still not ready to plunk down $350 for it, but eventually I can see it reaching a price point that I, along with mainstream consumers, will start gobbling them up in droves.
9 Feb 2009 ~ 11:42pm RWB $350 isn't too bad considering the competition isn't too far behind in price. Though the Cybook Gen3 or the Bebook IMHO offer a better around ebook reader for a cheaper price for those of us who don't care about all the jazzy features. Many ebooks I read come from the baen free library anyways and are great reads. I haven't seen yet if this new Kindle supports non DRM mobi formats unlike the previous.
10 Feb 2009 ~ 12:26pm chrisWhite Yeah, depending on the DRM issues the Kindle 2 is where I might jump on board. I really wanted the first one but it was so fricken' ugly I don't know if I could stare at it for long. This one isn't perfect, still lots of unused space and I'm not a fan of the keyboard but it looks beautiful and I'd love to have a good book reader and access to Amazon's library.

Price is high enough I won't jump on it right this moment, but might before too long.