The Kindle 2 is out and the reviews are coming in. On the whole, what’s being said is that the new version offers improvements all around – but no new features that will knock your socks off. Most reviews have praised the new Kindle for it’s improved readability, size reduction, more battery power, storage increase and speed improvements. People who like the Kindle, will like it even more. The main issue is that it’s still very expensive – $359 – so your average person would rather just buy their books the old fashion way and save a bunch right here. Improving usability will help in the long run, so it’s a positive step.
I had the chance to do a brief hands-on with the Kindle 2 after its introduction today; in contrast to last time around, review copies were not available to the press. I’ve gone on record with a list of complaints about the first generation version, and suggested that there may have been little Amazon could do, given its reliance on E-Ink for that hardware. It appears that E-Ink has come through for them in a big way, and the Kindle 2 is a far better device as a result. The new version displays more shades of grey than were previously possible, and Amazon has paired that with a set of updated fonts to make the text significantly crisper and easier to read. But it’s the speed of the display that makes everything different. Amazon claims a 20 percent improvement in page flips, but it’s clear that the operating system is very capable of redrawing only subsets of the screen—perhaps the software is smarter about that than it was previously, it’s impossible to tell. In any case, the result is that anything done on the screen is very much faster—moving the cursor, selecting text, typing, menus, you name it. It’s really hard to convey just how much more responsive the device feels. – ars technica
Amazon.com on Monday released a new version of its Kindle electronic-book reader, but the slimmer and lighter upgrade of the original is drawing criticism from some Kindle users. Rather than make any dramatic changes, Amazon has tweaked the original book-sized Kindle. The new version is a third of an inch thick, weighs about 10 ounces, gets more battery life, and has an improved display. In addition, Amazon has added more storage and has made the device faster. The price, however, remains the same: $359. “Plain and simple, waaayyyy too much money for a book reader,” one person wrote on Amazon’s customer discussion group. “I could buy a mountain of paperbacks for the price of this thing. Just like the first Kindle, I’ll pass.” – From Information Week
Were there an anthology of gadget launch announcements, the unveiling of Amazon’s Kindle 2 e-book reader would have one of the more anticlimactic storylines. t started out like any other big press conference, with a line of reporters and photographers streaming out the door onto the chilly sidewalk outside the historic Morgan Library & Museum. The Kindle 2’s arrival had been preceded by the usual blog blitz of leaked photos, rumors, and breathless wish lists. (A color screen! Better PDF support! International versions of the Kindle store!) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took the stage, Steve Jobs-style, with a slide show recap of the original Kindle’s success before making the big debut. But the announcement itself was underwhelming. The price, $359, remains the same. The battery life’s been improved by about 25 percent. The Kindle 2 is much skinnier than its predecessor, slimming down to 0.36 inches in thickness from 0.7, but it’s only a tenth of an ounce lighter. The storage capacity has jumped from 256MB to 2GB, or about 200 to 1,500 books, and the electronic ink display has improved from a 4-color to 16-color grayscale. – From CNET
