I was one of those reviewers who thought the first Kindle was interesting but too flawed. But last week, Amazon began shipping the next-generation Kindle 2.0, and it’s a vast improvement.
It’s sleeker, a little faster, with a better screen and room for a lot more books. Its buttons have been reworked, so it’s harder to accidentally turn a page. And it has several interesting new features, including the ability to read books to you, if the publisher allows it.
But there remain other problems with the Kindle 2, from the fact that you can’t share e-books to its price. Yes, it’s improved, but there are enough issues to give potential buyers pause.
The Kindle is the electronic book reader first brought to market by Amazon in December of 2007. It was so successful (or Amazon so dramatically underestimated demand) that it sold out during the holiday periods of both 2007 and 2008.
Now, only 14 months after its introduction, Amazon has rolled out the Kindle 2. Even before this new and very much improved version, the pundits were speculating that the Kindle could do for digital books what Apple’s iPod has done for digital music.
Before we go any further, let me confess that I was in love with the first version of the Kindle. For me, this is not merely a gadget, it is an enabling technology.
Hate to spoil the ending, but here’s what you need to know about Kindle 2.
The second edition of Amazon’s (AMZN) best-selling electronic reader looks better, reads better and addresses the first Kindle’s (metaphorically speaking) torn pages. Still, most of the improvements are marginal enough that owners of the original Kindle ought not feel compelled to upgrade, especially at a pricey $359.
It’s been nearly five months since we scooped Amazon’s Kindle 2 and earlier this week, after what seemed like an eternity for anxious e-book fans, Amazon finally began shipping its new reader. We unboxed it for you this past Tuesday but you know we couldn’t leave it at that — it’s full-on review time! Leading up to the Kindle 2 we’ve been through a Sony PRS-505, an Amazon Kindle 1 and an Irex Iliad so we had high hopes for Amazon’s new Jesus-reader. Is it up to snuff? Did it fall flat on its slim, sexy, 3G-connected face? Grab a cup of coffee and a snack pack, then hit the jump to find out.
To kick things off, let’s start with the guts. The Kindle 2 packs a 532 MHz ARM-11 processor, a 3.7 V 1530 mAh non-removable lithium polymer battery, a Sprint compatible EV-DO antenna and 2 GB of internal storage. The choice to abandon the external SD card slot and the removable battery of the Kindle 1 are a source of contention amongst current Kindle owners and rightfully so. Yes, the internal memory of the Kindle 2 can hold close to 1,500 books and the battery does promise longer life but people paying $360 for a reader don’t want to be limited — especially when the first generation Kindle didn’t have such limitations. You can’t carry around your whole library if your collection exceeds 2GB and the device is only useful for the life of the battery (unless you want to fork over $60 to Amazon to replace it).
Earlier this week, Amazon starting shipping the new Kindle 2 e-book reader. Priced at $359, the Kindle 2 is thinner and a bit lighter than the original Kindle.
This video features a hands-on demonstration with Amazon’s new e-book reader. Learn about the Kindle 2’s new features, and whether it’s an improvement over the original Kindle.
Having already handled the Kindle 2 at its launch in New York City, we had a pretty good idea of what we’d be getting into after it arrived at the bunker. Once we actually had a little time to spend with the device, it really started to sink in how much those minor tweaks can add up to make a big difference. Jumping from Amazon’s original attempt at an ebook reader to its latest iteration isn’t exactly like day and night, but it’s definitely a positive shift in the experience, though one that leaves us wondering how they failed to make some of these choices the first time around. Read on for a full look at the Kindle 2.
There’s been a lot of anticipation about what Amazon would do for an encore to its much-hyped e-book reader, the Kindle, and now that it’s finally here we can say that the Kindle 2 is about what we expected it to be. Talk of it being a huge leap forward or going from generation one to generation five in one fell swoop was really, well, just talk.
In reality, the Kindle 2 is a nice upgrade over the original Kindle; yes, it leaves off a couple of key items–most importantly removable memory and a protective carrying case–but it makes up for it with a slicker design, improved performance, increased internal memory, built-in speakers, and a new feature, Text-to-Speech audio reading.
That’s all you need to know in a nutshell. But I did write about 2,500 more words on the device if you want the full skinny on Amazon’s Kindle 2.
The most notable feature of the Kindle 2 (Amazon.com’s long-awaited update to its groundbreaking but somewhat flawed electronic reading device) is that it’s possible to pick it up and not turn the page. This sounds like faint praise, but anyone using the original Kindle quickly found the oversized buttons covering both sides of the device made grasping it a delicate, stressful task — kind of like picking up a sea urchin. Anything less than perfect finger placement would lose your place.
Not so with the Kindle 2, which fixes that problem and a host of others through thoughtful, businesslike improvements and innovations.
Are the improvements big enough for the Kindle 2 to spark an iPod effect, causing bookstores to shutter, forests to grow unchecked and the tomes on our shelves to disappear, replaced by plants and bobble-head dolls? Not any time soon.
In the high-tech industry, you live for the day when your product name becomes a verb. “I Googled him.” “She’s been Photo- shopped.”
Amazon, however, is hoping that its product name, a verb, becomes a noun. “Have you bought the new Kindle?”
The Kindle is the most successful electronic book-reading tablet so far, but that’s not saying much; Silicon Valley is littered with the corpses of e-book reader projects.
A couple of factors made the Kindle a modest hit when it made its debut in November 2007. First, it incorporated a screen made by E Ink that looks amazingly close to ink on paper.
The first-generation Amazon Kindle weighed 0.29kg and offered a paperlike E-Ink display that keeps eyestrain at bay (as compared with the backlit displays of mobile phones and other mobile devices). The first Kindle was readable in sunlight; it also offered long battery life and allowed you to look up words on the fly, as well as to take notes and highlight passages at will.
The Amazon Kindle 2 retains all of those capabilities, in a slimmer form (it’s 9mm thin). We like the thinner profile: the new device feels better in your hands, and we think it will be easier to pack. At just 0.28kg, the device’s weight is virtually the same as before.
Home of the most complete resource on the Internet for Kindle 2.0 reviews. Check back daily for frequent updates on the Kindle. Amazon Kindle 2.0 has a new sleek and thin design. This wireless reading device is lighter than a paperback, has seven times more storage and now holds over 1,500 books. The display is more crisp for a better reading experience along with improved battery life.
Price for the Kindle 2 is $359.
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