Amazon announced a new version of its Kindle. Kindle is the eBook reader that is hailed as the favorite tech device by Oprah.
Here are some interesting facts I gathered:
- eInk technology is the real thing. As an owner of Sony eReader, I can testify that I much prefer reading on eInk device that paper.
- New York Times can distribute Kindles to every subscriber and push the news wirelessly instead of paper. Doing this, they can save more than half of their printing cost, even if they give away Kindle for free! If you think paper is cheaper, think again.
Here’s what Amazon has to say about it:
Dear Customers,
Today, we are excited to introduce Kindle 2the next generation of our wireless reading device.Since launching the original Kindle a little over a year ago, the customer response has far surpassed our highest hopes — and we’re grateful and appreciative for that. More people are reading more books, newspapers, and blogs on Kindle sooner than we ever imagined.
We kept everything readers love about the original Kindle — the convenience of reading what you want, when you want it, the immediacy of getting books wirelessly delivered in less than 60 seconds, and Kindle’s ability to “disappear” in your hands so you can get lost in the author’s words.
We chose the same 3G wireless technology used in advanced cell phones, so you never need to locate a Wi-Fi hotspot. But unlike cell phones, there are no monthly wireless bills, no service or data plans, and no yearly contracts. There is no software to install and no syncing required.
Improved battery life means you can read up to four days on a single charge. Its new, streamlined design makes Kindle 2 as thin as a typical magazine and lighter than a paperback. We added more storage, allowing you to carry over 1,500 titles. An advanced display provides even crisper images and clear text for an improved book-like reading experience. Our favorite new Text-to-Speech feature means Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you.
At Amazon, we’ve always been obsessed with selection, and we know that even the best reading device would be useless without the books you want to read. Today, the Kindle Store has more than 230,000 books, including 103 of the 112 New York Times Best Sellers, plus top newspapers, magazines, and blogs. We added over 40,000 new titles in just the last three months. Our vision is to have every book ever printed, in any language, all in under 60 seconds on Kindle.
We hope you enjoy Kindle 2.
Jeff Bezos, Founder, Amazon.com
P.S. If you’d like to have Kindle 2 ship to you the day it becomes available, we recommend preordering today to reserve your place in line.