Mark your calendars, e-book fans: Amazon.com will introduce the next generation of its popular Kindle reader in New York City on Feb. 9.
The company sent out e-mail messages Tuesday announcing a news conference on that date at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. Amazon.com confirmed that its founder and chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, would host the event.
Amazon would not comment in any more detail about the coming announcement, but the Kindle’s detail page on Amazon.com tells the story. It now says the electronic book reader will ship in four to six weeks. It previously suggested a wait of 11 to 13 weeks.
The device has been out of stock since November, after Oprah Winfrey touted it on her show. The announcement seems to confirm our suspicions that the original Kindle has been obsolete since that time and that everyone who purchased the device over the holidays from Amazon.com — or put their name on a waiting list — will receive the newer version
USA Today Story
Amazon gets ready for second-generation Kindle
Get ready for the next chapter. Tech analysts expect Amazon.com (AMZN) to open the cover on Kindle 2, the second generation of its groundbreaking electronic reader. On Tuesday, Amazon invited members of the media to “an important” news conference Feb. 9 at New York City’s Morgan Library & Museum.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is expected to attend. But Amazon won’t reveal the plot. “We are not sharing details,” Amazon director of communications Drew Herdener wrote in an e-mail. The company has said there will be a new version of Kindle sometime this year.
Paperback-size e-book readers such as the Kindle or rival Sony Reader let bookworms cart a boatload of titles — more than 200 in the case of the first Kindle. But Kindle’s real advance was in its wireless Whispernet network (built on top of Sprint’s speedy EV-DO wireless network). Readers could search for and sample books, blogs and periodicals (including USA TODAY) right on the device and purchase new content in under a minute. Best sellers typically cost $9.99.
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Not that excited about the Kindle
Until Amazon builds a business model that allows people outside the US to access the Kindle, there is not much to be excited about for most of the world’s population of ebook readers…Kate
Kindle’s supply issues leave an opening for rival e-book readers
Kindle’s supply issues leave an opening for rival e-book readers
Go to Apple’s iTunes store these days, and you can find a growing array of digital books available for downloading and reading on the iPhone — including popular titles like the teen vampire novel “Twilight” and author Malcolm Gladwell’s exploration of snap judgments, “Blink.”
The expanding book options on the iPhone are raising expectations for Amazon.com, which is gearing up for the release of the next-generation Kindle, its own electronic book reader, expected early this year.
The Kindle, which first launched in late 2007, was a front-runner in electronic book readers and built buzz around the idea of reading books digitally. But Amazon’s Kindle supply issues — the company sold out the devices in early December after receiving a glowing review from TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey — have left an opening for competitors to establish a foothold in the market.
Full story here.
Kindle 1.0: Fired
Story here: http://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/kindle_10_fired.php
Verizon To Support Kindle Competitors
Verizon To Support Kindle Competitors; Question Is, Can Any Of Them Really Challenge Amazon?
Amazon’s Kindle may soon be just another electronic reader among a handful of choices on Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ). In an interview with Reuters just ahead of CES, Verizon exec Tony Lewis, who runs a program to help third-party vendors get their products certified to work on the operator’s networks, said he expected Kindle rivals to launch in 2009, though he declined to specify who these competitors might be.
Full story here: http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-verizon-to-support-kindle-competitors-question-is-who/
UGLY?
Is it me or will the Kindle 2 be uglier than the First?
Gone are slant angles in favor of a flat white, rectangular design. You could call it a plain Jane. And if the scuttle butt is correct, the picture you see above is the 2nd version of what some believe is the best ebook reader on the market … the Kindle. And it may be here after Amazon’s press conference February 9th. Man, I didn’t think basic could look so ugly.
Full piece here.
Old Kindle
I have used the original Kindle and know many others that have as well. Many people complained about the slanted buttons. They were always bumping buttons or just not sure what edge of the device to hold.
Brian C. Gray
http://blog.case.edu/bcg8
Amazon Incites Speculation About New Kindle
Amazon Incites Speculation About New Kindle
Could a new version of the Kindle ebook reader be on its way? Amazon.com raised suspicions Tuesday when it sent reporters an invitation to “an important Amazon.com press conference” on February 9 at a library in New York City.
Story at WSJ Blogs
To e-Book or Not to e-Book
I’ve used one of these gadgets made by Sony. It was nifty and held many more books than I can carry onto an airplane….but it was heavier to hold and more difficult for my eyes to adjust to (I wear trifocals). I also had difficulty with the buttons and turning the pages (fat fingers?).
I think I’m going to stay with a good old trade or standard paperback when I travel…. I get them in the book sale for about 50 cents, and I can leave them behind in the hotel or airport for others to read.
Old fashioned I guess.