February 6, 2009 6:48 PM PST
Reported Kindle 2 photos look like the real deal
(Credit:
mobileread.com)
Just got an e-mail from Alexander Turcic over at MobileRead.
Turcic, based in Switzerland, writes:
Hi David:I hope you are doing fine. Got some news regarding Kindle 2 price and release info, plus the first Kindle 2 pics.
Cheers,
Alex
According to the post, the Kindle 2, which is expected to be announced Monday at 10 a.m. in New York, will be available on February 24 and carry a list price of $359--just like its predecessor. All in all, the device looks similar to what we saw in earlier leaked photos, but in these shots the Kindle 2 looks sleeker and decidedly more impressive. While we have no confirmation that this is the real deal, these look like marketing shots if I ever saw them.
More photos after the jump.
(Credit:
mobileread.com)
(Credit:
mobileread.com)
(Credit:
mobileread.com)
(Credit:
mobileread.com)
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter. 
it looks thin, but the keyboard takes much space which can be replaced by a digital keyboard.
I think sony ebook still a winner in such product.
You would add a lot of thickness to add in a digitizer.
But the K2 still should have a bigger screen area regardless. Overall though, it looks a hell of a lot better than its predecessor.
The current Kindle doesn't register keyboard presses when reading eBooks.
I suspect this will be the same.
real books will be easier to carry
they need to remove that keyboard for n e one to even be remotely interested !
this is already a niche product, why make it bigger ?
It's also useful for searching and using functions like the dictionary, web browser, and especially Wikipedia.
It is also pretty worthless for students. How about marking pages in a way that is easy to retrieve, just like a book. Then of course, they can't sell it back and a digital copy is as expensive as a book.
Toys like this are designed to stop the horrible acts of reselling and lending books. Nothing more.
Bravo sir for shedding light on this modern day evil!
The big problem I see with the Kindle for students is that the vast majority of their assigned texts don't have Kindle versions so they would never get much use out of a Kindle at this point. Furthermore, the screen resolution is too low for some illustrations and diagrams to be viewed properly on the Kindle so there are some textbooks I simply don't see a Kindle version coming unless the new Kindle has much better resolution.
Talk about an expensive solution that is still in search of a real problem.
Those that do are called college students and this toy has no value to them.
I haven't used the SONY e-Book, but I've always disliked SONY's DRM and the limited availability of books. Amazon just makes it as easy as the iPhone to get content and there is a heck of a lot more readable content for the Kindle than will ever be available for the iPhone. I'm not interested in public domain and indie books. I keep a full reference library of programming tomes on my Kindle, plus a full professional library of medical texts.
I only hope that the next version of the Kindle uses a slightly clearer version of e-Ink. I'll happily buy two more and resell my gen 1 Kindles. There is a good resale market for them.
If you haven't used a Kindle, then you can't hardly criticize them. Yes, generation 1 is a bit "ugly", but it is a dream to use, misplaced buttons and all. And try using it without a keyboard. And you can also bookmark and tag content. You just can't "write" in the margins.
It is a solution to my problem, which is how to carry a ton of content in an easy-t0-read format while having a very long and durable battery. The iPhone just doesn't cut it with the battery and diminutive screen - at least not for an old guy like me.
Because after 16 years of staring at computer screens for a MINIMUM of 5 hours a day, mine need to be replaced.
But if yours are still fine, I'll swap you, and as an added bonus, I'll throw in some super-high prescription goggles for free!
I am just joking around, but that last sentence is a VERY valid point. Maybe if they made color e-Ink displays for laptops...
BUT if we neglect physical size and weight (more then A4 format and 3.2 lbs) which can be problem for some usage scenarios there is matter of price. It cost around 2500 USD (1800 EUR). There are other tablets as well with price more affordable but for new device at that time everything was at least 3 to 4 times of the Kindle price. So when discussing about this device have in mind that it is affordable if you need it. It does not make sense to buy one now but if they add inking for the same price I might do rethinking.
So if you read a lot this device sounds like interesting shopping. It is not almighty but for that price I find it acceptable.
Oh yes and what I am missing from time to time is small keyboard just like this.
Schools will have to go to electronic readers. Too much money is wasted on books that are out of date, have errors that can't be corrected, transportation, storage, damage, etc. etc. etc. E-texts can be corrected and updated from a central server. Storage costs and transport = $0.00. With economies of scale it will be less expensive to replace e-readers that books.
About the form factor, I think Kindle3 may have a pop out keyboard like some phones. Of course the 'pop' mechanism takes up space too so it may not be a good solution in this case. For the kindle2 it may be that they had space left over because of the electronics it needs to function and they figured they may as well put a keyboard there. It seems unlikely they'd add another 2" of space at the bottom just for that rather substantial keyboard. Then again, who knows :)
When I fly (5 times a year or so) I like to read and you'll always need a paper book if you want to read while electronics are verboten (takeoff/taxi/landing).
Anyway, glad Amazon keeps pushing this device. Clearly it's not for everyone and no matter what product you'll put out you'll have people calling it 'stupid' while others love it. I don't think Jeff B meant for everyone to have one. Well, in a naughty dream perhaps :)
I wouldn't object to receiving a Kindle2 for my birthday, but this is out of my price range as a poor struggling college student. I do agree with others that the screen should be larger and the keyboard smaller. And if they could actually implement page flipping via touchscreen, that would make it feel much more like reading a book. I know that's probably a dumb thing to ask for, but sometimes a little bit of flair to the presentation is needed to sell a device like this.
It also looks like they nixed the NowNow service, which I don't find too surprising.
I think the publishers still not fully like this. but if you remove the printing/staff costs, the price should drops dramatically and gona see the people going forward to it. without publishers contribution, the companies will not invest much in these products
- by jimafrost February 8, 2009 6:00 AM PST
- "When I fly (5 times a year or so) I like to read and you'll always need a paper book if you want to read while electronics are verboten (takeoff/taxi/landing)."
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (52 Comments)I have always dealt with this by hiding the e-book while the attendants do their final check, then pulling it out again when they're strapped in.
The proscription against electronics is so that they can talk to you during take-off and landing; this being a book it's silly to disallow it.
Probably like rollerblades in stores back in 1990 I get away with that because they really don't know what the thing is, they're too rare, and as they become more popular it will get more strict ... until they're so popular that there is hue and cry over the ridiculousness of banning them during take-off and landing.
Aaanyway, people complaining about the keyboard are wrong. There are many places a keyboard is useful. The Sony with the touchscreen is really difficult to use to search or annotate, the Kindle isn't, and you really really want one when you're hooked up to the Amazon store. It's a plus, no question.
We'll see in a couple of weeks when they start shipping the things, but off the cuff I think it looks like a significant ergonomic improvement over its predecessor -- and despite many complaints the predecessor worked pretty darn well as it was.
I know there are many e-book detractors but lemme tell yea, when you've got 5000+ books in your house these things start to look really appealing. And I love the fact that when I finish my book while waiting for my next plane I can just get another one right on the spot, without having to track down the lousy airport bookstore. And they don't look like explosives to the airport people, like the monstrous Harry Potter tome did, which necessitated tearing my luggage completely apart and (of course) mis-packing it afterward....
If you travel or read a lot the Kindle is spectacular.
jim frost
jimf@frostbytes.com