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January 27, 2009 8:11 AM PST

New Amazon Kindle 2 coming February 9?

by David Carnoy
  • 39 comments

Is this what Amazon.com will announce at its press conference on February 9?

(Credit: Boy Genius Report)

A few days ago I wrote a column speculating when Amazon's new Kindle might arrive, and I might have gotten the answer Tuesday morning.

I just received an invite "to an important Amazon.com press conference" on the morning of Monday, February 9 in New York. I'm not going to say where it is (that's not cool for Amazon's PR people, who would have to deal with crashers), but let's just say it's in a location that relates to books.

When the Kindle was first announced in 2007, Amazon held a very similar press conference (yes, in the morning), so I'd say there's a good chance we'll finally get some sort of official announcement on the next version--or versions--of Amazon's popular digital reading device.

Photos of the alleged Kindle 2 were leaked late last year and speculation was high that a new Kindle would arrive in time for the holidays.

Not only did no new device show up, but Amazon basically stopped shipping the Kindle, even as it continued to advertise it front and center on Amazon.com, day after day. A note on the Kindle product page informed potential buyers that the Kindle was sold out and on back order for two to three months. Now it's just listed as sold out and that Amazon would ship the device on a first-come, first-served basis.

It's interesting to note that one of the readers of my earlier story posted that he just got an e-mail from Amazon saying that the Kindle his girlfriend ordered for him during the holidays was due to ship on March 5. Of course, that's just one buyer, but it wouldn't shock me if Amazon shipped out the bulk of its orders for the Kindle around then.

If indeed this turns out to be the announcement for the new Kindle (to be clear, I have no confirmation of that), Amazon could very well offer customers who've already ordered the original Kindle--and are awaiting its arrival--the option of canceling their orders or receiving the new Kindle.

As always, feel free to comment.

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