Kendall Giles

UPDATE [November 25, 2009]: There have been a lot of improvements to the Kindle 2 since this post was written: the Kindle 2 now has support for viewing PDF files, allows for manual screen rotation, and provides for *global* wireless access.

The Kindle 2 shipped on Feb 23, (and now that mine has arrived, here is my review of the kindle book reader), but here is a roundup of a few interesting pre-reviews:

• http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/amazon-unveils.html

  A little more than a year after the Kindle made its debut, Amazon announced a new, updated version of its popular e-book reader Monday with a big endorsement from Stephen King.

• http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2009/id2009029_980088.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_top+story

  Kindle 2 is more than just a prettier version of its Kindle 1. Though the 10-oz. machine is only one-third of an inch thick--that's 25% thinner than an iPhone--it stores up to 1,500 books vs. 200 in the original. And it offers sharper on-screen images, with 16 shades of gray to offer graphic nuances. Amazon added these based on e-mails from Kindle customers, says Laura Porco, director of Kindle Books. "We're always listening to customers," she says. "We took their feedback to design some things: They said, We want Kindles to hold more books, and we want crisper images."

• http://www.macworld.com/article/138722/2009/02/kindle2_handson.html?lsrc=rss_main

  The Kindle 2 now powers up from USB--a boon for all of us who hated carrying an extra charger with the original device. The mini-USB port at the bottom works not only for power but also for allowing the Kindle 2 to act as a USB mass-storage device, in the event you want to drag and drop files to the handheld.

• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2340721,00.asp

  So, yes, there are many reasons to dislike the Amazon Kindle 2, but as I see it, the benefits still far outweigh the disadvantages. Trust me, you're going to want a Kindle 2.

• http://ireaderreview.com/2009/02/09/kindle-20-review-should-you-buy-kindle-20/

  WhisperNet and Amazon's great range of book titles (over 230,000 titles including 7,000+ free public domain classics etc.) are still the 31 feature and make the Kindle 2.0 the best eReader available.