Amazon Kindle 2 shots, launch info leaked
updated 08:10 pm EST, Fri February 6, 2009
Amazon Kindle 2 Photos
A leak tonight has confirmed Amazon's plans to use its February 9th event to launch the second-generation Kindle. Focusing on several leaked photos, the slip confirms that the new model is smoother, rounder and much thinner than the original and has a brushed metal back reminiscent of iPods. It likewise shows a switch to a slightly more conventional control scheme with smaller paddles for page turns and a directional pad in place of the old model's distinctive side strip.
A pair of speaker grilles on the back point to the new Kindle supporting audiobooks.
Though no other technical details have yet surfaced, including whether free 3G data will remain, the escaped information has Amazon planning to keep the $359 price the first Kindle had before its sell-out and to orchestrate a quick launch, with new Kindles shipping on February 24th.
















Better
02/06, 08:17pm reply
Certainly an improvement, but still seems to fail in some areas: why not, for example, make the keyboard more of a fold out or flip out type? Why not make the keys more usable?
Still, nice to see Amazon continue to develop the product.
dimmer
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2006
Same price?
02/06, 11:42pm reply
How come they didn't change the price? a reduction in price would have convince a lot of people to buy it, me included.
Rolando_jose
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2006
Readin'
02/06, 11:42pm (1 reply) reply
I read books on my iPhone (ebook). Why the need for a keyboard for reading? What else does the Kindle do? Why is it so huge! Thin, yes, but HUGE.
MacDan2004
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Dec 2004
Drop the keyboard
02/07, 04:26am (1 reply) reply
They need to drop the keyboard. I want a smaller book reader like the Sony, not an oversized Blackberry,
nhmlco
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 2007
Re: Readin'
02/07, 09:20am reply
Well, some people actually like to be able to see more than a couple of sentences at a time, so you're not always scrolling.
And the keyboard, if I'm not mistaken, is to search and buy books wirelessly, as well as for taking notes and such.
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Re: Same price?
02/07, 09:23am reply
How come they didn't change the price? a reduction in price would have convince a lot of people to buy it, me included.
Well, they added a bunch of features and improved it. Why would they drop the price?
Maybe they're following Apple and the iPhone and computers. Keep adding features, keep the price the same. They're not going after the low-end of the market. They want to stay in the high-end.
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Love/Hate mine
02/07, 09:42am reply
I have had a kindle since they were first launched, and love it, even though it is terribly designed. This one doesn't look much better. I enthusiastically agree with the posters about the keyboard. I use it, but rarely, and it takes up a huge amount of space. I love it because I can read in bed and not have to hold it or turn pages. However, I can only read novels on it. Using it as a reference book is impossible because it is so not feasible because it is so slow to turn pages, bookmark, hilite, anything but the basics. It really needs a super speedy touch screen and the ability to hilite with a stylus. Glad they got rid of the huge "paddles" on the sides as I am constantly turning pages inadvertently. Not sure if I'll upgrade. Was hoping for a more thorough redesign.
hkremer
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2005
It looks like...
02/07, 03:38pm reply
AN OVERSIZE IPHONE!!... And is about as half as much useful as one. Just kidding. I never used a Kindle, but I don't want something with a greyscale display in this day and age. I think it's eReaders are nice concept and I'll be happy to see what Apple can do with something similar. Oh, that's right, Steve Jobs says that nobody reads anymore. End of story.
Constable Odo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2007
testy...
02/07, 04:40pm reply
apple dropped the price. multiple times. as they added new features. where you been?
rtbarry
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Yet another failure...
02/07, 07:07pm reply
This is what happens when subquality design engineers are further hampered by having to answer to the marketing department on every decision. I'm an avid book reader and I would buy something like this if it were designed well in spite of my iPod Touch. The iPod is a painful way to read a book, after all, but it works well enough that a dedicated eReader would have to be stunning to entice me to purchase it. The Kindle isn't stunning, it's stupid, just like the Sony reader, hampered by too many limitations and pure marketing foolishness. If Apple were to turn their designers loose on an idea like this, it would probably just wind up looking like an oversized iPod Touch, and it would have full web functionality, a gorgeous color screen, play music, store pictures, play movies... um, wait, what am I describing here? Does sort of make one think, doesn't it? Come on, Apple, I'd drop a grand on a 4"x6" iPod Touch with full OS X functionality in a freaking heartbeat, and such a beast would absolutely render these goofy Sony and Amazon readers obsolete in about 10 minutes after product launch.
cmdahler
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Joined: Jan 2005