Amazon Unveils Kindle 2

9 Feb

Today Amazon.com unveiled its new slimmer Kindle. At 1/3″ thick, the Kindle 2 is about half as thin as the original version which means better portability for the space conscious traveler. Here’s an idea: download digital copies of travel guidebooks (like those from Offbeat). There’s a significant upgrade in internal storage from 256MB to 2 GB and a 25% longer battery life which is more good news for the traveler. For speed readers like my friend Judith (who consistently reads over 100 books a year), the page turning is 20% faster. The Kindle 2 has upgraded its controls making for easier on screen navigation but it’s most significant upgrade, in my opinion, is it’s new text-to-speech feature. While I know I’m not alone in my preference to actually read books myself, I can definitely see the utility and instances when having the Kindle 2 read to would be welcome… like times when your eyes need to focus on other things (driving, walking, hiking, etc) or simply when you don’t want your eyes to focus on anything or hold anything for that matter. And for people prone to motion sickness this can be key. This is taking “books on tape” to the next level. Of course, more than books, you can read blogs, newspapers, and other common digital documents as well as play Mp3′s. 3G Wireless service (EVDO) is still limited to US only which means you’ll want to do all your downloads everything up before traveling aboard internationally.