Buried in among the Kindle 2 press release this morning is confirmation that Amazon plan on distributing ebooks to mobile devices other than their own Kindle ebook reader. Although details are still scarce, the release does say that ”Kindle 2 will also sync with a range of mobile devices in the future” using its new wireless Whispersync technology.
As tipped earlier today, bestselling author Stephen King will be providing an exclusive ebook for buyers of the Amazon Kindle 2 and owners of the first-generation Kindle. The ebook, titled Ur, is a novella about a love-sick college English instructor whose purchase of a Kindle leads to previously fictional characters and events crossing over into his life.
King appeared at the launch of the new Amazon ebook reader in New York this morning, to describe how he became involved in the project. Describing his motivations as an opportunity to “get a new Kindle out of it”, King began his novella two days before President Obama was inaugurated.
Amazon have officially announced the Kindle 2 ebook reader this morning, complete with a newly designed – and super-thin 0.36-inch – casing, wireless connectivity for cable-free ebook downloads, and up to two weeks of battery life. The new Kindle 2 builds on the success of the original model, with a more rounded design and newly tweaked controls.
We’re fully expecting Amazon to announce the Kindle 2 this morning, but if the Wall Street Journal is to be believed then there could be more than just a new ebook reader on the cards. The paper is reporting that Amazon have persuaded author Stephen King to pen an exclusive work that will only be available on Kindle.
Toshiba helped us kick off the week with the announcement of their new TG01 Windows Mobile smartphone: on paper it sounds perfect, with a high-res touchscreen, super-skinny body and all the wireless connectivity you could feasibly ask for, as well as being the first device to deliver NVIDIA’s 1GHz Snapdragon chipset. Check out our hands-on photos and video demos, as well as Toshiba’s own GUI demo, and then try and explain to me why I still can’t get as excited about the TG01 as I think I ought to be.
Official press photos of the Amazon Kindle 2 ebook reader have leaked, ahead of what’s assumed to be the company’s launch event in New York tomorrow. The photos, which are accompanied by a rumored pricetag of $359, show the same device that we first saw several months back in 2008, with a newly streamlined casing and metal back.
High-resolution images of the Amazon Kindle 2 after the cut
Plenty of fresh Kindle news today, with a variety of rumors regarding Amazon’s upcoming ebook plans. First off comes word that those customers who have bought an original Kindle, but not yet had it delivered because of the supply delays, may be offered an upgrade opportunity to the new Kindle 2. According to Stephen Windwalker, who is a Kindle book author, those still waiting for their first-gen ebooks will be offered the new version for around 10-percent more.
After the cut, are Amazon considering ebooks for non-Kindle devices?
We opened the week with our first-impressions of the T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900, a surprisingly adept smartphone that’s managed to impress despite the absence of 3G. We’ve also been playing with Vuzix’s iWear AV230XL OLED video headset, and the VIA Artigo A2000 Barebone Storage Server. Finally, if you prefer your gadgets with a bit of (artificial) flesh on their bones, take a look at our Orbita Mouse unboxing; we’ll have the full review this coming week.
Amazon has set ebook tongues wagging with select invites to an “important” press conference to be held in New York on February 9th. While the retailer has made no mention of what might be on the cards for the event, the common assumption is that it will see the launch of the Kindle 2, the replacement to the best-selling Kindle ebook reader.
Amazon have either underestimated the Oprah-effect or merely messed up on their stock management: shipping on the Kindle ebook reader is currently listed as in 11 to 13 weeks time, overshooting Christmas and pegging deliveries as sometime in Q1 2009. That makes the second year in a row that the retailer could not meet demand.
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