Kindle 2 Announcement on Amazon Front Page - Page 8

tompe · 02-09-2009, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

PROS:
It is thinner
16 gray scales
Pages turn 20% faster (not a big deal)
Longer battery life (my K1 already lasts about a week)
Reads text in a computer voice (doubt I'd use it)

It seems that the navigation is much faster.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/...reen-makes.ars

Quote:

The new version displays more shades of grey than were previously possible, and Amazon has paired that with a set of updated fonts to make the text significantly crisper and easier to read. But it's the speed of the display that makes everything different. Amazon claims a 20 percent improvement in page flips, but it's clear that the operating system is very capable of redrawing only subsets of the screen—perhaps the software is smarter about that than it was previously, it's impossible to tell. In any case, the result is that anything done on the screen is very much faster—moving the cursor, selecting text, typing, menus, you name it. It's really hard to convey just how much more responsive the device feels.

Matches Malone · 02-09-2009, 04:52 PM

If you head over to youtube and type in kindle, and then have it sort by uploaded today, you can hear the tts demo from the announcement. They also have video showing the e-ink refreshing during page turns, and it looks very fast.

Faenad · 02-09-2009, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Sadly it seems many people won't buy a reader if PDF isn't in the bullet-point list of features. They don't realize it sucks and is therefore relatively insignificant until they try it. I give Amazon some credit for listing the conversion as "Experimental" rather than just saying they support it. They realize they can't support it well so they don't mislead you into thinking it's going to work the way most people would expect it to.

I'm one of those people that won't buy a reader if it doesn't support PDF.
I do realize how PDF sucks ; on the other hand the majority of the stuff I read is only available in PDF.

I tried every conversion tools and for books with image/tables the results is always very bad, while the native support with reflow I have with my reader is quite usable, if certainly still inferior to every other ebook format.

While this is a deal-breaker, the killer app of the K2 for me is neither the TTS or the sync feature, but the Wikipedia support.
Did none of you ever want to Wikipedia to look for something, and stayed like 30 min jumping from articles to articles?
I already have Wikipedia on my Smartphone in Tomeraider format, but it's far from perfect. I hope that its works right on the Kinddle.

Gideon · 02-09-2009, 04:57 PM

Wikipedia support is in K1, though. That's why no one is talking about it.

I actually use my iPhone for that while reading. The internet is too slow on the Kindle.

Ervserver · 02-09-2009, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

Yeah, I don't want Sephen Hawking reading to me.

Ervserver · 02-09-2009, 05:02 PM

The male voice is, I heard a snippet of the female voice on Engadget and I liked that version a bit better

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alisa

Thanks! I'll have to listen to it when I get home. Is it Hawking-esque.

Ervserver · 02-09-2009, 05:03 PM

good point, this would interface with the dictionary well

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alisa

I wonder if they have a single word or line selection for TTS like the do for dictionary. Sometimes you may just want a single word pronounced for you.

bwaldron · 02-09-2009, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faenad

Did none of you ever want to Wikipedia to look for something, and stayed like 30 min jumping from articles to articles?

Not generally when I am reading a book for pleasure. But the Kindle has Wikipedia support and it works well enough for my limited needs.

Other than battery life, sounds like a cheap netbook might work better for your needs (mainly PDF reading with lots of internet lookup).

Patricia · 02-09-2009, 05:21 PM

The text to speech option is already available for books in MS LIT format. (I discovered this when I started uploading a few LIT format books recently.) I'm not greatly enamoured with the mechanical voice, but it may be useful to others. And you don't need to buy a Kindle for this. Just download MS Reader (which is free) and you can listen on your PC.

Studio717 · 02-09-2009, 06:14 PM

Does anyone know if there's still web access on K2? The Amazon blurb only mentions Wikipedia, no other web access (such as is needed for feedbooks.net).

Alisa · 02-09-2009, 06:15 PM

They mentioned Web search so I would imagine so.

kilofox · 02-09-2009, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ervserver

The text to speech thing seems bizarre to me...its a dated technology that hasn't improved much, to add this to a shiny new Kindle is just weird. Now if they had some improved technology for that purpose then this would be really something

I think they eliminated the card slot because it ate the battery life on the Kindle

Text to Speech is wonderful ... if you are blind. I am not, however could this feature make the Kindle 2 a device a blind person could use? .... Maybe?

Ervserver · 02-09-2009, 06:28 PM

yes for the blind text to speech is wonderful, there are already devices out there for that purpose, and much less than $400. My grandfather was nearly blind, he got one free somehow, Medicare or something ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilofox

Text to Speech is wonderful ... if you are blind. I am not, however could this feature make the Kindle 2 a device a blind person could use? .... Maybe?

CCDMan · 02-09-2009, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Yeah, I don't want Sephen Hawking reading to me.

Unless it was one of his books - then it might be entertaining! <g>

lilac_jive · 02-09-2009, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilofox

Text to Speech is wonderful ... if you are blind. I am not, however could this feature make the Kindle 2 a device a blind person could use? .... Maybe?

Seriously, I just thought there was a bug on my screen because of your signature. Ack!

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02-09-2009, 04:52 PM	#107
Matches Malone Connoisseur Posts: 67 Karma: 9218 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NY, USA Device: PW2, Ipad	If you head over to youtube and type in kindle, and then have it sort by uploaded today, you can hear the tts demo from the announcement. They also have video showing the e-ink refreshing during page turns, and it looks very fast.

02-09-2009, 04:57 PM	#109
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	Wikipedia support is in K1, though. That's why no one is talking about it. I actually use my iPhone for that while reading. The internet is too slow on the Kindle.

02-09-2009, 05:21 PM	#114
Patricia Reader Posts: 11,504 Karma: 8720163 Join Date: May 2007 Location: South Wales, UK Device: Sony PRS-500, PRS-505, Asus EEEpc 4G	The text to speech option is already available for books in MS LIT format. (I discovered this when I started uploading a few LIT format books recently.) I'm not greatly enamoured with the mechanical voice, but it may be useful to others. And you don't need to buy a Kindle for this. Just download MS Reader (which is free) and you can listen on your PC.

02-09-2009, 06:14 PM	#115
Studio717 Addict Posts: 208 Karma: 575 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: California Device: Various Kindles, iPhone, iPad, Galaxy 10.1	Does anyone know if there's still web access on K2? The Amazon blurb only mentions Wikipedia, no other web access (such as is needed for feedbooks.net).

02-09-2009, 06:15 PM	#116
Alisa Gadget Geek Posts: 2,324 Karma: 22221 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)	They mentioned Web search so I would imagine so.