Exclusive: Amazon Kindle 2 official images + price + release date

[WilliamG]

And the memory argument may VERY well be moot...

From here:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/...ts-way-to-bgr/

"In the top left corner of the device, it gives you a display of how much memory is left, and our guy’s unit showed 1403 MB."

How is 1.4GB not enough for you guys? :P

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by WilliamG

And the memory argument may VERY well be moot...

From here:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/...ts-way-to-bgr/

"In the top left corner of the device, it gives you a display of how much memory is left, and our guy’s unit showed 1403 MB."

How is 1.4GB not enough for you guys? :P

How is it Amazon's place to tell me how much memory I can have??

[WilliamG]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

How is it Amazon's place to tell me how much memory I can have??

Well, by that logic, they're also telling you on what device to read your books, and how much to spend on them, and what case to buy....

We need to face it. We have no control over these things!

[phenomshel]

Yes we do. We can refuse to buy a device that isn't up to our standards or doesn't have the features we want, write the company and tell them *why* we didn't buy it, etc.

[WilliamG]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Yes we do. We can refuse to buy a device that isn't up to our standards or doesn't have the features we want, write the company and tell them *why* we didn't buy it, etc.

Refuse all you want. You have every right to. (Makes it easier for me to get the new Kindle ) The fact is we're little fish in a big bureaucratic sea. Things like non-removable memory and non-replaceable batteries never had any affect on Apple's policies. Do they care? Nope. Did they have record profits last quarter? You betcha.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by WilliamG

Well, by that logic, they're also telling you on what device to read your books, and how much to spend on them, and what case to buy....

We need to face it. We have no control over these things!

Bull. If it isn't what you want, you don't buy it, and you let them know why.

Sound simple?? It is. The trouble is, most people won't take the time to communicate with the companies involved.

You won't get what you want immediately, but if enough people call, write, whatever, things will change.

Want an example? Look at the new 'version'. If thats what it is. They've listen to all the whines about how ugly it was. Now its just like the others.

[Charbax]

Originally Posted by Charbax

1. Amazon needs to make it work internationally. It could be by providing an HSDPA version for Europe with an empty unlocked HSDPA SIM card slot.

Originally Posted by HarryT

True.

Originally Posted by Charbax

2. Amazon needs to provide Kindle subscription plans which should provide unlimited access to all books, newspapers, blogs and more. For example at below $20 per month. When subscribing through a contract for 6-months to 2-years, the Kindle 2 should be subsidized and sold at a much lower price for example below $99.

Originally Posted by HarryT

In your dreams . It'll never happen.

It has to happen. Google has said they will provide unlimited book subscriptions. It makes no sense not to provide unlimited book, newspaper and blog subscriptions.

Most people probably don't read more than 1 book per month. So just make it an opt-in deal or an opt-out deal for the copyright owners if they want their content to be part of the unlimited subscription deal or not. Or if they want to just provide a discount to subscribers. Thus perhaps certain new books might just get 50% discount for subscribers of that type of global Kindle subscription plan.

Amazon can know which pages people read when, Amazon can know how much time people spend reading each book, each newspaper article and so on. And a built-in ratings system can also let users rate content which gives them better Amazon recommendations. This way Amazon can pay rights holders according to the popularity and the quality rated by users of the Kindle subscription plan.

Also, the Kindle comes with wireless Internet technology. It makes no sense for Amazon not to subsidize the buying price of the device when selling a 6-month to 2-year subscription plan.

I believe that pretty quickly basically all Kindle store books and newspapers will want to be part of this subscription plan. Cause obviously it will provide plenty more monetization for rights holders to be a part of it. Exactly like the ton of cash music rights holders make from unlimited music subscriptions and that video rights holders make from unlimited movies subscription systems like Netflix.

Originally Posted by Charbax

3. The Kindle should natively support Google Books, Google News and Google Reader type of content access. That should be very well integrated. Also browser plugins should make it possible to easily send a whole bunch of stuff from your PC or Laptop browser to read on your Kindle. A one-click browser plugin process when reading websites.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Who would pay for the massive increase in data traffic that this would generate?

Amazon could quite simply charge $1 per 100 megabytes used on such things as browsing using the Kindle web browser as well as downloading using specially made interfaces for Google Books, Project Gutenberg, Google Reader, Google News, Google Blog Search. Even APIs for services like some integrated TechMeme, Digg and any other source of text news on the net. It would be really stupid if Amazon continues to make it hard to access the rest of the textual contents from the Internet on their Kindle device. The Kindle needs to access text from the whole Internet otherwise it can never really be a revolutionizing success.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by WilliamG

Refuse all you want. You have every right to. (Makes it easier for me to get the new Kindle ) The fact is we're little fish in a big bureaucratic sea. Things like non-removable memory and non-replaceable batteries never had any affect on Apple's policies. Do they care? Nope. Did they have record profits last quarter? You betcha.

The new Kindle is all yours, . I just bought an Astak EZ Reader last week. It does everything I want, and does it well. For an example of a company that listens to feedback, check the thread about the Astak Mentor release - RobertB has both listened and responded - and taken our suggestions to heart. He may not be one of the big dogs, but I can guarantee you with customer service and openness like he's got going for him, it's only a matter of time.

[catsittingstill]

I don't care about the looks; I don't care about the shape.

The SD card slot is important to me. The user-replaceable battery is important to me. There was speculation last summer that the K2 would charge from the USB port only, which I think is insane; why would I want to switch from a device that needs a plug in, its power cord, and 2 hours to charge to a device that needs a plug-in, a computer's power cord, the computer, a USB cable of the proper flavor, and 12 hours to charge? The whole point of the wireless was not needing a computer. So charging in a couple of hours without a computer is important to me.

On the other hand, if the K2 can do folders, I might be tempted.

[WilliamG]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

I don't care about the looks; I don't care about the shape.

The SD card slot is important to me. The user-replaceable battery is important to me. There was speculation last summer that the K2 would charge from the USB port only, which I think is insane; why would I want to switch from a device that needs a plug in, its power cord, and 2 hours to charge to a device that needs a plug-in, a computer's power cord, the computer, a USB cable of the proper flavor, and 12 hours to charge? The whole point of the wireless was not needing a computer. So charging in a couple of hours without a computer is important to me.

On the other hand, if the K2 can do folders, I might be tempted.

Again, a moot point. Any device that can charge via USB, you can pick up a USB --> AC charger for under $5. So what's the problem? Plus, who said that the Kindle 2 will be USB charging exclusively? I think that would go against Amazon's mantra, which clearly says "System Requirements: None. No PC is required." So I expect to still see a charger, though for me personally it would not be a big deal... But for Amazon, I think they'd definitely confuse some folks by not offering it, as it brings up the "Oh we need a PC to use this thing..." which clearly is not the case. But then again, some people (e.g. my parents) are not technically minded and don't realize a USB -> AC cable is easily gotten. I guess we'll probably find out tomorrow! I'd wholly expect there to be a proper AC adapter in the box.

[Canyoncarver]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

The new Kindle is all yours, . I just bought an Astak EZ Reader last week. It does everything I want, and does it well. For an example of a company that listens to feedback, check the thread about the Astak Mentor release - RobertB has both listened and responded - and taken our suggestions to heart. He may not be one of the big dogs, but I can guarantee you with customer service and openness like he's got going for him, it's only a matter of time.

There are plenty of worthy alternatives to the Kindle as long as you are okay with very limited methods of content delivery.

Kindle's killer feature is, without a doubt, the ability to download new content anywhere that you are that has Sprint coverage.

This is an extremely powerful feature that cannot be over-emphasized.

My wife had put a Kindle 1 on order for me at the end of 2007 but we canceled the order when March rolled around and it still had not shipped.

In the mean time I have increasingly loathed buying paper books, waiting for them to ship, hauling them around, losing my place in them, etc. Not to mention the annoyance of storage of the books after reading.

I very much expect that I will be getting a Kindle 2 for my birthday late this spring!

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Canyoncarver

Kindle's killer feature is, without a doubt, the ability to download new content anywhere that you are that has Sprint coverage.

This is an extremely powerful feature that cannot be over-emphasized.

You don't need the whispernet to download anywhere. As long as you have a US based credit card and mailing address tied to your account, you can download anywhere in the world that you have internet access......simply download to your computer, then upload to your kindle using the USB cord provided.


THATS the Kindle Killer feature!

[NavyDad6]

New prospective E-book user here and new to this forum. I have done a lot of research on which reader to get and IMHO the best one I see is the Kindle. But since K2 is being released tomorrow, I plan on getting it as soon it is confirmed being released.

I narrowed my selection down to the Sony reader or the Kindle.

I do like the looks of the Sony readers, but after comparing books available at the Sony bookstore to what is available at the Kindle store, Kindle wins hands down. More books available and at a lower price.

And since Kindle is from Amazon, I would expect that more books would be released for the Kindle than any other reader.

Anyways, thanks for everyone's posts.... they did help me make my decision.

[Andybaby]

if amazon gets subscription based ebooks + reader subsidization. you can bet i will be buying one, and not other model can pry my dollar from my pocket for an ebook.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by NavyDad6

New prospective E-book user here and new to this forum. I have done a lot of research on which reader to get and IMHO the best one I see is the Kindle. But since K2 is being released tomorrow, I plan on getting it as soon it is confirmed being released.

I narrowed my selection down to the Sony reader or the Kindle.

I do like the looks of the Sony readers, but after comparing books available at the Sony bookstore to what is available at the Kindle store, Kindle wins hands down. More books available and at a lower price.

And since Kindle is from Amazon, I would expect that more books would be released for the Kindle than any other reader.

Anyways, thanks for everyone's posts.... they did help me make my decision.

Hello NavyDad6 and welcome to MobileRead.

Even if the kindle 2 isn't released tomorrow, the Kindle 1 is a more than worthy choice.

Remember, you have a 30 day, moneyback guarantee if you decide you don't like it.

Glad enjoy the site, and stick around. You'll learn lots about whichever device you choose!