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Stephen King Joins Amazon to Unveil Kindle 2 E-Book Reader

by Tom Samiljan on February 9, 2009 at 12:30 PM


Say goodbye to the Speak-and-Spell look of Amazon's Kindle, because this morning the company's co-founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, and author Stephen King unveiled the Kindle 2, a slimmer, slicker, and lighter successor to the original Kindle that launched about 14 months ago (and which has already become one of Oprah's favorite devices).

Besides the size and weight shrink, the main new feature on the Kindle 2 is built-in text-to-speech capability that will literally read your book to you and a five-way joy-stick designed to make maneuverability around newspaper pages easier.

The new device will ship on February 24, but pre-orders are already being taken (and existing Kindle 1 owners will get first priority if they pre-order by Midnight tomorrow, February 10). The site is amazon.com/kindle2.
Do you prefer e-readers or printed newspapers and books?
I prefer e-readers like the Kindle.91 (7.4%)
I prefer printed books and newspapers.746 (60.9%)
I like both.258 (21.1%)
I'm not sure.130 (10.6%)

Unfortunately, at $359, this Kindle is just as pricey as the last one. We wonder how it'll do in this new economy in which buying the hottest gear usually doesn't involve spending an arm and a leg. Arguably, the initial outlay of cash will pay for itself since books will cost no more than $9.99, well below the price of even most paperbacks these days. Regardless, we think it'll take a fast or super-avid reader to make it pay for itself in the next year.

Here are the highlights of the updated device (available after the jump):
Here are the highlights of the updated device:
  • Lighter/Slimmer: 10.2-ounces, .36-inches thick
  • Better Display: Displays 16 shades of gray versus 4 shades on Kindle 1
  • Five-way controller: Ostensibly to get around pages better and faster, we didn't think it helped much -- it did, however, make selecting words for instant dictionary definitions a cinch
  • Battery lasts 25% longer for two days of reading on a single charge, said Bezos
  • Syncs with other Kindle devices, so your latest bookmarks and content updates are the same on all your Kindles.
  • Bigger onboard memory of 2-gigabytes (GB)
  • Built-in text-to-speech reader worked pretty well from what we saw, keeping track of your page as it reads, so you can switch from audiobook to reading mode easily, though you'll have to be okay with a monotonic, intonation-free computerized voice
  • 240,000 books costing $9.99 or less in the Kindle store with more to come: Today, for example, Bezos announced the availability of 'The New Yorker' on the Kindle
  • Custom covers for the back of the Kindle: We saw a flowery design on the backside of one demo Kindle (see slideshow below), but presumably the same custom cover companies that help personalize iPods and laptops will also offer designs for the Kindle 2.
Author Stephen King joined Bezos at one point to read excerpts from 'Ur,' an Amazon-exclusive short story that features a Kindle with a life of its own (it's a pink Kindle, apparently, but doesn't have a name like 'Christine'). King's excerpt sounded like an infomercial-like (a short-story-mercial?) love-letter to the Kindle, but then again, that's the only part we heard. According to the author of 'The Shining,' 'Misery,' and 'Christine' (about a car with a life of its own), the possessed pink Kindle "has mysterious powers, accessing worlds other than our own in which Hemingway may have lived longer and written 14 books, including crime stories."

For more highlights on the press conference, and images, check out Engadget's live coverage of the Kindle 2 announcement.

Tags: amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, breaking news, BreakingNews, e-readers, kindle, kindle 2, Kindle2, new products, NewProducts, top, upcoming

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