Amazon's Kindle 2 Wireless Reading Device Predicted to be a Success for the Holidays

Online, October 17, 2009 (Newswire.com) - The evolution toward e-reading devices as the dominant means of reading books is rapidly gaining recognition. A mass-market solution will also involve pricing that acknowledges how much cheaper it is to distribute books digitally; currently Amazon sells e-books for about half the price of their hardcover equivalents. But for now, the Kindle 2 is the closest thing to this magic formula.

The dense, readable display and paperback size allow readers to sink into an author's world just as they do with a physical tome. But this "book" is augmented by digital technology, allowing you to store hundreds of manuscripts, search through them, and look up words in an onboard dictionary, on the web or through Wikipedia. It also has a free wireless connection to the Amazon Kindle store -- now hawking 230,000 books (as well as magazines and newspapers).

The Kindle 2 is zippier, with pages turning 20 percent faster (yes, you can tell the difference). It has more memory (2 gigabytes, enough for storing more than 1500 books onboard). And it flaunts a more powerful built-in battery, which lasts about four to five days with the wireless on and up to two weeks with it off. After 500 charges, it will hold 80 percent of its original juice. That means that most users won't have to replace the battery for about a decade or so.

This Kindle 2 has generated great buzz with its "read to me" function that transforms any book into an audio book. With the Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read English newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you. You can switch back and forth between reading and listening, and your spot is automatically saved. Pages automatically turn while the content is being read, so you can listen hands-free. You can choose from both male and female voices which can be sped up or slowed down to suit your preference. In the middle of a great book or article but have to jump in the car? Simply turn on Text-to-Speech and listen on the go.