Review of Kindle 2
The all new Amazon Kindle 2 is one great e-book reader. Weighing in at only 10.2 ounces, this little electronic gadget weighs less then your average paperback, yet is capable of holding up to 1,500 of them inside. With only 1/3 inch of thickness, this e-book reader fits nicely into the palm of your hand and was designed to make sitting down and reading for long periods of time even easier. As such, since the average reader will shift hands throughout their reading experience, the Kindle 2 has been designed with a set of page turning buttons on both sides of the device.
Of course what e-book reader would be complete without the availability of wireless technology in which the Kindle 2 is ready to go with 3G wireless. Thanks to the Whispernet, you can connect and download e-books no matter where you are in less then a minute. Of course there is no need to worry about paying any wireless bills because Amazon pays that for you. This is no Wi-Fi technology that requires you to locate a hot spot, because all that you need is a wireless cell signal to access not just books, but also Wikipedia.com.
Using electronic ink technology, the 6 inch display offers a crisp display of the book you are reading while at the same time it is also anti-glare and for most who pick up this device for the first time, you have to ask yourself if it is really a screen, or a piece of paper that you are reading. Because this screen is designed to reflect light just like the regular pages on a book, there is no need for any type of back light which means your batteries will last even longer then ever before. Increase the size of the text with ease so that all your books are in large print or even have the device read the book to you.
By John Luu
Kindle 2 Wireless Reading Device - Review of the Cool Features
This brilliant device has a 6 inch screen (screen resolution is 600 x 800 pixels at 167 ppi), a slimline profile, and is the size of a paperback, it is incredibly light (10.3 Oz), unlike a laptop computer, it does not require an internet or Wi-Fi connection as it uses Amazons own 3G network called Whispernet to download reading material.
The Whispernet network offers phenomenal speed which enables the Kindle 2 to beat other portable readers (notably the iPhone) for download speeds, what is more it is free so you do not have to pay any wireless network access fees.The Whispernet network has coverage in over 100 countries around the world and so Kindle users can still download their newspaper or magazines when abroad should they need to keep abreast of what is going on at home.
What is unique about the Kindle 2 is that it has direct access to Amazons bookstore with an ever increasing inventory of thousands of books, magazines, newspapers and blogs and this inventory is constantly being updated, a book can be downloaded in about 60 seconds and the price is far less than the cost of the physical book.
Kindle 2 owners have a choice of subscribing to any of hundreds of top newspapers, magazines and blogs and their subscriptions can be auto-delivered over the wireless connection. All New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
Some more cool features of the Kindle 2 are:
- It supports the following file formats: Mobipocket books (MOBI, PRC), plain text files (TXT), topaz format books (.tpz), and Amazon's proprietary DRM-restricted format (AZW). Version 2.3 firmware upgrade for Kindle 2 (U.S. and International) features PDF support.
- It has a battery life of 30 hours and takes 2 Hours to fully charge the battery
- The device can store over 1500 books.
- Paid content for the Kindle can be purchased from various independent sources such as Fictionwise, Mobipocket and Webscription aside from Amazon.
- A feature known as "read-to-me" allows pages to be read out and turned automatically allowing for hands-free usage which could be useful when you are using your hands to do something else, you have the option of speeding or slowing down the reading voice to your liking, and choosing either a male or female voice to read the content.
- The screen is designed to look like paper- a white background with crisp black letters, Words are crisply displayed with no glare or backlight to cause distortion.
- It has a USB interface to enable you to copy data directly from your Computer.
If you are into books, information gathering, reading up on the latest entertainment news, or you own a lot of books and you are running out of book space at home the Kindle is the perfect device for you, it is the in vogue portable electronic reader and is a popular choice for executives and academics.
By Olu Ogidi
