[access-uk] Re: Kindle ebook reader

  • From: "Steve Nutt" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:01:04 -0000

Hi David,

I bet any money that you won't be able to navigate book by book and through
the menus etc, without sight.  Betg it only reads an opened book.

Interesting though.

All the best

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
David Russell
Sent: Monday 9 February 2009 18:43
To: Access-Uk@Freelists. Org
Subject: [access-uk] Kindle ebook reader

This is all I can find about the new Kindle ebook reader.

New Kindle ebook reader

Reuters - Amazon unveiled the latest incarnation of its digital book reader,
the Kindle, today in a slimmer version with more storage and a feature that
reads text aloud to users.
The new Kindle, which will still sell for $359 on Amazon's web site, is
available for preorder, and will ship Feb. 24, the company said.
The new version fixes a problem with involuntary page turns, is thinner, and
sports a new five-way controller that allows users to jump between articles
and sections of newspapers. A power charger is more portable and a cover
that comes with the device is more secure, the company said.
The new Kindle is "thinner, faster, crisper, with longer battery life, and
capable of holding hundreds more books," said Amazon Chief Executive Jeff
Bezos in a statement released alongside a company event at New York City's
Morgan Library.
Amazon shares were down 0.7 percent at $65.05 after the news of the release.
First launched by the Seattle-based company in November 2007, the Kindle
allows users to read books and newspapers wirelessly on a device weighing
less than a typical paperback.
It took sales away from Sony Corp, whose Sony Reader beat Amazon to market,
and Amazon touted its existing relationships with book publishers as a plus.


Kindle2 to Launch February 24
-- Publishers Weekly, 2/9/2009 7:21:00 AM

With a media line that stretched nearly to Madison Avenue and such
publishing heavyweights in attendance as Random House's Marcus Dohle and
HarperCollins's Brian Murray, Amazon unveiled the Kindle2 in an elaborate,
and crowded, presentation this morning at New York's Morgan Library. The new
device is significantly slimmer than the original--about as thin as a
pencil--has a text-to-speech function that can read the book out loud, and
easier and improved navigation. The device also includes improved graphics
and more storage--it will hold 1,500 books, Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos said,
and its battery will hold a charge for two weeks.

Kindle2 will debut on February 24 and will still be priced at $359. For
customers who have a Kindle on backorder, Amazon will automatically upgrade
the purchase to the new e-reader. Bezos said for existing Kindle owners,
anyone who orders a new one within 24 hours "will be put at the top of the
queue." It was unclear if current Kindle owners will receive a discount for
upgrading.

In his remarks, Bezos said Amazon had been selling e-books "for years" and
"it wasn't working until 14 months ago" when the Kindle was launched. He
displayed a graph which showed flat e-book sales from 2003 through 2008 when
business spiked, but there were no numbers attached. Bezos did say e-book
sales now account for 10% of sales (and didn't mention the usual caveat that
that figure is for books available in both print and e-book formats). Ian
Freed v-p for Kindle said he hoped the company would be able to keep Kindle2
in stock, something that has sometimes been a problem with the current
version. He said Amazon has increased capacity to meet expected demand. A
new Whispersync feature syncs the new Kindle with the old and Bezos said
Amazon is working on ways to sync the Kindle to other mobile devices.

The presentation included an appearance by Stephen King, a self-described
fan of the Kindle and who was persuaded by Amazon to writer a short story to
be offered exclusively on the device. In the novella Ur, King includes a
scene which is a long product placement for Amazon and the Kindle, and noted
that in the piece the main character's Kindle gives him super powers.

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