Kindle v2
Posted on: October 4, 2008Author: Cali Lewis
10 comments so far (is that a lot?)
The Boy Genius Report is a blog with an emphasis on mobile phone. The Boy Genius, himself, has a knack for getting leaked (and not fake) images of all manner of gadgetry and oops, he did it again! He has shots of, and information about, the second generation Kindle from Amazon.com.
It’s a little wider and the edges are a little rounder, so it won’t leave an indention in your palm when you hold it like v1 does. BGR says,
“…on the right side, the bottoms from top to bottom are: Home, Next Page, Menu, a joystick, and Undo. On the left side, there’s Previous, Page, and Next Page. We’re told the buttons are significantly smaller to avoid accidental page turning. The joystick takes the place of the scroll wheel and it ‘takes a little getting used to.’”
The back is mostly metal and it appears to have speakers. The best change is that it charges via mini USB. The worst change is that it looses the SD card slot.
BGR has additional photos, if you’d like to see more.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:01 am
No SD slot?!? That takes half the hacking fun out of the Kindle :/. Hopefully it ends up having SD expansion. How many MP3s can you put on internal memory anyhow For a converged reading device (audio and visual books), bad choice. Though I must say that the newer Knindle looks a little less butt-fugly.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Wow looks awesome
October 4th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I can’t decide if this is truly version 2.0 or a rejected 1.0 that is just now leaking.
In so many ways, this is a step back – no SD card slot, no visible switch to disable Whispernet (may be via software), cramped keyboard, joystick?!?!?!
I love my Kindle. It is my favorite gadget purchase ever and while it does have some flaws, I think I would rather have the v1.0 over this purported v2.0. Until full specs are released by Amazon, I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that this really is a reject from the pre-v1.0 pile.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Unlike the new iPods, in Kindle v2 I was hoping for something that would make me want to buy the new one. I don’t think I see anything that is a drastic improvement over the original. The side buttons are smaller, but still located on prime grabbing space. One of the things I admired about the new Sony eBook reader was that the sides were button-free. I love the Kindle and admire its tight integration with Amazon. (I realize that’s not regarded universally as a good thing, but I get all my dead tree books there, so it works for me.) I don’t expect to be moving to the Sony option anytime soon, but it’s a bit disappointing that a year of refining development only produced round corners, round buttons, and USB charging while costing an SD slot. Maybe it’s got some incredible software improvements we don’t know about yet — I hope so.
October 4th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
This can’t possibly be the new Kindle. It’s not even pink!
October 4th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
“…looses the SD card slot.” -> loses*
October 4th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
if this is true, then it proves that amazon certainly cannot design a product that looks good. i am disappointed at the design of this iteration. the back doesn’t even match the front! i was hoping it would be sleeker and more aesthetically pleasing (translation: not beige white nor mismatching colours). it’s like i’m seeing something from the 1980s omni magazine that was considered sleek back in the days.
-the display has a bigger gap between its edge and the edge of the case -reminiscent of old lcd displays with beveled edges. wasted space.
-keep the sd slot. there’s no valid reason to remove it.
-make it aluminum or silver option -as well as other colours. something sleek and pleasing to the eye. something the reader would be enthusiastic of picking up and use. something inspiring to use to study and read with.
-work on colour e-ink technology. comic books, illustrations, and magazines could certainly benefit. no more wasted paper and eating up of physical space.
hopefully this is just a mock protoype -if it is indeed real- and not the final design.
if this real, then i hope some competitor will take advantage of amazon’s mistakes (for two whole design generations) and make a superior product. there is a need and there is a market for one.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I originally loved the idea of the Kindle but now I don’t think I will ever need one. I am always space conscious and I already have a iPhone which many of you do as well. I have been using Stanza the iPhone app for my books now while its not perfect I don’t think it fits an entire page on one screen it is otherwise a very good application. It supports multiple formats pdf, .lit http:// addresses etc. It connects to multiple book stores so your not just stuck with amazon. You can link into your local libraries it will use Bonjour to use the Mac or PC version of the application to upload your books to your iPhone (which also does conversions to a usable format). The application supports the usual navigation options to the iPhone. Best part is its free!
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284956128&mt=8 is the address for the application.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Looks like the same photographer as a lot of those old UFO photos.
December 11th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Which would you choose, the Kindle2 or the Sony