Our rendering
An insider let slip that two new Amazon Kindle models will hit stores this holiday season, with the first coming as early as October.
The first is an updated version with the same sized screen, a smaller form factor, and an improved interface. The source told us that Amazon has “skipped three or four generations,” comparing the old Kindle to the 1st gen iPod and the new version to something like the sexy iPod Mini.
The second new model, which is shaped like an 8 1/2 x 11-inch piece of paper, is considerably bigger than the current model and should be available next year.
Both models should come in multiple colors and may be aimed at younger readers.
The original Kindle, which launched last November, has been widely regarded as a success, though Amazon has curiously refused to release any numbers related to its sales figures. In May, Citigroup Analyst Mark Mahaney estimated that Amazon may sell $750 Million in Kindles by 2010. The same report also guessed that Amazon has only sold between 10,000 and 30,000 Kindles to date, suggesting that it may display the same exponential growth seen by the iPod during its climb from 129,000 units sold in its first quarter to worldwide dominance, with over 100 million sold.
Are you serious? I just bought one. I think I’ll return it, as I bet the new interface will be much, much improved. I’m a regular early adopter, and used to accepting the reality of improved models, but this is just too expensive of a device to be screwed over on, in my opinion!
Seriously? An “early” adopter who didn’t buy in the first 3 months? That isn’t an early adopter.. that’s an adopter. The Kindle 1.0 came out in the fall of last year, and now you are complaining because the 2.0 comes out about a year later.
Alex’s comment is right on target.
Another thing… You decided that you were going to exchange something of value for your $$. You must have thought it was a good value or you wouldn’t have done it. If Kindle 2.0 comes out, that doesn’t make the value of what you have any less. You might have buyers remorse for not waiting, but that’s not “being screwed over”. If it comes out and it’s worth upgrading to the Kindle 2.0, you might find people willing to take your 1.0 off your hands on eBay. Then you’ll get some of your money back to put towards a 2.0.
In the meantime, make good use of your Kindle 1.0, and get your moneys worth!
Yeah.. don’t believe everything you read… sorry not buying this, and making it bigger.. find that hard to believe too
MY insider on the design team tells me Dec of 2009… no one wants to drag around a kindle that size.. its simply too large.. I think you were given a bad tip
Yeah.. don’t believe everything you read… sorry not buying this, and making it bigger.. find that hard to believe too
MY insider on the design team tells me Dec of 2009… no one wants to drag around a kindle that size.. its simply too large.. I think you were given a bad tip
Any rumblings on when the Kindle will be offered internationally? Canada in particular?
No one cares about canada. Right?
Is your comment a joke? Can you even locate Canada on the map?
Who would want to locate Canada? But I can, it’s still up north leeaching off America.
Face it, you and Mexico would not exist without the good ole horrible, mean, nasty US of A! Casey
Why no just order it off of amazon.com dummy
‘Dummy’ is as ‘Dummy’ writes… read the shipping info, Einstein: it only ships within the US. If someone is asking about the availability in Canada, it’s because they’ve actually read the information on the website. Furthermore, how deep are you in the swamp for calling someone a ‘Dummy’ for asking a question. It’s better to have some of the questions than all of the answers, as James Thurber once commented. People who ask questions actually think. And read.
Well, Einstein, if you read the shipping info, it clearly states that they only ship within the US. SNAP!
LOL @ DMO!
Like all other things, I’d bet we’ll be waiting for a long time. Of course, the advantage is that we’ll hopefully have a good product by the time it gets here. Always a silver lining.
The comment that ended up under Ni’s intelligent scribble was actually meant for you, Trent. “Like all other things, I’d bet we’ll be waiting for a long time. Of course, the advantage is that we’ll hopefully have a good product by the time it gets here. Always a silver lining.”
I have mixed feelings about this rumor.
It would be the time to bring out a new model. Given what amazon has learned i bet they would be able to release a new Kindle that would be not only cheaper, but probably better in just about every respect.
Hopefully they do an update for all older Kindle units for the updated interface.
I give this a 50/50 chance.
More likely i would imagine a serious price cut. If they could get the Kindle down to $199 i think they would have a real winner
I tend to agree on the price cut (even more than recent) coming approx 3-4 months prior to any new release. Also, it WOULD build much good will to early adopters if Amazon does upgrade the firmware to any new user interface. So, if you’re listening Amazon - don’t forget your large pre-existing customer base.
My biggest gripe with the “e-ink” is the flash to black during page turning. I understand that this is reportedly part of the “technology” of the display - and love the readability otherwise - but there must be an alternative to this animation; perhaps flashing to a blank/white screen rather than black?
Whenever a new Kindle DOES come out, hope it doesn’t look like what’s in the picture here!
Just bought one, but I’m hoping for quick development and multiple iterations. They’ve got to fix the design idiocies pronto. (And I love my Kindle.) Hoping for a few models targeted to different needs. For me– get rid of the keyboard and the browser, and give me a model that’s just about books.
If you want ot get rid for keyboard and browser - just switch to Sony Reader, that would be exactly what you are asking. Fortunately, Kindle is more than that - so you can choose what you want - device to attach to your PC like Sony Reader, or Kindle which is independent device on its own
Just move the damned keys out of the way so they aren’t so easy to press by mistake.
How did the key layout ever pass Beta. Did they test it on arthritics with no range of finger movement?
I love my Kindle, bring it with me wherever I travel, and have read more in the last year thanks to it than in the previous three years without it. But, the current device is limited in _so_ many ways, I can’t wait to purchase a new one. Needed features:
1.More resolution. It is completely incompatible with Technical Reference manuals - not enough resolution/not large enough for Diagrams. Light fiction, it’s great - so I’ll keep the old one.
2. Better Key Layout - My fingers now have enough memory when touching my kindle to _not_ hit one of the prev/next/back buttons - but there are acrobatics and _very_ precise placement of the finger required.
3. A compatible night light location (too much to hope for backlighting) - I have a couple, and the “mighty bright” is ok, but there isn’t a good place to place it one the kindle.
4. More robust - I’ve broken two, one by simply pressing against the screen with another book - no visible damage - just a dead kindle. Compare that to my iPhone which has been close to indestructible.
That’s about it - it really is a phenomenal device, and, combined with an SD card, basically has eliminated my need to purchase physical books for fiction reading.
And Kindle ebooks that you buy need to also be readable on your Mac/PC.
And while we’re at it, I’d like a pony.
You can use a Kindle anywhere in the world, you just can’t download books via the wireless connection. Just download them from the website and upload them to the Kindle. Most countries’ Ebay sites offer people in the US who are willing to ship Kindles worldwide WITH compatible power cables too.
I’d like to replace all my Toronto papers to be read on the Kindle plus the New York Times, blogs and some rss feeds. How long does it take to do a download from the Internet to my PC via my Rogers cable and can I automate this easily?
Kindle 2.0..I’ve just received one of those (particularly the second one) from my dad. It’s somewhat a pretty cool gadget to have. It would have been hotter though if I received a blue-colored Kindle. You know what I received?…A pink one. Very girly. LOL!
While I can’t comment on timing (though releasing a new one before Xmas would be smart), I can say that the larger version may be targeting people who will use it for “work.” So people who have to do editing, etc. would carry that around instead of a laptop. Feedback from agents and editors seems to be favorable overall… especially the fact that people don’t have to carry around large piles of printed documents.
I wouldn’t be surprised (read: am inviting) if at some point, 3rd party software starts to pop up like a PowerPoint converter, games, or a touchscreen…
I’d carry a Kindle that is the size of a piece of paper…love my tablet - it is a perfect size for reading & writing on. It is the weight and thinness that is important…small and larger will slide into my bag.
I would love to have an 8 1/2 x 11 kindle. I need to read pdfs from online journals and google books. A nice thin kindle would be perfect!
the large screen kindle is for real. and it will target the student crowd. Think textbooks on the kindle. huge market.
iPhone (and similar devices) will kill the Kindle for reference books.
I bought a Kindle to use for a growing collection of PDF reference books, and returned it after exhaustively trying to make it do the job.
Inflexible formatting, and slow as molasses page redraws are killers.
The first problem is that the Kindle doesn’t like fixed format. This makes programming code based reference material truly unusable. The only alternative is to use freeware tools to convert the PDF’s to an eBook of images, but you loose hyperlinks and your eyesight must be good enough squint at the now pico sized text. Imagine textbook pages shrunk to a paperback….
I bought a couple of the same textbooks in native Kindle format from Amazon, but they too were hopeless. The formatting was horrendous, but worse was the navigation speed.
The etch-a-sketch style screen takes about 2 seconds to refresh between page turns. That didn’t sound like much to me before buying it, but imagine flicking through a normal reference book, from page to page, reference to page, or index to page. Slow as molasses. Enough to make me want to throw the device at a wall after just 10 minutes of use.
Anyway, true to form as an early adopter I have an iPhone, and Nokia 810. Both much smaller screens, but both truely blow the Kindle out of the water for reference material.
The **caveat** here is that for novels the Kindle is superb. It’s fluid and perfectly suited to lounging in a chair and relaxing into a good story. Not worth $400 to me though.
Hope this saves someone who’s looking for a portable reference library all the trouble I went though.
i can second the iphone/nokia 810 == great for programming books comment. the screens are small, but i can read them well (especially on the 810). i wanted to get a kindle to do the exact thing you did, so: thanks for the post, Brett!
Color, cheaper books, full PDF support and better personal document support. That’s it. Make it happen and my checkbook is open, Amazon.
I don’t believe this is rugged enough. The old Kindle model looked like it will break if you drop it, which has a good likelihood of happening if you use Kindle on the go like you are supposed to.
Kindle 1.0 is awesome. Don’t let these non-owners tell you otherwise. It works with PDF, it’s so simple and easy to add content and so what if it costs $.10 to load your favorite pdf’s, $.10 is practically nothing. I get wall street journal and my favorite blogs delivered daily for about $18 a month and I get free internet access. It is so worth it.
Amazon would have my money if I could sync my google reader to it without having to pay the ridiculous charge for every blog i want to read. i know you can do this on the iphone, but i would want to be able to download a bunch of my favorite blogs and read only them on a long flight. without destroying the battery. until then i’ll sit on the brink of near - kindle ownership.
google reader works fluidly with the kindle. I just got mine this morning and already have google reader fully integrated. To top it off… the google reader is web based so - It’s FREE!!! yes, any blog that you want is accessible for free via the kindle by using google reader.
hope that this helps knock you off the fence!
here’s a thought that’ll never happen:
what if bloggers added the text of all their posts to wikipedia so kindle users could read blogs for free? or if there was a wordpress plugin that could do that? is that spamming?
i suppose that would not fly with the editors of wikipedia.
It better come with native PDF support!
Well, I just sent this to the SEC. Spreading false rumors that affect stock prices is illegal. And if true, disclosing inside material information is also illegal.
Wow. Don’t read any macinsider or engadget/gizmodo then… you’ll get arrested for spamming the SEC!
Anybody seen this new eBook reader? Looks way cooler than the Amazon brick:
http://www.readius.com/
How do you hold this in your right hand? When it becomes available, that is. Is the image inverted for the right hand? The Kindle is hardly a brick; have you EVER held one…in either hand?
I’ve seen it at a few shows… REALLY cool. However, it is noticeably smaller than the Kindle’s display (even when it is totally unfolded). I’m not sure I would want to read a whole book on it.
Readius is still a concept. Kindle is an actual product that you can hold in your hands and use.
Doesn’t anyone think the books on Amazon are totally overpriced? I don’t mind paying 300-400$ for the Kindle, but then to be pegged with a $10 charge every time I buy a book is ridiculous when you consider when you are getting for $10 and what they are losing.
I bought my Kindle after I paid $9.99 for a new paperback, which by the time it’s published as a PB is 8-10 months old. Now I can purchase newly published works for $9.99. Older books are less. Lots of free books available too. Great investment for my reading pleasure.
“…what they are losing,” no idea what you mean.
I believe Casey meant that “they are losing nothing” since they still have the product. Electronic downloads are the gift you can keep on giving. (and keep a copy or two for yourself. Actually, there is still a service or a transaction that requires labour which involves a cost.
I’ve had a Kindle 1 since March.
Page turns? I’ve timed it - less than 1 second. And faster than I can turn a physical page.
Yes, the interface needs work for version 2.0.
Yes, the ‘experimental browser’ needs to be upgraded and work better.
PDFs? You can put them on now without the .10 cent charge - get Mobipocket Converter Pro.
I agree, I still wouldn’t use it for technical documents or anything with much imagery.
$10 books? I have 200 books on my Kindle now, and haven’t paid more than $7 for any book - and many are free (thank you, Gutenberg). Again, Mobipocket converter works great.
Is there room for improvement with version 2? Heck, YES. Name me a piece of first gen tech that CAN’T stand some improvement! That’s the nature of the beast, folks.
I don’t see the iphone as a real alternative for reading - the screen’s far too small. Maybe it’s my age (45), but that doesn’t appeal to me.
Usually, I’m not an early adopter of tech - I wait for version 2. This time, I’m glad I took the plunge. I haven’t picked up a paper book in months.
I’ve been begging for a letter/A4 sized Kindle since they were first introduced. A large (potential) segment of the market for eBooks is not novels, but textbooks — which tend to have short print runs and thus are very, very expensive (many run over $100, some much more). Throw in comics, academic papers, magazines, and illustrated books, and you have a huge unserved market.
(Remember also, it should still be extremely lightweight. It’d only be the thin plastic screen and the case that would be bigger. My guess is less than a pound.)
A smaller, pocket-sized one would be great for reading books on the go. The original was in an awkward place — too big to pocket and too small for anything but plain text.
Now if they add WiFi and sell it outside of the US I’ll be really happy.
I’ve been chugging along with an RCA/Rocketbook since 1999. LCD display, backlight, and I can convert pretty much any doc format with the old RocketLibrarian.
Now, having established my cred as a REALLY early adopter, I agree that Kindle 1.0 leaves much to be desired.
If 2.0 offers multiple doc format support, a backlight and better ergonomics… and a lower price… sure, I’ll be all over it.
The E Ink technology doesn’t allow for backlight… they could do a front light.
I love the Kindle.
I too read more now because of it and the breadth of works available is astounding if you look around.
Speaking of that… you do not have to pay for most of your favorite blogs. Use the browser.
Yes, improvements will help in 2.0
But as skeptical as I am… I’m glad I was early into this technology.
When will it finally be available to use in Europe? Preferably version 2.0 of course. Why does Amazon make it so hard for us to like? Think about it: no needed requirements, paying for blogs (??) and not internationally available. Sjeesh, one might think they do not wánt it to become a real success…
They have to charge you for blogs, since Sprint charges Amazon for the data access. I don’t know why they chose EVDO for the WhisperNet. Had they gone with AT&T or T-Mobile (granted, neither of them offer data rates as good right now, but that’s changing all the time) they would have been able to offer world-wide connectivity.
I’ve heard that the problem with international access is publishing rights. If the publisher has given electronic rights in the USA but not in France, for example, the idea is that it would be too easy for a person in France to get the book electronically. As posted elsewhere, if you have (or can use) a USA address to get a Kindle, you can get around that by purchasing the book on Amazon and then loading it via USB, as you can already do with the free.kindle email address.
“Walt asks if the recent Kindle price cut is a preface to the introduction of the next Kindle. Bezos says it’s not: The next iteration of the device is a ways off.” May 28, 2008
http://d6.allthingsd.com/20080528/bezos/
In CEO murk-speak ‘a ways off’ could easily mean OCtober
No, the Kindle isn’t perfect, but it’s a damn good reader with benefits. Would I buy a larger thin one? If the screen resolution of diagrams and illustrated pages is greatly improved, I might consider. But I like the current size, which is the same as a trade paperback and have no desire for smaller one.
I’ve had mine for 2 months, have 45 books loaded, half were free. I took it on a European trip, it charged beautifully and I had a number of books to read without lugging them.
I ran out of book shelf space in my house, so that’s why I bought it. Yes, the interface needs improvement, especially by providing an easy indexing/folders ability. That’s the #1 item on the Kindle wishlist, closely followed by a major re-design of the awkward to use controls.
But the idea of the Kindle is that it be easy to use by anyone, including readers who don’t own or use computers. There are many complex gadgets out there, but only a handful of readers and that market is what Amazon went for. It’s not competition for a laptop or an iPhone.
I bought my Kindle during the first 4 hours, before it sold out on the first day. I am as addicted to my Kindle as my boss is addicted to his Blackberry. Blackberry is my boss’s crack. Ditto as regards me and my Kindle.
In the entire time from November to now, I have met one person in New York who had a Kindle. He rushed up to me and we excitedly compared notes on our Kindle experiences.
I use my Kindle mostly on trains and subways. In rush hour traffic on a public transportation there is nothing that can beat a Kindle.
I do keep a few books on my Kindle, but the primary reason I keep it with me at all times is because every morning my Kindle receives the latest issues of the Shanghai Daily, The Irish Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and a weekly magazine called ” Opinionated: Voices and Viewpoints on America and the World Opinionated: Voices and Viewpoints on America and the World”.
The Kindle (due to all the newspapers I read on it) has changed my life.
I don’t worry about the 2 second delay to turn a page because I simply press the “next” button two seconds before I want to read the next page and meanwhile read the current page. There’s a rhythm to it that you get the hang of.
One of the best features is the ability to look up the meaning of any word you are reading in two clicks.
I am practically salivating at the prospect of buying new Kindles as new models go GA.
I have to disagree with the poster who said that noone wants to carry around a kindle “that large”. Have you considered the academic market? A larger screen permits marginalia notes and is considerably easier on the eyes. Furthermore, the ergonomics are an issue that needs to be addressed and I (as well as most of my friends and colleagues in English Depts. across the nation) am waiting for a better version before investing so much money on something. Consider this: we spend at least fifty percent of our day reading books. The ease of use, familiarity, and accessibility of the medium for that activity needs to be taken into consideration.
Has Amazon considered something like Kindle Scholar?
I agree with Jobe. Being a graduatre student, I read 20 -30 journal articles a week. I try hard to read most of them on the computer to save paper (1000’s of pgs) but get so tired of having to switch from adobe to word to write about the articles. Having a journal article printed and easy to pick up and read and flip through and put down is essential!!! Kindle Scholar!!!! Possible connected to Google Scholar and in the future and Endnote Interface able to sync with computer. Must be life size reader for usability!!!! I would lay down cold hard loan money right now to buy something that cool!! Textbooks also!
I am very pleased to hear of a large Kindle. My father would really love a Kindle but his vision requires such large text that only a few lines can be displayed at any time. Very annoying. Hooray for Amazon, recognizing the older crowd.
I read somewhere (NYT? WSJ?) that Amazon has to pay the publisher the same price for the e-version of the book they sell for the Kindle as for a hard copy. This means, according to the article, that Amazon is losing money by selling ebooks at $10. So they are subsidizing the content to help sell the hardware. I don’t think we’re gonna see Amazon drop the price unless the publishers do.
How did you receive a product that hasn’t been released or announced yet? And if my daughter said hot like that, I’d assume she wanted pink too. And I’d drink a lot.
I’ve heard this is a false rumor, and that it’s more likely to be the following year before a new generation Kindle comes out.
I’m interested in Kindle, I have a e-Bookwise 1150 and absolutely love it. But Kindle has a larger selection of books and more quickly. (for example, if only Breaking Dawn were available right now in the eBookwise format, I’d be thrilled).
I’d also go for a $199 price. The $340 price is just that too much to make me go ahead and purchase one.
Holly
A friend just got a Kindle. I borrowed it for one day to see how it would go. I loved it. I read the newspaper every morning at my local coffee house. I always feel bad tossing away all that paper every day; even worse about the sections I don’t read.
With the Kindle, knowing nothing at all about it, I was able to buy the day’s copy of the Merc News and it downloaded in the blink of an eye - really. I read it over coffee and found the experience enjoyable. I had to read the news in a more linear fashion than normal, and I read more of each story than I would otherwise.
The Kindle felt great in my hand; it was in the cover. The screen was excellently readable in and out of the sunlight. (I noticed the laptop user next to me was squinting.) Navigation was easy to understand.
On the downside, the time to flip to a new page took me a few minutes to adapt to. I did hit the Go Back button accidentally a few times and had to navigate back to where I was - not hard, just annoying. Clicking the wheel was not a great feel. It worked but I’d suggest lowing the force required. I tried the annotation feature and the web browser. Typing on the keypad is disconcerting as the screen was several characters behind me; I had to do a lot of backspacing. At the top of each article there was a “go to next article” link; I wish that was always available. I often read the first five paragraphs and then want to jump to the next article - with the Kindle I had to page down or back up to the link. Lastly, the thing hung on me twice that morning. Luckily I had been shown the ALT-Aa (or whatever it is) secret to do a reboot. Each time it came back quickly, but I was surprised that my reading the newspaper could put it into a funk so easily.
In the end? I’m buying one.
I’ve seen another blog with a “leaked” picture, it is not much larger, certainly not 8 1/2 by 11. I hope that it does come out and that the price is substantially less as I would love to get one but haven’t because of..
1. The price
and
2. I usually wait to get feedback from blogs “like this one” as to what the use, functions, etc. were worked out.
Version 2.0 usually gets the kinks out so I usually wait for it. Before I became a Mom I was not so concious about where my money went, now I am.
A friend has the first generation Kindle and apparently really likes it. I’ll probably wait for the second generation and hopefully the price will come down.
For those who want to read newspapers on their Kindles, why aren’t more newspapers available? The Washington Times or a smaller circulation newspaper such as the Harrisburg Patriot News would be great additions to the list. Why can’t there be more choices?
Any thoughts as to price of the Kindle 2.0, and/or the student version? Would the student version be acceptabe for reading novels too?
I had a s Sony E-book last year and nearly became violent in dealing with Sony customer service and making the darn thing work on a Mac… I’ll never purchase another Sony product again.
Newspapers have to request to be on the Kindle, so try contacting your newspapers editor. I contacted the Milwaukee Journal editor and customer service dept. asking them to get on Kindle and have not gotten any response.
PLEASE AMAZON! My rich roommates have kindles and I would give anything to get one, like they said, a “kindlescholar,” that could offer textbooks at a cheaper price. In today’s economy, I am terrified of losing one of my two jobs just to keep myself in school, let alone rising tuition and cost of living. If I could read my textbooks on it anywhere and for ANYTHING less than I pay now, I’d easily shell out some reserved loan money. please!
I’ve just placed an order for a Kindle. I am happy to read other people’s opionion on the Kindle. Of course I was aware that there would be some issues as it is a first from Amazon. I am very excited about getting one although it won’t be shipping until March.
I’m buying one because I love books and like to purchase them even if I don’t plan on reading it in the near future or at all in some cases.
I recently moved to another state and I ended up giving away more then half my books. I just did not have room to take them or a place to put them in my new home. I don’t wish to add to my physical collection. So this is a great option. Can’t wait!!
My wife wants one and I am will look forward to the March release so that I can get it for her. I read MANY reviews and most of the negative techy complaints don’t worry me so much. The ergonomics do though. The most common complaint even in the very posative reviews was that the next page button is almost impossible not to hit with typical use and that the slow page change response, +/- a couple of seconds, means that going back to your original page is twice as annoying. This is a major everyday use issue and I hope and expect that this flaw is corrected when the March model comes out. Does anyone have info on this?
Great idea.
Too expensive.
Not ready for the market.
Early adopters allow for sub-par merchandise getting to the market.
Still a good idea, just not ready yet.