Later today in NYC, Amazon is expected to unveil the K2 (we’ve known this since 1/27, but welcome to the party WSJ) and with it an exclusive Stephen King novel, says the WSJ. There isn’t a whole lot else about this supposed King deal, so we’ll have to wait until the press conference at 10AM today. I hope King shows up so I can kick him in the shins for the countless hours of sleep I lost as a child because of “It.” Be sure to check CG for live coverage of the event.
Amazon’s Kindle screen manufacturer Prime View International, however, did shed some light on the previous Kindle and what to expect from the new hardware.
Confirmed: The Steve King e-novel is named UR and the pre-orders will be downloaded as soon as it becomes available.
It’s no secret that Amazon dropped the ball with the first Kindle as it was sold out for most of its tenure and now PVI has said Amazon won’t be caught with its pants down this time around. PVI is currently churning out more screens to meet the expected demand that the K2 is sure to attract. As expected, the K2 will have a slightly larger screen, says PVI.
An iSuppli analyst was also quoted in the WSJ piece saying that there wasn’t any reason that Amazon couldn’t have met the demand for the original Kindle. We may never know the answer to this baffling predicament. Let’s just hope – for Amazon’s sake – that the K2 won’t be sold out all year.
While Amazon won’t reveal how many Kindles were actually sold, Citigroup Inc. analyst Mark Mahaney believes half a million units were shipped based on reports from Sprint Nextel who is the sole provider of Whispernet. In case you’ve forgotten, Whispernet is the service that allows Kindle owners to download books, surf the Web and update magazine/newspaper subscriptions onto their ebook.
But, again, we’ll have to wait a few more hours until Amazon officially reveals the Kindle 2 and other pertitent info.
I, for one, just hope that they add a WiFi feature or some other alternative to Whispernet. You know, so it can also be available to a non-US user base.
I believe it he’s a pretty up-to-date guy , however, I wish he were doing it on another reader so that I could read it—as much as I love Mr. King I’m not going to downgrade to a kindle reader just to get his new work. I love eBooks, and I’m glad that Amazon’s position as a major entity is calling attention to eBooks. However, Amazon’s proprietary format is a HUGE problem. I don’t want to be locked into buying eBooks from only one source, and I want to be able to read my eBooks wherever I am – including on my desktop at work. I used my sister’s Kindle for a few weeks last year, and was unimpressed. There are great alternatives out there – I currently use the Cybook, which is lighter, more attractive, cheaper, and I can buy eBooks from a variety of sources (more about the Cybook). The Kindle, while frequently touted as a “huge leap forward”, really exemplifies why so many people are hesitant to try eBooks.
I believe it he’s a pretty up-to-date guy , however,I wish he were doing it on another reader so that I could read it—as much as I love Mr. King I’m not going to downgrade to a kindle reader just to get his new work. I love eBooks, and I’m glad that Amazon’s position as a major entity is calling attention to eBooks. However, Amazon’s proprietary format is a HUGE problem. I don’t want to be locked into buying eBooks from only one source, and I want to be able to read my eBooks wherever I am – including on my desktop at work. I used my sister’s Kindle for a few weeks last year, and was unimpressed. There are great alternatives out there – I currently use the Cybook, which is lighter, more attractive, cheaper, and I can buy eBooks from a variety of sources (more about the Cybook). The Kindle, while frequently touted as a “huge leap forward”, really exemplifies why so many people are hesitant to try eBooks.
Stephen King to launch Kindle exclusive today… a rumor ..i cant believe this
Why not? He is always wanting to be on the cutting edge… break new ground… test the possibilties. He tested the concept of publishing online and allowing the reader to determine the value of the publication. He also brought back the old serial publication…
I would not be a bit surprised!
nice
The Kindle looks like such a cool device and I’ve been really intrigued by it since version 1 came out.
And even though I use the web for pretty much everything and I’m all about all things digital, I just can’t bring myself to give up old fashioned – real paper – page turning books.
Am I becoming the minority or are more of you still in favor of a page instead of a screen?
We are a smaller and smaller minority, us book types. I cannot give up the printed book, as fascinating and cool as the Kindle seems. Trips to the library are part fo my sanity plan. I am totally digital on news between my Blackberry, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc., but the beauty of a Vanity Fair or the smell of a brand-new Stephen King novel are sense memories I am not willing to give up. Poor, poor trees.
I’ve been saying for a while that books are not the “killer app” for eBook readers. It’s periodicals. And blogs.
Carrying a book around isn’t a problem that needs solving. Most readers do not need to carry around more than one book at a time.
We have a long standing affection for books, But not so for periodicals. I’d be happy to stop wasting all of that paper. And I might eventually start to think about buying eBooks once all of my other reading activities are taking place on the Kindle.
The most interesting thing about the pictures, IMO, is the lack of the silver bar along the right side of the screen, which on the K1 was used to highlight individual lines and select menu items. Additionally, the roller that controlled that silver navigation bar looks to have been replaced with a joystick. To me, this suggests that the K2 has a high enough refresh rate to handle basic navigation on screen, as opposed to requiring a seperate area.
This is huge news! A game changing device being released by the horror king himself!
cooljobsalways
http://tinyurl.com/7uj5ay
I only hope it will become available in my country one day :(
I am from India and I am waiting to buy one. Any idea when it will be available here?
would that be available in india ? looks good .
Iam from egypt , Amazon is not available in my country , also Sony Reader is not available in my country , what is the hell ? why they don’t sell this stuff here ?
A huge part of the Kindle concept is the connectivity, which they haven’t figured out for customers outside the US. Amazon’s business plan for the Kindle falls apart without it.
in the last replay i men amazon kindel not amazon :)
Well, PVI’s factory output has always been blamed but actually it’s not their fault. E-Inks have huge weakness in yield percentage and are simply not ready for mass production yet.
so, your source is the website?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00154JDAI
When is the Kindle going to be available in the Uk/Europe?
When is Amazon going to upgrade the Kindle to become a netbook?
thanks
I cant believe this…
http://notebooksplanet.com/en/
Ah i just love the kindle. Got one yesterday and now playing around with it
I’m shocked more people aren’t talking about the serious privacy-rights implications of the Kindle. Sure, it’s convenient, but is it worth your civil liberties?
I can’t imagine serious readers using these things. Probably for people who intend to read books, but find going to the library is too inconvenient.
Headline is misleading…the article is more about Kindle than the King book.
I for one think thats bullcrap. Doesn’t the kindle cost like 300 bucks? Sorry poor stephen king fans, his new book costs 300 bucks if u want to read it. Shame on him for agreeing to this deal.