As expected a new, no two new Kindles just arrived at amazon.com and will ship from August 27th on.

You now can choose between a $139 WiFi only (available in graphite) and a $189 Free 3G + WiFi (availabele in graphite or bright-white) version of the 6 inch Kindle.

So, the Kindle got WiFi – finally, that is good news, but rises the question, why the more expensive Kindle DX did not get it?

Here are the new features:

• New, High-Contrast E-Ink Screen – 50% better contrast than any other e-reader. The clearest text and sharpest images.
• New and Improved Fonts – New crisper, darker fonts
  • Kindle now has three font styles -  standard Caecilia font, a condensed version of Caecilia, and a sans serif option
  • Support for New Characters -  Cyrillic (such as Russian), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean characters in addition to Latin and Greek scripts
• New Sleek Design – 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6″ size reading area
• 17% Lighter – Only 8.5 ounces, weighs less than a paperback
• Battery Life of Up to One Month – A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off
• Built-In Wi-Fi – Shop and download books in less than 60 seconds
• 20% Faster Page Turns – Seamless reading
• Enhanced PDF Reader – With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights
• New WebKit-Based Browser – Browse the web over Wi-Fi (experimental)

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Rather suddenly the Kindle 2 is out of stock at amazon.com. The recent price cut to $189 could be a reason, but it would not be typical for amazon not planing in advance.

Since there even is no date given, when the Kindle 2 might be available again and due to similar experiences with the Kindle 1 this might point to the arriving of a new Kindle 3. Since we just saw the sudden arrival of the new graphite Kindle DX this seems rather possible.

The last time, when the Kindle 1 suddenly went out of stock in end 2008, early 2009 users who had ordered the Kindle got the Kindle 2 instead.

Amazon has just introduced new Kindle DX 2 for $379. Of course the price for the white Kindle DX also went down from $489 to $379.

So at the moment there are two Kindle DX versions: The new Kindle DX 2 in graphite wich is going to be released on July 7th, 2010. And second the Kindle DX 1 in white. It is being referred to as Kindle DX 2nd generation.

The Kindle DX 2 is basically Kindle DX with better screen contrast and a $110 lower price

There are claims by users at the official Kindle Forum that the screen of the DX 2 is clearer. Amazon stated. that the screen contrast was improved by 50 percent to now 10:1

All New, High Contrast E-Ink Screen: Our graphite Kindle DX uses our all new, improved electronic ink display, with 50% better contrast for the clearest text and sharpest images

Beautiful Large Display: The 9.7″ diagonal E-ink screen is ideal for a broad range of reading material, including graphic-rich books, PDFs, newspapers, magazines, and blogs

Read in Sunlight with No Glare: Unlike backlit computer or LCD screens, Kindle DX’s display looks and reads like real paper, with no glare. Read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room

Books In Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered wirelessly in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Free 3G Wireless: No monthly payments, no annual contracts. Download books anywhere, anytime

Long Battery Life: Read for up to 1 week on a single charge with wireless on or up to two weeks with wireless off.

Carry Your Library: Holds up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents

Buy Books Once, Read Them Anywhere: Kindle books can be read on all your devices. Our Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your Kindle library and last page read across your Kindle(s), PC, iPhone, Mac, iPad, Android phone, and BlackBerry device

Social Networks: Posting meaningful passages to Twitter and Facebook directly from your Kindle

Global Coverage: Enjoy 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries.
Built-In PDF Reader: With Zoom capability to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics

Auto-Rotating Screen: Display auto-rotates from portrait to landscape as you turn the device

Read-to-Me: With the text-to-speech feature

Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases from $9.99.

Finally you can read Kindle books on your Android phone! As with iPhone, iPad and so on no Kindle is required. Or if you own a Kindle, access your Kindle books even if you don’t have your Kindle with you. Automatically synchronizes your last page read and annotations between devices with Whispersync. Adjust the text size, add bookmarks, and view the annotations you created on your Kindle, computer, or other Kindle-compatible device. Read in portrait or landscape mode.

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Amazon today announced a new update to Kindle for iPad and Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch. It allows readers to enjoy the benefits of embedded video and audio clips in Kindle books. The first books to take  advantage of this new technology, including “Rick Steves’ London” by Rick Steves and “Together We Cannot Fail”  by Terry Golway, are available in the Kindle Store.

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It seems that after updating the iPhone to iOS4 the shelf of your iBooks app is empty, even if you already bought some ebooks. If you want to redownload these books, the store recognizes that you already purchased them but wants you to buy them again at full price.

Just to remember: with  my Kindle I can redownload any book I bought on Amazon at anytime anywhere for free! Well actually you can do this with all Kindle applications on any device, but at the Kindle itself even the 3G connection is for free. It goes even further, I actually can download any mobipocket ebook for free from the internet from any site i.e. from google docs.

Also with the Kindle you can read any  ebook purchased at Amazon on any of your devices with a Kindle app running, no matter if its a Kindle, a PC, a Mac, Android device and so on! Any device with an internet connection can instantly download your books, sync the last read position as well as bookmarks and annotations.

The conclusion: “Forget about iBook, and use Amazon Kindle and Stanza for your reading needs.”

Read the hole story over at www.baekdal.com

If you look for a nice stand for your iPad or eBook-reader like a Kindle DX or a nook, the A-frame from Griffin Technology might be the right choice.

Features:

• Simple, beautiful table and desktop stand for your iPad, Kindle, Nook
• Holds the device upright in landscape and portrait views or at a lower, wrist-friendly angle for surfing, reading and more
• Stable aluminum a-frame design
• Non-slip rubber cradle accommodates Griffin’s flexible and hard-shell cases and many others

The A-Frame is a very solid metal – about 1/3rd inch thick – with rubber coatings on the base, where the device sits and in the back (where the top of the device rests). They hold the device in place, protect it and keep the feet from sliding.

The A-Frame folds up, but is still pretty thick. Because of the massive aluminum the weight  feels about the same weight as an iPad.

Also note that it only has 2 positions – standing up  or collapsed. Unfortunately you can’t use any positions besides these two (so if you need a certain angle.. you can’t do it).

You can buy it from amazon.com for about $37

Good news to all Kindle 2 and Kindle DX owners:
A post in the Kindle forum at amazon.com states, that the bugs in version 2.5 are fixed and the update is finally rolling out to the users.

The poster says he had a phone conversation with a young man from Kindle Tech support who told the bugs have been worked out of the 2.5 update and amazon is beginning the roll out now!

The Details:

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If you plan to use an iPad as an e-reader or just as a web pad outside of buildings, for surfing while sitting in park or a street café you should whatch this video first.

At the Computex there was a face off in broad daylight between the iPad and a Pixel Qi netbook. Well, the iPad definitely lost this. It is just not the kind of device you can use outside.

The ASUS Eee Tablet – not to confuse with the Eee Pad – is a digital notebook with monochrome touchscreen and quick 0.1 second page turns. The display has size of 8 inch, a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixel, is not backlight and offers 64-levels of grey.

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