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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Amazon just officially released firmware version 2.5 for Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. It will be delivered automatically via Whispernet but if you do not want to wait any longer, you can download and install the update manually.

Just go to www.amazon.com and follow the instructions.

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My Kindle DX just updated from version 2.5.2 to version 2.5.3. So far I can not tell any differences. Since the .bin file had only a size of about 57kbyte I guess it was just a minor bug fix. Will keep track of that

Rumors are spreading, that Amazon will introduce a new, thinner Kindle in August this year. The display will be  more responsive and sharper but won’t include a touch screen or color.

Well with 0.36″ one thing you have definitely to worry about is the “thickness” of the device…

Other rumors say it’s a black device. The photos you find in the internet seem to show a black Kindle DX, which does not look thinner than the current DX to me.

Maybe Amazon just adds a second color option?

Amazon announced the Kindle for iPad applications availability for users worldwide. It had previously been available for US subscribers only. The Kindle for iPad offers access to the complete Kindle-format bookstore with over 550,000 titles.

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Today Amazon announced in a press release that, in the near future, Kindle software will come pre-installed on many ASUS models including the 1005PE line of Eee PC Netbooks and their UL Series of notebooks.

There is no doubt that preloaded software is not an entirely new concept. But the implied partnership strengthen rumors that the upcoming Eee Pad tablet device will be unveiled by the end of this month.
In spite of the shortcomings compared to an e-Ink display, these devices are useful as reading tools.

Thus, Amazon is simply following its strategy of countering Apple’s iPad and iBooks through ubiquity. Kindle Reader software is available for nearly every big OS or smartphone platform. So buyers are able to easily buy and read e-books on nearly any device. Since netbooks are the most obvious competitors for the iPad, getting Kindle on the Eee PC out-of-the-box makes a great deal of sense for both Amazon and Asus.