New Version Of The Kindle

Amazon is releasing a new version of The Kindle before year's end. But...but...I haven't even tried the first version yet! (I first wrote about it here). Not that any of us would've been able to use it to its full potential here where we are. But technology improvements, man, they're so fast.

I do still hold to my earlier contention that the screen should read like real paper. Or at least have adjustable contrast and brightness controls to reduce glare. What I do like about it, and other e-readers, is that they can do what no printed book can do: adjust the font size. You can read in point size 16 if you want, and for guys like me with thick eyeglasses and aging eyes, that's a boon. Heck, my cellphone text messages are set to 16 points, and I've heard enough snide comments about it to last me for years. :)

Well, maybe one day there'll be an affordable e-book reader here in our parts that's durable and easy to carry. But frankly, if the price isn't low enough, it might be more tempting to get a UMPC (or netbook) and read from that.

This is what caught my attention from the article about the new Kindle, and yes, it's about the screen:

What's Driving e-Book Sales

One of the factors driving the market is innovative screen technology from companies such as Cambridge, MA-based E-Ink, which licenses its E-Ink 'paper' screens to a number of vendors, including Amazon, Sony and Blackberry.

Current e-book readers can be difficult to read and practically useless in some situations. The latest screens are not backlit, and therefore are highly readable in a variety of settings, including full sunlight.

Amazon began the Kindle rollout with 90,000 titles available for instant download via the Sprint 3G network. Estimates of titles available now are at 140,000.

Sony, another big player in the e-book market, uses the same screen as the Kindle in its 505 model eReader. Larger form-factor E-Ink screens are in the Readius and the iRex iLiad, which runs a Linux-based operating system.