Most of you guys already know and some of you must have already used the awesome new Amazon Kindle. For those of you who haven't, here's a hands-on review of Amazon's flagship E-book reader. And by-the-way, also keep a look-out for my e-book reader comparison post which I will be writing shortly.
OK, so what exactly is Amazon Kindle? The first thing that comes to mind is: It's an e-book reader. But that's not all. The Kindle can also be used for Audible and mp3 audio-books, text files, and after WiFi/3G integration in Kindle 3, it can also be used to access the internet on-the-fly. So now, you can also read your favorite online journals, newspaper and blogs on the incredible Kindle!
Now lets take a look into the technical specifications of the Amazon. Don't worry I'm not gonna bore you with stuff that isn't useful.
The Kindle originally had a 6"(diagonal) gray-scale screen. As for memory, it featured 250 MB of internal memory and also had a SD card expansion slot. It could store roughly around 200-250 non-illustrated titles.
The Kindle has gone a long way since then and it now features a 9" screen with E-ink "Pearl" display. The E-ink "Pearl" basically leads to better contrast leading to a better reading experience. The memory has also been buffed up. The new Kindle 3 boasts of 4GB internal flash memory of which 3.3GB is accessible by the user. A Kindle 3 is capable of storing upto 3000 non-illustrated titles. The biggest addition to the Kindle is the 3G and WiFi modem. There are two models of the Kindle 3. One has only WiFi while the other has both, 3G and WiFi. Another cool addition to the list of features in the new Kindle is the text-to-speech-menu feature. Now you won't need to read the menu options to navigate around the Kindle. Apart from that, you can not only listen to books aloud, but also listen to content listings on the home screen, item descriptions, and all menu options.
Now, I'd like you guys to check out one significant detail. When the Kindle was first launched, it was priced at 399$ and compared to the current Kindle 3, it is erm....lousy. The price of the Wifi Kindle 3 is only 139$ while the 3G+Wifi Kindle is priced at 189$. Apple and Co. should follow by example. The Kindle has become much more affordable than it was when it was first released, unlike several other electronic gadgets.
Amazon, has clearly tried to do everything in its power to make the Kindle more reader-friendly. The new Kindle is at least 20% smaller than the previous versions, and this makes it more comfortable to hold for a long duration of time.
There are also a lot of changes made to the keypad design of the new Kindle. The new page-turn buttons are smaller and less noisier than previous models. Oh! And by-the-way, page turning is now much faster than before. Amazon claims a clear 20% increase in speed, but that's a little exaggerated. Also, the navigation button has been modified and integrated into the more compact keyboard. That's all for the better.
So, overall, the Kindle has been buffed up and toned down into one of the best and most sophisticated e-book reader till date. You wouldn't be disappointed by the Kindle if you bought it. The best part is....you can buy a brand new Kindle 3 at around 150$! I'm not saying 150$ is nothing, but its a whole lot cheaper than the 400$ the first Kindle cost when it was released. On the whole, the Kindle 3 is a value-for-money solution for everyone who loves reading.
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