Amazon Kindle 2

>> Natali: Hi, I'm Natali Del Conte and this is a Product Spotlight on the Amazon Kindle 2. ^M00:00:04 [ Music ] ^M00:00:12 >> Natali: This was announced in February and it started shipping on 24th it's significantly thinner than the original version. Amazon is claiming that it's thinner than any 3G phone on the market it's not a 3G phone but it is a 3G device. Amazon claims that it can download books in under 90 seconds and that has been my experience so far. I downloaded 2 books when I received the Kindle and it was shocking how fast it was. I do like the form factor a lot it is convenient that the buttons are smaller and more strategically placed so that you don't accidentally change a page as often as you did on the first version. I'm still not sure about the joystick though the old controller was a scroll wheel that you moved up and down on the screen it didn't require quite as much precision as this smaller square controller. They've changed the location of the power button from behind the device to on top of it, also there's no button to turn the wireless feature off like there was on the old Kindle you have to do that by navigating through the menu. The whisper sync function lets you share books between your different Kindles if you have more than one you manage that on Amazon's website where it keeps track of all the books that you've purchased you just go to the book and choose which device you want to read it on, it's super simple. Each Kindle has its own email address this is how you send documents to the device only approved users can send documents to the device this helps to avoid any SPAM. You can set an approved email address on Amazon's website under the manage your Kindle page. The onboard dictionary is easier to use than it was on the original version you just mouse over a word and it automatically pops up the definition in the lower part of the screen. I also like the highlight function a lot because you can grab specific sentences easier than lines of text. I do find the page turning to be a lot faster than the previous model I also like the screen resolution and the form factor of this Kindle. I tested out the text to speech function and it was pretty much what we expected, choppy and unnatural but otherwise sufficient if you want to use it as a secondary reading tool. This Kindle does not have an expandable card slot like the original one so you only get 2 Gigs of memory that it comes with. I'm also not thrilled about the fact that the new Kindle doesn't come with a case; this case is an extra $30.00 while the original Kindle shipped with its own leather case for free. I don't recommend throwing this around your bag or your man-purse without a case so factor in an extra $30.00 into the price of the device. The Amazon Kindle 2 is $359.00 it doesn't come with any free books but the books average about $9.99 per download. And, of course, the 3G wireless service is free you can buy it online at Amazon, of course. That's all for your Product Spotlight I'm Natali Del Conte with CNET News and this was your in-depth look at the Amazon Kindle 2. ^M00:02:50 [ Music ]