amazon kindle

As we mentioned earlier this morning, Amazon introduced their entry into the eBook space with their Kindle device – a product billed as a “Wireless Reading Device”. Now that the Kindle page is up and running on the Amazon web-site, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the Kindle and look at the features and specs of the player.  Here’s what you need to know:

  • 6 inch E-Ink electronic paper display with a 600 x 800 pixel resolution and a dpi of 167. 4 level gray scale
  • Measures 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
  • Weighs 10.3 oz
  • Connects via Amazon Whispernet which utilizes Sprint’s national EV-DO service. You don’t pay a cent for the wireless access – Amazon pays for the high speed wireless service
  • Designed for both “lefties” and “righties”
  • Shop the Kindle Store directly from the Kindle device. Browse for books, newspapers, and magazines all from the comfort of your device.
  • QWERTY keyboard
  • Supports Bookmarks and Annotation – You can annotate text, add, edit and delete notes, highlight and clip key passages and of course bookmark pages for future use
  • Includes The New Oxford American Dictionary with over 250,000 entries
  • Free access to Wikipedia.org
  • Adjustable text size
  • Long battery life which depends on usage

product-descr-book__V4948744_ Sounds impressive doesn’t it? Well at $399, it’s still a fairly pricey product – and that’s not counting the books you’ll need to purchase to make the Kindle useful. News.com posted an early hands-on first impression with the Kindle here and found the following:

With its built-in wireless capabilities and PC-free operation, Amazon’s Kindle is a promising evolution of the electronic book (and newspaper, and magazine)–but overpriced content could be its Achilles’ heel.

Personally – I think it’s a great idea yet I think it’s a very vertical product – only a select few will be interested in the Kindle (and willing to pay the prices for the player as well as the content). If anything, I’m waiting for someone to hack the Kindle to access the EV-DO connectivity!

[Check it out]

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