As expected, Amazon made it official on Monday by unveiling the second generation Kindle reading device aptly named the “Kindle 2”. Priced at $359 and scheduled to be released on February 24th, the Kindle 2 features the following:

• Thin form factor – measuring just over 1/3rd of an inch thin and weighing 10. oz
• As before, you’ll get 3G wireless connectivity built right into the device
• Get e-books delivered to the Kindle in less than 60 seconds
• Display now features 16 shades of gray for clearer text and sharper images
• 25% longer battery life than the first Kindle
• 20% faster page turns than the first Kindle
• New Text-to-Speech feature – the Kindle will read your e-book, blog, magazine, and newspaper to you
• Measures 8 x 5.3 x 0.36 inches
• 2GB of memory with about 1.4GB available for user content
• Single charge can provide up to 4 days of reading with wireless on. Turn wireless off and you’ll get upwards of 2 weeks
• 3.5mm stereo audio jack with rear mounted stereo speakers
• Supports Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible, MP3, MOBI, PRC natively, PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP (through conversion) file formats
• New 5 way controller for better on-screen navigation

As before, the Kindle 2 doesn’t come with a monthly wireless charge. Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity – you just buy the hardware and the electronics content. There’s certainly a lot to like with the new Kindle 2 and you can read the full feature list here at Amazon.com.

About the only downer is the price of the Kindle 2. While the device is arguably light years better than the first Kindle, $359 is still a hefty price to pay for the device. Customers most likely to purchase the new Kindle include mobile professional constantly on the go or on the road, users who go through books like there’s no tomorrow, and possibly students (though again – it seems a bit expensive for this market). If the price came down by approximately 100 dollars, I could easily see a mass adoption of Kindle 2. For now, the reading elite will likely jump on the Kindle 2 with many others ooohing and ahhing along the side.

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