NEW Third Generation Kindle Revealed!

Third Generation Kindle Revealed!

Late last night Amazon revealed the NEW Kindle! Word spread very quickly through the internet and Kindle forums. The photo above shows the new Kindle design on the left versus the "old" Kindle version on the right. One of the most anticipated and best feature is the latest generation e-ink screen called pearl. The new screen is sharper and has 50% better contrast than previous Kindle screens and "any other eReader". Amazon revealed earlier this month E-Ink's Pearl on the Kindle DX and I can tell you first hand after seeing it that the fonts are sharper and there is more contrast between the background and the fonts. Nice that Amazon decided to share this with their smaller Kindle! And speaking of smaller, the new Kindle has a 21% smaller body, but still retains it's 6 inch screen size. Here are some of the other highlights of the new Kindle...

• 15% lighter... weighs in at 8.7 ounces, which is less than a paperback
• Battery life... ONE MONTH if you leave the wireless turned off; 10 days if you leave the wireless turned on.
• Double the amount of storage- you can now store up to 3500 books!
• Improved PDF support, with a dictionary look-up and the ability to add notes.
• Faster page turns
• comfortable new soft-touch textured back

Some other design changes are the buttons for Menu, Home and Back, which were on the right side of the Kindle, are now located below with the typing keys. The Navigation button is now larger, and the number keys are not displayed, which means to access them you will probably have to shift keys.

What else is great about the NEW Kindle? How about the price! You have a choice...

• Kindle Wi-Fi only, available in graphite grey.... $139.00
• Kindle 3G plus Wi-Fi, available in white or graphite grey... $189.00

The Kindle is slowly inching towards that magic eReader $100 price point and beats Barnes & Nobles Nook (Kindles direct competitor) by $10! I can't wait to see one of these new Kindles in person! I'm particularly curious to see the new size. One of the things I liked about the Borders Kobo reader that I tried was it's size; the Kobo was smaller than my Kindle and the size was very comfortable to hold, especially with it's soft-touch quilted back. The new Kindle size is almost as small as the Kobo and it too has a new soft-touch textured back.

Well, what do you think? If you've been on the fence about getting an eReader this may be the final push you need. And does this mean prices even lower for Sony, Barnes & Noble and Kobo eReaders again? You can read all about the new third generation Kindles and all their features at Amazon.com . Pre-orders are being taken right now, with the new Kindles being shipped on August 27th!

Len Edgerly and The Kindle Chronicles... and my little interview on his podcast!

Len Edgerly and The Kindle Chronicles

...and a link to a little interview I did with Len on his weekly podcast!

If you have a Kindle you should know Len Edgerly! If you're thinking about buying a Kindle this is the man with the answers! Len Edgerly is the mind behind The Kindle Chronicles, a popular weekly podcast covering "All things Kindle". Each friday, The Kindle Chronicles podcast covers current Kindle news, a Tech Tip, an interview, a quote and comments he's received from the Kindle community.... and this past Friday Len interviewed me on my coming out of the closet with my love for the Kindle!

With a warm and engaging manner, Len is a wonderful interviewer. Our podcast interview sounds like two friends chatting together over coffee... And what we talked about was the love of reading and how the Kindle has added a a new dimension to my enjoyment of a good book! We also talked a bit about how the Chick with Books blog came to be and how I've started to integrate the Kindle into the blog. Here's the link to my interview .

A graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Business School, Len has worked as a business journalist, an editor of an energy magazine, and an executive at a natural gas company. AND he has a Masters in Fine Arts in poetry! Of course he has a book on Kindle... A Poet's Progress at Bennington , "a mix of commentary on poets and my own original poems". I enjoyed reading his original poems, and I was particularly touched by his poem The Day Mary Died, about the unfortunate passing of a beloved dog...

Want to learn more about The Kindle Chronicles? Here's THE LINK! Going back to his first podcast July 2008, you can listen to any of any of the 52 podcasts already posted. You can also subscribe to the Kindle Chronicles on iTunes HERE. Len also has his own blog, which covers "all things Len Edgerly" HERE.

Thanks Len for making me feel right at home in the interview chair, and sharing all your knowledge every week on The Kindle Chronicles podcast!