The successor to the Barnes & Noble Nook Color will launch this month, DigiTimes reported on Friday. There is no mention if the Nook Color 2 will run Android, as the original did, although we hope Barnes & Noble considers using the more tablet-friendly Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) operating system this time around instead of a the Froyo build, which was designed for use on smartphones. Inventec and Pegatron will assemble the eReaders and supply as many as 2-3 million devices by the end of this year, the report says. TPK Holding will provide the 7-inch color touchscreen panels. DigiTimes also said that the Nook Color 2 E Ink will supply “e-paper backplanes,” which suggests there will be a new E Ink component to the Nook Color 2, although it is unclear what its role will be at this point. Barnes & Noble most recently released its “All New Nook,” a gray-scale device that we favored among all other eReaders. The Nook Color 2 could face stiff competition from Amazon’s new Android-powered tablet, which is also expected to launch this fall.

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In partnership with Intuit, Verizon Wireless introduced a mobile payment solution for small and medium businesses called GoPayment on Thursday. GoPayment will provide customers with a small credit card reader and a mobile application that allows businesses to charge credit cards using a smartphone or tablet. Here’s how it works: a business simply needs to plug the card reader into the 3.5mm audio jack of a tablet or smartphone. Cards can then be swiped and payments are processed immediately. Verizon Wireless says the credit card reader and application are supported on Android, iOS and BlackBerry. The GoPayment credit card reader is free with a GoPayment account and after a $29.97 mail-in rebate. Intuit takes a 2.7% cut of swiped transactions on free GoPayment accounts but customers who sign up for a $12.95 monthly option can pay a lower 1.7% per-transaction rate. Read on for the full press release.

YOUR SMARTPHONE OR TABLET NOW TAKES PLASTIC: VERIZON WIRELESS AND INTUIT TEAM UP TO OFFER GOPAYMENT; MOBILE CREDIT CARD PROCESSING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Intuit GoPayment App and Credit Card Reader Now Available at Verizon Wireless Stores

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Verizon Wireless and Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) today announced a strategic alliance to give all small businesses – from the sole proprietor to a medium-sized business – the ability to process creditcard payments on smartphones and tablets.  The companies are now offering Intuit’s GoPayment app and pocket-sized credit card reader in Verizon Wireless’ 2,300 retail stores and business-to-business sales channels.

GoPayment makes it easier and more affordable for small businesses to process credit cards and for anyone who sells products or services to accept credit card payments wirelessly. The card reader simply plugs into the audio jack of a supported smartphone or tablet.  Credit and debit cards can be swiped through the card reader or entered into the app manually.  The transaction is processed immediately and funds are automatically deposited into a user’s bank account within a few business days.  GoPayment supports devices on Android™, BlackBerry® and iOS platforms for most popular 3G and 4G LTE smartphones and tablets.

“Intuit’s GoPayment on America’s most reliable network is a mobile transaction game changer, and brings another dimension of must-have technology to the small business community,” said Mike Schaefer, executive director of the Business Solutions Group for Verizon Wireless.  “Payments and transactions are often the biggest hurdle businesses face.  Our value proposition is to streamline, simplify and enable business owners to get paid with minimal delay.  This collaboration with Intuit is an important part of our strategy to bring the most innovative online and mobile tools to ourcustomers.”

“Rather than lose out on potential business, anyone who sells a product or service can now easily and affordably give their customers the option of paying with plastic,” said Chris Hylen, general manager of Intuit’s PaymentSolutions division.  “GoPayment is meeting a huge need and is one of the fastest growing mobile payment solutions in the market.  With Verizon Wireless, we’ll help even more people discover that they too can process credit card payments on the phones or tablets they already own.”

To save time when processing payments, GoPayment offers the ability to create and sell from a list of frequently sold items.  Depending on the types of goods and services sold, users can choose to apply sales tax, add tips and send customized receipts via text message and email with a map of where the transaction took place.  To protect data, sensitive credit card information is never stored on the phone.  The data is also encrypted – once via the card reader and a second time via the GoPayment app.

For the more than four million small businesses that use QuickBooks®, GoPaymentcan also sync transactions with recent versions of QuickBooks – PC, Mac and soon QuickBooks Online – to save time by reducing manual data entry.  GoPayment also supports up to 50 users on one account, which is ideal for businesses with multiple employees who work in the field.

Pricing

VerizonWireless customers can get the GoPayment credit card reader free with activation of a GoPayment account and a mail-in rebate for the $29.97 purchase price.  The GoPayment mobile payment app is free and the basic service has no monthly, transaction or cancellation fees, and offers a competitive 2.7 percent discount rate for swiped transactions.

A paid version of GoPayment is also available for $12.95 a month and provides a low discount rate of 1.7 percent for swiped transactions.  Intuit is offering Verizon Wireless customers two months of free service when they select this monthly paid plan.

Customers who purchase a smartphone for their GoPayment use will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 for monthly access.  Tablet and smartphone users require a data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

For additional information, please visit www.verizonwireless.com/gopayment or gopayment.com/verizon.

Adobe has issued a security bulletin about a critical security flaw found in Adobe Flash Player affecting the Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Solaris, and Android operating systems. The vulnerability, labeled CVE-2011-0609, “could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.” The company reports that exploits are already in the wild — most prevalently attached to Flash (.swf) and Excel (.xls) files. Adobe notes that it is “aware” of exploits for Adobe Reader and Acrobat, but explains that “Adobe Reader X Protected Mode mitigations would prevent an exploit of this kind from executing.” The company has stated that it will issue a patch for its Flash Player sometime during the week of March 21st. Curiously, the company writes, “Because Adobe Reader X Protected Mode would prevent an exploit of this kind from executing, we are currently planning to address this issue in Adobe Reader X for Windows with the next quarterly security update for Adobe Reader, currently scheduled for June 14, 2011.” June? Wow. Now might be a good time to enable Protected Mode on Adobe’s PDF reader.

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Yesterday, Google announced the release of an official Google Reader application for its Android mobile operating system. The application supports multiple accounts, synchronized preferences, full subscription preferences, and — of course — searching of your feeds. The application is in the market as we speak… if you’re a Google Reader user, enjoy.

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Adobe released a security bulletin today warning of a critical, zero-day vulnerability in their Reader and Flash Player software. The bulletin notes that an unpactched system could “crash [your system] and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.” The vulnerability is affecting:

Adobe Flash Player 10.1.85.3 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris operating systems

Adobe Flash Player 10.1.95.2 and earlier for Android

Adobe Reader 9.4 and earlier 9.x versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX

Adobe Acrobat 9.4 and earlier 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh

Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.x are confirmed not vulnerable. Adobe Reader for Android is not affected by this issue.

Adobe is promising an update to fix the issue by November 9. Hit the read link to read more and for mitigation instructions for your specific platform.

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Today, Velocity Micro announced that their 7-inch Android 2.0 Cruz e-Reader is available for pre-order on Borders, Amazon, and at CruzReader.com. The device has an 800 x 600 screen resolution, Wi-Fi b/g, can playback video in a full 720p, built-in accelerometer, and a micro-SD card slot for expandable storage. You can pre-order your Cruz for $199 and the device will be available on September 30th. We’ve got the full press release after the break. Any takers?

Velocity Micro® Announces Pre-Order Availability for 7” Cruz Reader

Innovative Ereader immediately for sale direct from CruzReader.com and select retailers, shipping in early September

Richmond, VA – August 20, 2010 – Velocity Micro, the premier builder of premium, high performance desktop computers, notebooks, and peripherals, announces immediate presales for the captivating Cruz Reader on Borders.com, NewEgg.com, and CruzReader.com. In addition to these presale opportunities, Cruz products will also be available at most major electronics and consumer products stores nationwide starting in September.

“We’ve spent nearly one year designing and refining the Cruz Reader to make it both remarkable and affordable,” said Randy Copeland, President and CEO of Velocity Micro. “We’re excited to see that hard work coming to fruition. We know the marketplace will be as well, due to the tremendous interest and support we have received from our customers and numerous retail partners. We’ve combined the color screen and functionality of a tablet with the affordability and portability of an e-reader, which is exactly what the market is craving.”

The debut product from an affordable line-up of Android powered mobile devices, the $199.99, 7” Cruz Reader features a sleek design, touch screen display, and tons of multimedia features. At under one pound and about a half inch thick, the Cruz Reader goes everywhere you do, making it perfect for students, avid readers, frequent flyers, and techies. Additional features such as video playback and web browsing provide a much richer experience than traditional e-ink readers at a more reasonable price than a tablet.

Key specs and features include:

• Crystal clear 4:3 ratio, 800×600 full color touch screen display – ideal for viewing ebooks and magazines, plus web pages and movies
• Google Android 2.0 Operating System
• 802.11b/g wifi and full Web browser support
• 720p High res video and high quality audio playback with no proprietary content restrictions
• Built-in Dictionary, Notepad, Calendar, Alarm Clock and many other useful apps
• Built in accelerometer for easy viewing from any angle
• USB and SD card slot for upgradable storage, including 4GB SD card
• Up to 10 hours of use and over 36 hours of standby time, with a replaceable battery
• Access to over 2 Million ebooks via included Borders E-book library portal application
• Enough storage for over 1000 books

In addition to the Cruz Reader, Velocity Micro will also be releasing the more powerful  7” Android based Cruz Tablet and kid friendly Cruz StoryPad later in September. For more information or to sign up for e-newsletter updates, visit CruzReader.com.

If you are not familiar with Square, it is a mobile payment service (hardware and software) that hopes to change how mobile transactions are processed. Now available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Android devices, all you need to get going and accepting credit card payments is Square’s credit card reader. If you have been down the merchant account road before, you are probably asking how much the device costs, right? Square is giving out the reader, which plugs into the 3.5mm headset jack on your smartphone, for free. Their transaction rates are also pretty competitive at 2.75% of the transaction + $0.15 for all major credit cards. If you have always wanted to pay that shady guy off of Craigslist with plastic instead of paper, your dream might finally come true as this propagates throughout the wild. Check out a video of the service after the jump!

While this news will come as no surprise to anyone with even the mildest interest in following tech news, Sony introduced two new eBook readers today in the “Reader Pocket Edition” and “Reader Touch Edition”. Priced at $199 and $299 respectively, Sony’s new eBook reader duo has been rumored for quite some time now and thanks to a J&R snafu, we even caught the full specs this past Monday. As such, the biggest news from this morning is likely the fact that Sony will be dropping new releases and bestseller titles in its eBook store from $11.99 to $9.99. Also worth mentioning, Sony has stated that Mac compatibility and wireless eBook downloading a la Kindle are on the horizon. The new readers will begin shipping toward the end of this month — any takers?

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Amazon will be hosting yet another press event, this one slated for Wednesday May 6th at 10:30AM ET. In the recent past of course, Amazon press events mean one thing — a Kindle announcement. Ironically, this latest event will be held at Pace University, the historical location of the the New York Times 19th century headquarters and the same company rumored to be working with Amazon on a “big-screen” Kindle designed for newspapers and magazines. We place this rumor in the “highly likely to happen” category and look forward to unveiling Amazon’s latest Kindle offering.

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If you’ve been feeling left out because it seems everyone and their moms are grabbing a Kindle and you spent your tax refund on an iPhone, Amazon has come to the rescue! On March 3, Kindle for the iPhone has been released and is free in the iTunes App Store. All you bookworms can now get the same content as Kindle owners can, which includes books, magazines and newspapers. Tons of great Kindle features are there, too, so you can adjust font size on screen, make notes and highlight content. The only catch is that the app can’t access the Kindle store and purchases have to be made through the browser. It’s a minor annoyance, sure, but a very small price to pay for such a great application. Other e-book readers for the iPhone are probably feeling a little heat now as the reputation and the hype over the Kindle is enough to get these apps flying out of the iTunes store. If you’ve been mulling the purchase of a Kindle and can manage reading on a much smaller screen, you might want to consider giving the Kindle for iPhone app a shot.

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It’s been nearly five months since we scooped Amazon’s Kindle 2 and earlier this week, after what seemed like an eternity for anxious e-book fans, Amazon finally began shipping its new reader. We unboxed it for you this past Tuesday but you know we couldn’t leave it at that — it’s full-on review time! Leading up to the Kindle 2 we’ve been through a Sony PRS-505, an Amazon Kindle 1 and an Irex Iliad so we had high hopes for Amazon’s new Jesus-reader. Is it up to snuff? Did it fall flat on its slim, sexy, 3G-connected face? Grab a cup of coffee and a snack pack, then hit the jump to find out.

Hardware and Aesthetics

To kick things off, let’s start with the guts. The Kindle 2 packs a 532 MHz ARM-11 processor, a 3.7 V 1530 mAh non-removable lithium polymer battery, a Sprint compatible EV-DO antenna and 2 GB of internal storage. The choice to abandon the external SD card slot and the removable battery of the Kindle 1 are a source of contention amongst current Kindle owners and rightfully so. Yes, the internal memory of the Kindle 2 can hold close to 1,500 books and the battery does promise longer life but people paying $360 for a reader don’t want to be limited — especially when the first generation Kindle didn’t have such limitations. You can’t carry around your whole library if your collection exceeds 2GB and the device is only useful for the life of the battery (unless you want to fork over $60 to Amazon to replace it).

For the average user who upgrades devices regularly, these limitations are nothing to be concerned about of course, but to the power user or pack rat, the lack of an SD card slot and replaceable battery may be a deal breaker. Just a warning to all of you “I am not going to buy the Kindle 2 because it does not have an SD card slot or replaceable battery” folks, the allure of this sexy new device may soften your stance on this issue so don’t handle a Kindle 2 as you may not be able to resist. And so we come to the design…

Fresh out the box, the Kindle 2 is a gorgeous looking device — rounded edges with a brushed aluminum back, and ohhhh so thin. Sorry original Kindle fans, we don’t mean to be offensive but the Kindle 2 brings some style to what had previously been a very clumsy-looking device. Despite its thin profile, the Kindle 2 feels very solid and not at all flimsy. At the top of the device, you’ll find a sliding power switch and a 3.5mm audio jack. The left side of the device has two small slots for a cover (optional purchase and not included in the box) while the right side has a volume rocker toward the top of the device. The bottom has a mini-USB port and small reset button. The back is brushed aluminum with a non-removable cover — no cracking this Kindle open unless you’ve got some tools on deck. The only items of interest on the backside are the two speakers at the bottom and the device information like the serial number, FCC ID, etc.

The front of the device is where all the action takes place of course. In the center you have a 6-inch, 800×600 e-ink display touting 16 shades of gray. On the left hand side you’ll find the previous page button and a next page button. What an improvement these buttons are, by the way! Gone are the paddle-like Kindle 1 buttons that would navigate pages with the slightest accidental touch. With the new style buttons, you have to push firmly on the edge of the button closest to the screen; there will be no accidental page turns from simply picking up or putting down the device. It is a bit awkward at first to push the inner portion of the button but you quickly get used to it and appreciate the feeling of control with regards to page navigation. Finally, at the bottom you’ll find the bubbly QWERTY keyboard which is an improvement over the Kindle 1 “chicklet” keyboard for sure. It’s most definitely not the greatest keyboard we’ve come across but it’s fine for searching and typing brief notes.

The right hand side of the device has the menu button and back button, both of which flank the 5-way directional control which may be the Achilles heel of the Kindle 2. It is an improvement over the scroll button and the funky vertical navigation display on the Kindle 1 but the 5-way controller itself leaves much to be desired. It is sturdy and has a nice satisfactory click but it’s small. Too small. It is fairly easy to move up and down but moving left and right can be tricky at times. We’re not talking “throw this thing out the window because it’s impossible to use,” but people with any dexterity problems will likely be less than happy with the performance of the controller. A slightly larger d-pad with a center button/click may have been a better choice.

Above the 5-way controller, you have another next page button and finally the home button. The button layout is quite comfortable over all, and you can perform just about any common function without having to shift your grip. The exception is probably the previous page button on the left which is placed a bit too high on the device for our taste. Despite the two main flaws we mentioned however, the Kindle 2 is definitely a winner in terms of look, feel and overall design. It is not perfect but it is pretty close.

Display

Amazon made a huge deal out of the Kindle 2′s snazzy new 16-shade display so our expectations were sky-high. Unfortunately without having another reader to do a side-by-side comparison (we’ve long-since ditched the Kindle 1 and other readers), it is difficult to rate the overall quality of screen as it relates to its predecessor or competition. As a stand alone device however, the text on the screen is crisp and the images have a nice appearance. The display response is definitely spry it supports the dynamic rendering needed for the on-screen cursor. Page to page refreshes are also quite snappy, though you do get the typical e-ink inverting and flashing when you switch pages (albeit very briefly). You really only notice it during the first 10-15 minutes of usage when you first get the device. After that initial adjustment period, the flickering anymore as the pages turn smoothly and quickly.

As for the flip side of the coin, light source is a necessity for the Kindle 2 as it lacks backlighting. This is a limitation of e-ink technology and affects all e-ink based readers. The latest Sony Reader, the PRS-700, includes external side mounted LEDs to alleviate the problem but the Kindle provides no such solution. If reading in a dimly lit area, you will definitely need a stronger light source. In a fully lit room or in the sunlight however, the Kindle display is perfectly crisp and the glare is minimal making the Kindle 2 a real pleasure to read.

Reading with the Kindle 2

The home screen is where all the fun begins of course. When on the home screen, the menu key provides access to core features including settings, search, a link to the Kindle Store, the experimental applications and the ability to sync your Kindle data and the command to check for new items. Outside the menu, the home screen itself contains a list of all the books on the Kindle. Sorry folks, as most of you Kindle 1 owners already know, the Kindle 2 does not support folders leaving all of your books to sit in one giant list. This might not be a problem for the new Kindle user who may have 5-6 books but watch out experienced veterans; you still have to scroll through your 100+ titles. This is a feature that has been requested a million times and may be added in a future update but don’t count on it. Purchase the Kindle 2 with the knowledge that you cannot use folders to organize your book collection.

When you select a book, you are brought to the beginning of the book if it is your first time opening it and the most recently finished page will appear if you have already begun reading. At the bottom of the page is a progress bar that indicates your location (locations are the digital equivalent of pages) within the book and highlights your progress. A percentage indicator is also present on the left side. Beyond the next and previous page buttons which allow page-by-page navigation, the 5-way controller allows you to jump from chapter to chapter which is a nice feature. Navigation through the book is further simplified by the menu button which provides access to the clickable/linkable Table of Contents, the beginning of the book, a page jump that allows you to go to any page or straight to the furthest page read. The “in-book” menu also lets you create a new note, highlight or bookmark, access your saved notes and bookmarks within a book and search an individual book. Last but not least, you can toggle the wireless off and on, hop to the Kindle store, or start Text to Speech from this menu. All that from one click of the menu button!

The 5-way controller is used to navigate the contents of the page you are on. When scrolling though the text with the 5-way controller, a definition of the selected word appears dynamically at the bottom of your screen – a great convenience when you hit unfamiliar words. The controller can also be used to navigate to and select any links that may be present within the text. The onscreen cursor will switch to a finger when a link is selected and a click of the 5-way controller will bring you to the linked location. Lastly, the controller can also be used to zoom in on images within a page. A zoom icon will appear over the image and a quick click zoom while a second click will zoom back out to the full page.

The Kindle 2 provides several different methods for annotating the text within a book, allowing you to add a note to a portion of the text, highlight a portion of the text or bookmark a page. If you are reading a periodical or a blog, you can also take a clipping of the any section you choose. When a note, bookmark or highlight is added to the text, the Kindle 2 indicates the specialized status of the text by displaying a folded page corner for a bookmark, a superscript number for a note or an underline beneath the text for a highlight. Pretty nifty. Reading a periodical, blog subscription or non-Kindle e-book is similar to reading a Kindle e-book. The overall navigation is the same but you have different menu options that reflect whichever type of content you are reading.

The Kindle Store: Searching, Previewing and Purchasing Books

The biggest advantage the Kindle has over its competition is Whispernet, the wireless connectivity that makes browsing and buying books ridiculously simple. The wireless coverage is provided by Sprint and, depending on your location, can be a high speed 3G EV-DO connection. Why bother with wireless connectivity? To browse and purchase books directly from the Kindle, of course! You can browse books by genre with almost every category broken down into subcategory upon subcategory. You can also view the National Bestsellers list, a new and noteworthy book list and the top Kindle books as ranked by Amazon.

If you prefer a more direct approach, you can search the book catalog using the search field and the QWERTY keyboard. When browsing categories or search results, the books appear in a scrollable list with the book cover, title, author and the review ranking (up to 5 stars) of each book. You use the 5-way controller to move up and down the list and the previous page and next page buttons to advance forward and backward through the list.

Clicking on an individual book will bring you to the the book detail page which has a link to the author’s other available Kindle books, a short list of details and a brief description of the book, the ever important “buy” button, a link to user reviews and finally, a helpful “what others have bought” section. If this book is not what you expect, you can use the search field at the bottom to start over. You can also select to “Try a sample” or “Save for later” if you want to mark the book for further review. The “Try a sample” option is another ingenious idea from Amazon and is present in the Kindle 1 as well. You can liken the experience to sitting in your local bookstore, grabbing a book off the shelf and thumbing through it before purchasing. You lose the ambiance of a bookstore with the Kindle of course, but you retain the ability to try before you buy which is most definitely appreciated. It is also handy if you have 20 minutes to fill and want a quick read.

Once you pick a book that warrants a purchase, buying it is a breeze — it’s almost too easy as a matter of fact. Hit the “Buy” button and Amazon will process the purchase using your Amazon One-Click settings. You do have to log in to your Amazon account using your PC and setup One-Click prior to purchasing of course, but once One-Click is configured, purchasing is a one step, no hassle process. The delivery of the book is equally elegant. In matter of a minute over the 3G connection, your book is downloaded to your Kindle 2 and is ready to read. If you were the proud owner of a Kindle 1, you can also use Whispernet to sync all your previously purchased books to your new Kindle 2 which certainly makes things much easier. Amazon really has captured here with Whispernet, what Apple has captured with the iPhone and its App store. Elegant and easy over the air purchasing.

For those who prefer purchasing books from sources other than Amazon, the Kindle 2 provides several methods for getting non-Amazon content onto your reader. The Kindle 2 supports the Kindle format (AZW), TXT, Audible (format 4 and Audible Enhanced AAX), MP3, unprotected MOBI and PRC natively. No conversion is needed for these formats and the content can be dragged over to your Kindle 2 via USB or sent wirelessly for a fee of $0.10 per item. It also supports PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP but these formats require conversion. Amazon provides an easy to use email-based service for converting these documents to a Kindle 2 friendly format. Basically, each Kindle 2 is assigned a unique email address (“your_kindle”@kindle.com) and you send the item for conversion to this address. Amazon will accept the content, convert it to a Kindle-friendly format and forward it on to your Kindle. It is easy but as you might imagine, it’ll cost you $0.10 per item.

If you need the conversion and don’t want to pay Amazon $0.10 to forward the book to your device, you can instead use your Kindle’s “free” email address (“your_kindle”@free.kindle.com) and Amazon will send the book back to you via email. You will need to connect your Kindle via USB and drag the newly converted content to your Kindle, but for frequent flyers this could save you a bundle in the long run. For security and privacy and purposes you can’t send content from any email, you must pre-designate a list of acceptable email addresses from which content will be sent.

Web Browsing/MP3Player/Text to Speech

The Kindle 2 also comes with a few “experimental” features including a web browser, an MP3 player and the much talked about Text to Speech function. The web browser works but don’t expect a Safari or even Opera Mobile-like experience here. You’re looking at a browser for mobile web sites only, and it’s a bit sluggish and clunky to navigate. Despite its unpolished nature, the browser does work and is convenient if you really need to check out the latest news headlines, read/post to a forum or search Wikipedia. The same applies to the MP3 player. It works and provides decent-quality background music through the small speakers, but don’t fire it up expecting to be wowed.

Last but not least is the Text to Speech function. This experimental feature actually works better than expected. It reads the text back in a computerized voice but does so with surprising clarity and proper enunciation. It is not as “sterile” and “robotic” as expected. It won’t replace audible and all those folks upset about this feature should not be concerned about book lovers opting for the Kindle audio version of a book over the audible version. The Text to Speech lacks the intonations, inflections and drama that a real person reading would bring to a book. Nonetheless, the Text to Speech is quite listenable and is a great accessibility feature to boot.

Overall Conclusion

Kindle 2 PROS:

• Whispernet service makes book searching and purchasing a breeze
• Kindle 2 is thin, well-balanced with a nice layout of buttons
• QWERTY keyboard makes entering text easy and allows for features like note taking and web browsing
• Text is crisp and easy to read with minimal glare and the screen refresh is quick
• Navigation is easy and intuitive

Kindle 2 CONS:

• Device is a bit long due to the presence of the QWERTY keyboard
• Side buttons are a bit awkward to press as you have to push the inner edge and not the outer edge of the button
• 5-way controller can be difficult to use
• Cost is a bit prohibitive and you need to purchase a case asthe retail pack does not include one

Overall, the Kindle 2 is a gorgeous looking device that makes digital book reading a joy. For those looking to make the jump into the digital book reading experience, the Kindle 2 is an excellent choice and the experience it provides will be tough to match with a competitive reader. The price tag of $359 is a bit high, especially when you consider the extra $30 you’ll need to shell out for a cover. Never the less, the ability to have all your books on one device and new content accessible via a wireless connection is indispensible and lessens the sting of the high price tag. If you are an avid book reader and have the cash on hand, the Kindle 2 is definitely the way to go. Amazon did a fantastic job and while it might not live up to the hype surrounding its launch, it most definitely came a whole lot closer than we expected.

We can’t exactly call it a surprise, seeing as the long awaited and highly anticipated Amazon Kindle 2 was first BGRized over five months ago, but e-bookers around the globe breathed a sigh of relief this morning as Amazon finally made its updated Kindle official. While your good pals here at BGR weren’t on hand at Amazon’s launch event – we suppose the reasoning behind snubbing us and denying us press passes is fairly obvious – news travels fast on the interwebs so here’s what you need to know:

• The design is identical to the early model we showed you back in October – no surprises there
• The unit is 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″ and weighs about 10 ounces – 25 percent thinner than iPhone (wow, even Amazon is jumping on the iPhone-killer bandwagon)
• 6″ diagonal E-Ink electronic paper display, 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi, 16-level gray scale (original Kindle was only four shades)
• Battery life has been improved by 25 percent – Amazon claims two weeks on a single charge
• 2GB of internal storage – 700 percent more than the original Kindle, holds over 1,500 books
• Page turning is now 20 percent faster
• Pricing is exactly in line with last week’s leak: $359, same as the first Kindle model
• The release date was no surprise either: Ships February 24th

Bezos & Co did have a few tricks up their sleeves – there had to be something unexpected to announce we imagine. In a very savvy move, Amazon had Stephen King write a story (involving a Kindle, err) and will release the story as a Kindle-only exclusive. King’s publisher stated the story may become available in physical form down the road a bit but for the time being, die hard King fans will need to snag a Kindle in order to keep claiming they’ve read every one of his six trillion published works. King was on hand at the launch event to explain that he typically does write stories on demand but the money was so good Kindle 2 is so cool he made an exception. He even read an excerpt from the story, titled Ur, off of his one-of-a-kind pink Kindle 2 at the event. Hooray for celebrity cameos!

Beyond that, the new Kindle will be able to automatically download magazines and newspapers, it will sync your content between devices and with a new feature called Read-to-Me it’ll even read content to you in a synth voice (great feature for the blind). The Kindle 2 is currently available for pre-order on the site and original Kindle owners get priority if they order before midnight tonight. Hit the read link for the Kindle 2 product page on Amazon.com, complete with a video.

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Yeah we know this post sounds like something you might read at “People Magazine” but it does have some pretty serious gadget implications, so read on. If you don’t watch daytime TV, then you probably don’t know that Oprah has been hyping her October 24th show, during which she will announce her favorite gadget, like there is no tomorrow. Teaser videos are on her show’s website and on the front page of Amazon’s website. If you consider the fact that Oprah is the leader of the world’s biggest book club, it isn’t too hard to deduce that her favorite gadget just might be the Amazon Kindle. It also helps if you look at the source code of the XML file on her website and see that the keywords for Friday’s show include:

Oprah Fridays Live, gadget, favorite things, favorite new gadget, kindle, kindel, kindle device, amazon.com, edgar sawtelle, obc, oprah’s book club, Cristina Ferrare, Mattie Stepanek, money, economy, savings, dollars, recession, cooking, meals for less,

Cha-ching, can you hear the sound of Amazon’s virtual cash registers ringing up infinitive sales? The show will air on Friday, so if you want an Amazon Kindle, better buy one now. Who knows what will happen when the Oprah nation descends upon Amazon tomorrow. You have been duly warned.

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Sony unveiled on Thursday its third generation Reader Digital Book. The new Sony Reader, model PRS-700, will join the Reader lineup as the new “premium” model alongside the current Sony PRS-505 Reader. Some nice enhancements are in store for those of you prefer books in a digital format. The PRS-700 adds a bit of texture to the casing while still maintaining the same “paperbook-size” dimensions and light 10oz weight of the current Reader. The biggest enhancement to the new Reader is the incorporation of a 6″ electronic ink touchscreen. Yes, the Sony finally gets a touchscreen. Search, note taking with a virtual keyboard, and highlighting with a stylus are also now available in this newest model. You can even tap to zoom and turn pages with the swipe of a finger. Love it! If the touchscreen isn’t enough to make you want to go out and buy one then maybe a built-in LED book light, expanded memory to store 350 books and five font sizes for your reading pleasure will. All this and you still get 7,500 pages of continuous reading on a single battery charge. Awesome! The new Reader will be available in November for $400.

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