Amazon.com Turns the Page to Kindle 2

Changes to the Kindle 2? You can see, it's very obviously thinner than the Kindle. In fact, it's 0.36" in thickness, whereas an iPhone 3G is 0.48". The screen is still <6",>Read-to-Me.

Read-to-Me does exactly what the name "sounds" like: it converts words on a page to speech so users can listen rather than read. You can customize the seepd of reading, voice gender, and switch back and forth at will. Amazon does call the feature "experimental" in their press release, however.

In their presentation, Amazon.com noted that their new Whispersync technology will work with Kindle, Kindle 2 and future mobile devices. This hints at the previously rumored software that will allow Kindle books to be read on mobile devices such as iPhone and other smartphones.

Also at the press conference, Stephen King stopped in to announce a Kindle book exclusive. Yes, only available on the Kindle devices, the book "Ur" can be pre-ordered today and is described as follows:

In his new novella, UR, King is at his unsettling best as he examines the future of the written word - for better or worse. Following a nasty break-up, lovelorn college English instructor Wesley Smith can't seem to get his ex-girlfriend's parting shot out of his head: "Why can't you just read off the computer like the rest of us?" Egged on by her question and piqued by a student's suggestion, Wesley places an order for Amazon.com's Kindle eReader. The [pink?] device that arrives in a box stamped with the smile logo -via one-day delivery that he hadn't requested - unlocks a literary world that even the most avid of book lovers could never imagine. But once the door is open, there are those things that one hopes we'll never read or live through. Firm, gripping, and deftly written by a craftsman at the top of his game, this is King at his crisp, clear, page-turning best. Download and read UR only on Kindle.

Dunno, putting the Kindle into the story smacks of schlockiness, but King doesn't usually disappoint me. Oh, and according to King, since he wrote about a pink Kindle, Amazon.com gave him a pink one, as well.

The Kindle 2 can be pre-ordered today, with availability on Feb. 24th. Amazon.com will give priority to Kindle owners who pre-order the new version of the device, if they order before midnight PST tomorrow night.