So what's new about the Kindle 2. I'm Fred Fishkin with Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. Amazon is taking pre-orders for the new version of its ebook device that can wirelessly download books, newspapers and magazines. What's is different from the original? Not the price...it is still a lofty 359 dollars. But Amazon's Kindle VP Ian Freed says buyers will be getting more for their money...
"Kindle 2 is much thinner, it's just over a third of an inch thick. And it also has a capacity for over 15 hundred books. So that's another great addition for the product. Also, as always, there's tremendous content selection, 230 thousand books. But another really fun new feature is what we call the read to me feature, so any content that you have on your Kindle can actually be read to you. So if you're cooking, for example, you can put the Kindle book down and have it read to you, whether it's your books or your newspapers or even personal docs. So we think that's another great feature."
Do you think that will be the biggest selling point in getting existing owners to upgrade?
"We think a number of different things. One is certainly the thinness, we think it's great. Capacity is another. There's quite a few different things that we've brought with Kindle 2."
Amazon says battery life has been increased as well, by about 25 percent. The Kindle 2 is schedule to begin shipping on the 24th of this month. Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.