Amazon Kindle eReader WiFi Reading Device

The Kindle Wireless Reading Device is here, and now has Wi-Fi and a 6" Display. It is Amazon's best selling item for the last two years. The price is £109.00 for the basic model and £149 for the full 3G version, making it a lot cheaper than rivals such as the Apple iPad, the new business oriented Playbook (or "BlackPad") from Blackberry or even the Sony electronic readers.

The incredibly long battery life of about a month means that you can take it away on holiday with you, without a charger (just like an old fashioned book) although if you use the 3G or WiFi the battery won't last as long (maybe just 10 days, but that is still very impressive) But, perhaps the most impressive thing is if you buy the 3G model you get free Global internet access: i.e. you can download a book in 60 seconds anywhere in the world (well, 100 or so countries around the world) or read your favourite newspapers and magazines. This service however, is to enable you to download and buy books while on the move, not to give you infinite free internet access. A lot of books can be downloaded for free: e.g. "Classics" from the nineteenth century.

New Features of the Amazon Kindle:

eReaders or eBooks are very popular and most people probably think of the Kindle first, but there are many other good makes. Sony makes similar products, which are very well made and easy to use, but Kindle and other types of reading software are available for desktop PCs, laptops, Palm PDAs and Smartphones. The new (rumoured") "BlackPad" from Blackberry will certainly have similar capabilities as well as a more complex business orientated multitasking operating system. Perhaps the most versatile device is the Dell Streak big enough to use as an e-reader, but small enough to have with you all of the time and you can use it like an iPhone or other smartphones and to surf the internet, although not as cheap as a dedicated e-reader nor the battery life.

Other new devices which may compete with the Kindle (although probably not on price, battery life or readability) are the new Apple iPad mini, LG Optimus One (Android Smartphone in various screen sizes) Samsung Galaxy Tab (7" tablet with OLED display), HP Slate (Windows 7 tablet PC) and possibly a Palm OS based tablet after HP acquired Palm in early 2010

Other dedicated eBooks without the power-hungry colour screens and short battery-lives, include: BeBook Neo, iRiver Story, Bookeen, COOL-ER, Elonex Borders, Sony Touch and of course the Kindle 2.