NEW YORK, Feb 09 (Reuters) - Online retailer Amazon.com Inc unveiled the latest incarnation of its digital book reader, the Kindle, on Monday in a slimmer version with more storage and a feature that reads text aloud to users.
The new Kindle, which will still sell for $359 on Amazon's web site http://amazon.com/kindle2, is available for preorder, and will ship Feb. 24, the company said.
The new version fixes a problem with involuntary page turns, is thinner, and sports a new five-way controller that allows users to jump between articles and sections of newspapers. A power charger is more portable and a cover that comes with the device is more secure, the company said.
The new Kindle is 'thinner, faster, crisper, with longer battery life, and capable of holding hundreds more books,' said Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos in a statement released alongside a company event at New York City's Morgan Library.
Amazon shares were down 0.7 percent at $65.05 after the news of the release.
First launched by the Seattle-based company in November 2007, the Kindle allows users to read books and newspapers wirelessly on a device weighing less than a typical paperback.
It took sales away from Sony Corp, whose Sony Reader beat Amazon to market, and Amazon touted its existing relationships with book publishers as a plus.
(Reporting by Franklin Paul in New York and Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
((alexandria.sage@thomsonreuters.com, +1-415-677-3923; Reuters Messaging: alexandria.sage.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: AMAZON KINDLE/ (See http://blogs.reuters.com/shop-talk/ for Shop Talk -- Reuters' retail and consumer blog) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The new Kindle, which will still sell for $359 on Amazon's web site http://amazon.com/kindle2, is available for preorder, and will ship Feb. 24, the company said.
The new version fixes a problem with involuntary page turns, is thinner, and sports a new five-way controller that allows users to jump between articles and sections of newspapers. A power charger is more portable and a cover that comes with the device is more secure, the company said.
The new Kindle is 'thinner, faster, crisper, with longer battery life, and capable of holding hundreds more books,' said Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos in a statement released alongside a company event at New York City's Morgan Library.
Amazon shares were down 0.7 percent at $65.05 after the news of the release.
First launched by the Seattle-based company in November 2007, the Kindle allows users to read books and newspapers wirelessly on a device weighing less than a typical paperback.
It took sales away from Sony Corp, whose Sony Reader beat Amazon to market, and Amazon touted its existing relationships with book publishers as a plus.
(Reporting by Franklin Paul in New York and Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
((alexandria.sage@thomsonreuters.com, +1-415-677-3923; Reuters Messaging: alexandria.sage.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: AMAZON KINDLE/ (See http://blogs.reuters.com/shop-talk/ for Shop Talk -- Reuters' retail and consumer blog) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.