Well now you can, thanks to the recently announced Guardian Case by M-Edge. Do out in the Spring of 2010, the handy case not only makes your Kindle waterproof to one (1) meter, but it also makes it float. You can even read it while in the bath tub.
"Three internal buoyancy chambers provide distributed flotation to keep Kindle afloat and upright for in-water reading."
Have they gone to far? You can be the judge. However, I was talking with someone just last week about not being able to take my kindle to read by the pool for fear of a slip/dip.
Check out this video of the new "Nook" from Barnes and Noble. I must say I thought the Amazon Kindle had everything. However, after reading the details about the Nook, I am thinking this is better. Obviously its all depends on user interaction with the device but below I have listed some of the features the Nook will have that the Kindle is currently without.
Nook features lacking on the Kindle:
1.) Color Touch Screen - 3.5" TFT Color LCD (bottom of device, not the primary screen)
2.) Touch Control & Navigation (bottom of device, not the primary screen)
3.) Quick Library View by Book Cover (in color, bottom of device, not the primary screen)
4.) Wi-Fi/802.11b/g with free wifi in all Barnes and Noble stores.
5.) Memory expansion via microSD slot.
6.) More than a million titles available.
7.) More than 500,000 free eBooks.
8.) Directly load & read PDFs.
9.) Read/Sync from multiple devices (iPhone™, iPod touch®, BlackBerry®, PC, Mac OS®)
10.) Synchronized notes/annotations between devices
11.) Lend eBooks to friends.
12.) Android OS
13.) Personalize screensavers with your photos
14.) Replaceable battery
All in all it seems to be at least very comparable to the Kindle2 and shows a lot of promise to be even better.
The latest leaked specs have the CrunchPad running a customer Linux OS and browser, so the device has the potential to be cheap, potent, and work amazingly well. We can't wait to see more.
According to the peeps at Gizmodo, the Amazon Kindle is going to be getting bigger. The invitation they are referring to did not give many details, but the buzz points to a larger "textbook" kindle being inevitable.
I think is great for Amazon and the Kindle. Some are stating that this will make the Kindle2 obsolete, but I don't think so. In person, the Kindle2 is the perfect size for casual reading. Its got a fantastic amount of memory and great battery life. In fact, the only complaints I have heard all revolve around its use for research (i.e. students). A kindle3 coming in at 8.5x11 inches would really do the trick.
If Amazon can get it right, which I am sure they will, they will have a sure hit in the student market. Laptops are already being deployed to high school and middle school students. Can you imagine the logistical problems this must cause? It is hard enough for the IT departments at most major enterprises. Then you put laptops in the hands of "inventive" students and that becomes an IT management nightmare. Now flash forward to after the new Kindle comes out. Students can now be given a slim, durable, and easy to manage research device. All their textbooks can be electronically deployed and even complete homework via word documents. All this without having to give the kids full internet access. Would if they need to go to the net? Well, rumor has it that the new device will have limited access to wiki and other important sites.
As with everything, we will have to wait and see how it all plays out. However, I am pretty excited about the possibilities and am looking forward to seeing the new device.
You know you can't believe everything you read...at least on blogs anyway. Now that same theory can be applied to all that I have read about the Amazon Kindle 2. According to a recent Engadget article, the friendly folks at Amazon are going to begin charging $.15/kb for files sent to your Kindle2. Remember, this is only for your "personal" files and does not mean books you buy directly from Amazon. What happened to $359 for the unit and then you only pay for books? I know there has to be some restriction or Amazon can't make a profit, and I can understand that. However, imagine all those people that already bought one and now Amazon is changing the deal.
Maybe there is something to be said about the wifi eReaders like the Sony Reader Digital Book. At least then you know exactly what you are getting.
I am a BIG fan of eReaders and plan to do a full review of the advantages/disadvantages of the most popular eReaders.
So tell me what you've heard about eReaders in general: 1.) Any eReader fans out there? 2.) What models are you using? 3.) Do you miss the smell of old books?
