Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)
The look of the previous Kindle was, frankly, jarring. It was an angular, odd looking device that appealed on some strange, sci-fi level, but certainly wasn’t immediately approachable. And it wasn’t just the jutting body design; the original Kindle dismissed any kind of familiar navigation for its bizarre slider / click wheel combo with a silver-backed LCD strip, which was good for moving up and down through menu options, but not much else. Then, of course, was the issue of button placement. There’s probably not a single Kindle owner who hasn’t been frustrated by the low, easy-to-accidentally-tap placement of the next / previous page buttons, which were not only extra sensitive, but impossible to avoid. Â Â 
The first big change we noticed was in the search function. In the original Kindle, you had a dedicated search button which would bring up a text entry field, then transport you to a page to select how you wanted to search, then to your results. Now, you’ve got search tool in your menu that you can jump into from the home screen which gives you a load of options for how and where you want to look — a slightly more familiar format. This seriously streamlines the process of finding what you want, and proved to be a big help on more than one occasion. Additionally, searching your own content is handled much better, allowing you to begin typing in your query while you’re on your home page — the same goes for finding text while you’re in a document.
Using the dictionary while in a document to look up words used to be a huge hassle; you had to select an entire line of text and see a definition for every word… on a separate screen. Whether that was a bad UI decision or a limitation of the navigation is anyone’s guess — but it’s fixed here. Now you can use the cursor much like you’d expect, to jump through a document word by word, and your definition pops up along the bottom in real-time, like a little alert.
Of course, there’s been a lot of controversy about one of the new functions of the Kindle 2, namely its “read to me” mode, or text-to-speech. This item has been the subject of a heated debate, sparked mostly by an accusation from the Author’s Guild that the technology infringes on author’s copyrights by turning your regular text into what amounts to an audio book. Something tells us if the Guild took a moment to listen to this voice, they might reconsider the accusation… because it’s an insult to voice actors. For our money, the text-to-speech option is a nice novelty, but not remotely useful for prolonged readings, or readings of anything but the most simplistic material. This is the “computer voice” we’ve come to know and love — nothing more, nothing less, and it’s not exactly pleasant. While it is available in male or female varieties, and can be slowed down or sped up, it’s hardly a stand in for an actual human (recorded or otherwise).
A lot of people are fond of calling the device an “iPod for books” as if that’s just what most people want or require, and we’re not so sure of that. Still, the Kindle 2 delivers an enjoyable experience with noticeable leaps in usability, and big leaps in industrial design. If you travel lightly, are a voracious reader, and absolutely love gadgets, you’ll probably get this device. Is that everyone? No… but it’s a lot of people we know.

Order Amazon Kindle Wireless Reading Device : Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)