You Can Buy the Amazon Kindle 2 Now!

It looks like Amazon is very close to announcing and making available a 2nd generation Kindel electronic book device. Did you know you can pre-order it now!?!

As you know, I love my Kindle. Besides my phone and laptop it is, by far the electronic gadget I use the most an is easily my favorite. I am a veracious reader and I can’t image buying or reading books "the old way" any more.

But the version 1 device has some faults (which I discuss here). I’m really excited to see this 2nd generation "v2" device come along and I hope it fixes the shortcomings of v1 and introduces some new cool stuff. I’ve already ordered one knowing that demand will be high and Amazon will likely sell out quickly (they completely sold out of the v1 devices last November and have not been selling ANY since!).

You too can order a v2 unit now here. Note that it says:

Availability: Expected to ship in 2 to 4 weeks. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

"2 to 4" weeks coincides with the widely anticipated launch of the Kindle 2… I just ordered one using One-Click and the order status reads:

Items not yet shipped:
Delivery estimate: February 26, 2009 – March 10, 2009

1 of: Kindle: Amazon’s Wireless Reading Device
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Works for me.

Anyway here’s some pictures from Engadget:

We’re not going to call it official yet, but a bunch of very real-looking Kindle 2 press images just hit the tubes, and we’ve got to say we’re pretty convinced. Although the device itself looks basically the same as in those previously-leaked shots we saw back in October, there are some surprises in store: it’s way thinner, the back is apparently made of metal and there are stereo speakers at the bottom. We’ll admit to missing the polarizing ultra-80s look of the original, but this thing looks pretty sweet — too bad it’s still going to set you back $359 when it arrives on February 24. We’ll find out what’s what for sure on Monday — in the meantime check couple more shots after the break and way more at the read link.