Amazon has introduced Amazon Kindle 2, the new reading device that offers Kindle's wireless delivery of content in a new slim design with longer battery life, faster page turns, over seven times more storage, sharper images, and a new read-to-me feature. Kindle 2 has a high-resolution, 6-inch electronic display. More than 230,000 books are now available in the Kindle Store. Top U.S. and international magazines and newspapers plus more than 1,200 different blogs are also available.

The new Kindle 2 features a completely new design. At just over a third of an inch thin (0.36 inches) and weighing over 10 ounces, Kindle 2 is pencil-thin and lighter than a typical paperback. New buttons make it easy to turn the page from any holding position. The new 5-way controller on Kindle 2 allows for more precise note-taking and highlighting both up and down and side to side in lines of text. The new controller also makes it easy to jump between articles and sections of newspapers. Kindle 2 comes with a redesigned power charger that is more portable than the previous Kindle charger.

Kindle 2's 6-inch, 600 x 800 electronic display provides 16 shades of gray, resulting in crisp text and sharper images and photos. The screen works using real ink and doesn't use a backlight, eliminating the eyestrain and glare associated with other electronic displays.

With 2 GB of memory, Kindle 2 can hold more than 1,500 books. And because Amazon automatically backs up a copy of every Kindle book purchased, customers can wirelessly re-download titles in their library at any time. Additionally, Kindle 2 customers can read for four to five days on one charge with wireless on and for over two weeks with wireless turned off. Kindle 2 comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary and its 250,000 word definitions built-in, and with Kindle 2 definitions appear instantly at the bottom of the page.

Kindle 2 offers the experimental read-to-me feature "Text-to-Speech" that converts words on a page to spoken word so customers have the option to read or listen. Customers can switch back and forth between reading and listening, and their spot is automatically saved. Customers can choose to be read to by male or female voices and can choose the speed to suit their listening preference.