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By Andrew King, December 22, 2009 5:57 am

Amazon will remember 2009 as being a very good year for them. A great deal of the credit for that must go to the Kindle e-book reader. The first Kindle debuted in November of 2007 when it sold out in under six hours. No new stock was available until April of the following year.

Amazon released the Kindle 2 in February of this year, and it featured several enhancements over the original model. They then followed up very quickly with the large format Kindle DX. Amazon now had a “family” of Kindles and, helped by a fair bit of free publicity from bestselling writers like Stephen King, partnerships with universities and colleges together with a lot of discussion by political bodies, the Kindle quickly became synonymous with e-book readers.

Of course, Amazon’s competitors were also checking out the nascent e-book reader market and wondering how to get their share. Currently, there is a very impressive list of manufacturers who all have their own e-book readers in development. Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Barnes and Noble and Asus are just a sample of the competition lining up against Amazon.

The title of “Kindle Killer” is immediately bestowed upon any reader which shows the slightest potential. The technical specification of each new reader is studied in detail and reported to the eagerly awaiting public – especially if it includes features which are superior to the current Kindle – for example Sony’s Daily Edition reader which has touch screen controls.

However, whilst the technical aspects of e-book readers are certainly important, they are not the be all and end all. Some of the key factors in the Kindle’s success to date were the large choice of books on Amazon’s website, the freedom to download books in under a minute wirelessly – without the need for an internet connection and without monthly fees – and Amazon’s highly trusted brand name.

Many of the new readers will have wireless connectivity, and Barnes and Noble’s Nook will offer users a choice of over 1,000,000 titles. However, the single unifying theme that seems to be developing is the emergence of a standard e-book format.

The large majority of the new readers seem to be adopting the ePub format. The Kindle however, uses a proprietary format which means that Kindle books can only be used on the Kindle reader.

Right now, considering that the Kindle is pretty much the only show in town, that’s not too much of a problem. However, in the near future, the ability to lend e-books to friends and family may become an important feature.

The Kindle has, in a very short space of time, become Amazon’s number one selling product. They won’t be giving up their number one position without a fight. It could be that 2010 will see the release of the Kindle 4, which will almost certainly feature a number of technical enhancements. Could it be that Amazon may also adopt the ePub format – or provide some translation service?

Find out more about the Amazon Kindle reader and learn how you can save money by getting free Kindle ebooks direct from Amazon’s website.

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By Les Scammell, September 27, 2009 12:21 pm

The kindle DX is Amazon’s new Ebook reader and it is the big brother to amazons Kindle.

The Kindle DX is the same width as the smaller one but the screen has been pushed out to a roomy 9.7 inches and the weight is up to just over 18 ounces.

The Kindle infrastructure is the same for the DX. That means access to over 300,000 books as well as papers magazines and periodicals. You can access the network from anywhere with no fees needing to be paid. A book is obtained in less than a minute from start to finish.

You can now get 3 and a half thousand books stored on the DX, that’s twice the number of the smaller kindle. The screen uses the same technology and it really does look like a printed page that adjusts itself as you are turning it round. This also works when direct sunlight is shone on the screen, when means it can be read anywhere.

The DX also includes a couple of very cool additions.

As you rotate the DX around as you might naturally do in the course of a reading session it changes viewing settings from portrait to landscape and back again. this means that maps, tables and other media such as photos and web pages can be fully viewed.

For those on the go for business purposes there is a fully integrated PDF / Adobe reader so all those work documents can be stored and accessed at any time. they can also be downloaded from the server using the 3G facilities.

My one criticism is just the price as it is an expensive gadget. This will probably put some buyers off.