Amazon Unveils Kindle 2 Published on Hardware |

The second version of the Kindle reading device has been finally unveiled by Amazon. The Kindle comes pack with a lot of improved features, but will they be enough to boost its sales?

The device itself comes along an enhanced offer in the Kindle Store: over 230,000 books, including 103 of 110 current New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases.

“Kindle 2 is everything customers tell us they love about the original Kindle, only thinner, faster, crisper, with longer battery life, and capable of holding hundreds more books. If you want, Kindle 2 will even read to you — something new we added that a book could never do,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO.

The Kindle 2 hardware offer includes a 6-inch, 600 x 800 electronic paper display with 16 shades of gray, 2 GB of memory (around 1,500 books) and an improved battery life: four to five days on one charge with wireless on and over two weeks with wireless turned off.

On the software side, Kidle 2 takes pride in the 20% faster page turn and especially in the “Text-to-Speech” feature. Users can choose to either read or just listen to the book, which will be read by either male or female voices.

Kindle 2 is available for pre-order for $359 and will hit the market on February 24.

Hewlett-Packard Starts Selling Enviro Batteries Published on Hardware

The Enviro batteries are the latest offer from HP: the company promises that the batteries won't lose any capacity over the lifetime of the notebook.

Don't get too excited, this time frame only cover three years. However, it's a better offer, and the company also claims that the batteries recharge much faster than traditional models.

The Enviro batteries are produced by Boston-Power under its Ecolabel-certified battery technology and are available under the Sonata label name. The new batteries are available as accessories for 18 existing notebook models representing approximately 70% of HP’s consumer notebook PC portfolio.

“From the beginning, our goal has been to help notebook computer users benefit from optimal mobility with dependable, high-performance, environmentally sustainable batteries,” said Boston-Power Founder and CEO Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud. “HP’s endorsement of Sonata is a great step forward in popularizing this battery technology.”

Vodafone Gets Palm Treo 500v Exclusive Deal Published on Telecom

Palm and Vodafone shook hands and issued the following announcement: the Palm Treo 500v smartphone will hit th market this October. The device will be available only to Vodafone customers.

At first, the new phone will be available for customers in seven European countries (Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom) and in South Africa ( Vodacom customers only).

The Palm Treo 500v smartphone is based on Windows Mobile 6. It includes a full QWERTY keyboard, large screen, video streaming capability and support for Instant Messaging, SMS, email and phone.

The list of features for Palm Treo 500v also includes the following:
- Automatic delivery of Hotmail/MSN, Yahoo!, and Gmail, email as it arrives
- Large, high-resolution screen
- Internet Explorer Mobile full-featured browser
- Access to Google Maps and eBay
- Vodafone live! for news, sports, and entertainment on the go
- 3G/UMTS network
- Planner with address book, calendar, to-do lists, and more
- View Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF files - Windows Media Player Mobile for music and videos - 2.0 megapixel camera captures video too
- 150MB of memory, expandable with microSD expansion card
- Microsoft Direct Push technology for delivery of Outlook email
- Bluetooth wireless technology

The Palm Treo 500v will be available in two colors: glacier white and charcoal grey. Vodafone has yet to announce a clear price policy.

Apple And China Mobile Finally Getting Along Published on Telecom

Negotiations between Apple and the government-run China Mobile have finally found some common ground and are going well.

Up till recent Apple found it to be impossible to impose the same conditions as it did (nearly) everywhere else in the world. China Mobile is the only official gateway guarding the huge Chinese market, a thing that finally made Apple to sweeten the tone and cut the list of demands.

The most important concession made by Apple was to drop its demand on revenue sharing. The company is known to be a very stubborn negotiator, but this time rumor has it that Steve Jobs is very keen on getting the iPhone in China before the end of the year.

Add to that the analysts' estimations that over 800,000 iPhones are already in use in China, and you might see why China Mobile is gaining more ground with every passing day.

According to a report on government-owned business paper, the companies are now getting along fine and a deal might be announced in the near future.

Apple would not comment on such speculation, while China Mobile's CEO Wang Jianzhou pretended to back the rumor, only so he could poke Apple a bit more:

"We are discussing this issue but we do not have an agreement," said Wang during the ITU Telecom Asia 2008.

With the iPhone officially in China Apple would gain access to 1.2 billion potential customers, a figure that would certainly look well on Apple's reports to shareholders. The gadget itself would be too expensive for the vast majority of the Chinese population, but these are just details which can be easily disregarded.