Amazon is now accepting orders for their brand new Kindle 2. It’s thinner than ever measuring just over 1/3 of an inch, and weighs just 10.2 ounces. It boasts of improves of a 25% more battery life, 20% faster page turns, and now supports 16 shades of gray for better text and image display as opposed to the original Kindle. Capacity-wise, it comes with 2GB (1.4GB allotted for user) which basically allows you to store up to 1,500 books. The Kindle 2 now also features a basic web browser, PDF document conversion, playback of music and podcasts, and a text-to-speech feature called Read-to-Me. It’s now available for $359 on a pre-order basis and will be released on February 24. With a sleeker look and more features, the Kindle 2 is shaping up to be a truly versatile e-book reader. All it’s lacking now is WiFi connectivity, a colored display, video support and expandable memory for Amazon to compete with the current PMPs of today, but I guess that’s not their intention for the Kindle 2.

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