One of the hottest electronic gadgets nowadays is the Kindle. Kindle is basically an electronic book (e-book) reader that allows users to shop, download, and browse the web, and read e-books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and other digital media through wireless connectivity. This device evolved since 2007 and now encompasses a range of device.
In just a short span of time, this device had vastly evolved different ranges. The First Generation Kindle has a large screen with 6-inch (diagonal) 4-level grayscale display, an expandable memory via SD Card Slot with 250 MB of internal memory, which can hold approximately 200 non-illustrated books.
After less than two years, new innovations had come out and the Second Generation Kindle (Kindle 2) was launched. Exciting features were added like a text-to-speech option to read the text aloud, larger memory storage, and a slimmer one. Two versions of the Kindle 2 had come out—the International Version and the Kindle DX. Kindle 2 International Version had the ability to download new titles in over 100 countries unlike the original Kindle 2 which is a U.S.-only model. It supports standard GSM and 3G GSM which enables it to be used on AT&T’s U.S. mobile network and internationally in 100 other countries. The Kindle DX version had a larger screen and supports PDF files. It was also the thinnest Kindle to date. It uses E Ink display for better contrast ratio for clearer and better reading.
Few months later, another generation of Kindle had come out. The Third Generation Kindle or the Kindle 3 is now popularly called “Kindle Keyboard”. Kindle Keyboard is available in two versions. One of these is the Kindle Wi-Fi that is capable to connect to the Internet via public or private Wi-Fi. The other version includes 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing it to connect to the Internet from any location with cell service. This generation uses the new E Ink Pearl display which has a higher contrast than the older generations display. It supports additional fonts and international Unicode characters. The internal memory is expanded into 4 GB for a larger storage and longer battery life that could end up to two months of reading on a single charge.
On the third quarter of 2011, the latest version of Kindle had been launched. The Fourth Generation Kindle has two versions available, the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire. The Kindle Touch version has the same 6-inch E Ink display, 4GB memory, 2-month long battery, with the addition of a touch sensitive screen. The Kindle Fire is the first Kindle without an E Ink display. Instead, it uses a 7-inch vibrant color IPS. It has an 8GB memory that could contain approximately 80 applications plus either 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 e-books.
With this kind of device, you will be able to do multiple tasks in just a single device. It is very handy to carry everywhere especially on a long, boring trip. Entertain yourself, enjoy, and widen up you knowledge through reading. Kindle is definitely a nice pick for e-book addicts.
