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Slimmed-Down Kindle Still Will Carry A Hefty Price

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2009

NEW YORK - Amazon.com is releasing a slimmer version of its Kindle electronic reading device, but it still will cost $359 - making it unclear how mainstream even an improved Kindle can be during a brutal recession.

Rather than lowering the price, Seattle-based Amazon touted several upgrades to the e-book reader - and a novella from Stephen King that will be available exclusively for the device. Kindle is expected to begin shipping Feb. 24.

The Kindle 2, which is a bit more than one-third of an inch thick (about half the thickness of the first Kindle) can display 16 shades of gray, compared with the previous Kindle's four shades. It will be able to read text aloud from two small speakers on the back, and it can store 1,500 books, instead of 200.

E-books still don't exceed 1 percent of overall book sales, but publishers say they are a fast-growing niche, a rare area of improvement in an otherwise terrible market.

The Associated Press

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