The long-anticipated Kindle 2 was announced at an event in New York. It’s thinner and features a redesigned interface as well, but the biggest difference is arguably the new E-Ink display. We were impressed with its crispness and readability. Amazon says they’ll ship on February 24.

The new version displays more shades of grey than were previously possible, and Amazon has paired that with a set of updated fonts to make the text significantly crisper and easier to read. But it’s the speed of the display that makes everything different. Amazon claims a 20 percent improvement in page flips, but it’s clear that the operating system is very capable of redrawing only subsets of the screen. In any case, the result is that anything done on the screen is very much faster—moving the cursor, selecting text, typing, menus, you name it. It’s really hard to convey just how much more responsive the device feels.

Because Amazon can do more on the screen, it was able to revamp a lot of the rest of the interface. The LCD strip on the right side of Kindle 1, which was used for selecting text and menu items, and sporadically for indicating progress, is gone, and good riddance. In killing it, Amazon has gotten rid of some of the worst of its interface inconsistencies, and more closely linked controlling the device to its primary screen. The faster display has allowed a cursor to be moved around the screen, and highlighting of selected text, items, and menus to be performed there, as well, all of which makes for a better interface.

With a $359 dollar price tag, helping people read more is a hoped for result. The technology is definitely a plus however.

To be able to access a ton of books online and be able to download those books in under 60 seconds is great. To be able to take those books with you everywhere is another big plus. The options that they’ve included for reading the book back to you, and listening to some MP3 files are very likeable.

However, there is the one thing the Kindle is going to be great for - Textbooks and Reference Books. For those that are Photoshop Inclined, imagine being able to carry around a bunch of key Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, and Dave Cross books right on the Kindle. This would be very good indeed.

Hanna Schmitz, Kate Winslet’s illiterate character in The Reader would have loved the Amazon’s second-generation Kindle 2. It’s an e-book reader you don’t even have to read — it reads to you. Text-to-speech is the biggest step forward for the Kindle 2.

The Amazon Kindle 2 e-book is a very roomy gadget and looks pretty good. The unit doesn’t occupy much space, because in size its not very big, so its comfortable to read on. This variant is bigger than the first unit, which was a little too awkwardly-shaped. As far as buttons go, on the right side, the buttons from top to bottom are: Home, Next Page, Menu, a joystick, and Undo. On the left side, there’s Previous, Page, and Next Page. The buttons are significantly smaller to avoid accidental page turning. The joystick takes the place of the scroll. Near there are the sleep button and the headphone jack and on the right side edge you’ve got the volume up/down buttons. What is interesting is that the backside of the unit is mostly metal with the speakers at the bottom of the back.

Amazon Kindle 2 e-books have finally ditched their own charger. The Amazon Kindle 2 e-book is able to be charged with a mini-USB cable. This gadget didnt have a pocket ruler. The size of the display is the same as the first Kindle even if it looks a little smaller. It can be one problem with the battery, which doesnt look to be user-accessible.

In the top left corner of the device, it gives you a display of how much memory is left. It uses EV-DO for downloads, and it comes with a leather pouch as opposed to the binder-style piece of nonsense that would constantly let the unit fall out.

It uses an electronic paper display and downloads content over the free wireless network ‘Whispernet’. The Kindle store has over 230,000 books, including best sellers, top newspapers, popular magazines and even blogs.

At 10.2 ounces, Kindle is lighter than a typical paperback and as thin as most magazines. Barely a third of an inch in profile, you’ll find Kindle fits perfectly in your hands.

Amazon Kindle 2 can be pre-ordered. This wireless reading device is lighter than a paperpack, has seven times more storage and now holds over 1,500 books. The display is now more crisp for better reading experience and also the Amazon Kindle 2 has an improved battery life.

No monthly wireless bills, data plans, or commitments. Amazon pays for Kindle’s wireless connectivity so you won’t see a monthly wireless bill.

Now Kindle can read to you. With its new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you. You can switch back and forth between reading and listening, and your spot is automatically saved. Pages automatically turn while the content is being read, so you can listen hands-free. You can speed up or slow down the reading speeds or choose a male or female voice. Anything you can read on Kindle, Kindle can read to you, including books, newspapers, magazines, blogs and even personal documents. In the middle of a great book or article but have to jump in the car? Simply turn on Text-to-Speech and listen on the go.

The Amazon Kindle 2 comes with QWERTY keyboard situated under the screen. In the first Amazon the keyboard was split into two sections but in Amazon Kindle 2, there is one single keyboard. The first Amazon Kindle e-book reader was a bit bulky and it could not handle PDF files well. The Amazon Kindle 2 e-book reader does not have these problems.

The Kindle 2 retains the ability to download books without a Wi-Fi hotspot and still has the excellent e-ink screen. The first thing you’ll notice is that the Kindle 2 design is much easier on the eye than the blocky first edition. The new Kindle is a little taller and much thinner (thinner than an iPhone).

The thing that is most exciting is the new button arrangement. It will keep you from turning the pages accidentally whenever you so much as twitch, which was one of the biggest complaints about the last Kindle.