Longer battery life for the Kindle 2

Today Amazon announced that they have released a firmware update for the Kindle 2 that dramatically increases battery life (from a perfectly fine 4 days to 7 days, even with wireless turned on). 

They also added native PDF support to the Kindle 2 (this was only previously available on the Kindle DX).

I continue to us my Kindles almost all the time. Of all my electronic devices the Kindle remains the one I am the most passionate about. Yes, I know there are other readers out there, but the ease of acquiring new books, the cross-device sync, and the great reading experience all combine with my voracity of reading to just make me love it.

Here’s their press release:

Amazon.com today announced two new enhancements to the latest generation Kindle—85 percent more battery life and a native PDF reader. Kindle now has battery life of up to seven days even with wireless turned on, a significant improvement from the previous battery life of four days. Battery life with wireless turned off remains at the previous level of up to two weeks. Battery power management for portable wireless devices is a complex technical area, and the battery life improvement announced today is the result of a six month firmware improvement and testing program.

Amazon also announced today that the 6-inch Kindle now has a built-in native PDF reader that enables Kindle customers to read professional and personal documents in their original PDF format without conversion. Kindle is in stock and available for immediate shipment today at www.amazon.com/kindle.

“Kindle, already the #1 bestselling, most wished for, and most gifted product on all of Amazon.com, is now even better—with 85 percent more battery life and a built-in PDF reader,” said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “These two significant enhancements are available now.”

To read their personal or professional documents, Kindle customers simply email PDFs to their Kindle email address or move them over using a USB connection. Customers that prefer to have their PDF documents converted to the Kindle format simply type "Convert" in the subject of the e-mail when sending documents to their @kindle.com address.

Amazon also announced today that previous purchasers of the new Kindle will also receive the 85 percent battery life improvements with wireless on, and native PDF support via a firmware update automatically delivered via Whispernet wireless. Native PDF support will also be available for some earlier versions of Kindle via an automatic Whispernet wireless firmware update.

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