Amazon Kindle

This year, the "Nintendo Wii" was the hottest toy of the season. Our church's very own drama made mention of it some three or four times. I played it at the Christmas carnival too and it was really fun! Other than the Wii, there is PSP, XBox 360 and other techie toys. Of course, not forgetting the iPhone too. Honestly, I am not crazy for any of the above mentioned gadgets. But I came across the Amazon Kindle and I would love to get it if it was available in Singapore - not just the device itself but the whole system of how it works. See below for a review by CNET on the Kindle.

Basically, it's an eBook reader but what's revolutionary about it is it can be connected wirelessly (and FOC) to the Amazon store through cellphone networks so you can easily purchase eBooks on the device anywhere anytime, have it downloaded with one click and start reading immediately. Amazon has also made the prices very affordable, charging New York Times bestsellers and new releases at US$9.99. You can also subscribe to newspapers, magazines and blogs and the content will be delivered to the device instantly once available. There are also some nifty extras, like an in-built dictionary so you can check out meanings of words, and connection to Wikipedia to get more info on topics of interest. You can also adjust font size for your own reading pleasure.

It's lightweight and it reads like a book as there is no backlight. Just imagine the possibilities! You no longer have to lug thick paperbacks around since the device can hold every page! What would sweeten the deal is if you can "borrow" books from the library and have it delivered directly to your Kindle.

Currently, it is only available in USA, cost quite a bit and still needs tweaking. But it is definitely one techie toy that I would actually consider buying!