Kindle: Amazon's Original Wireless Reading Device (1st generation)

The Amazon Kindle or Kindle is a device for reading electronic books sold by Amazon.com. Launched November 19, 2007 by Jeff Bezos, the global version of the device has been available since October 19, 2009 in over 100 countries. The global version of Kindle DX is available since January 2010
Description and functionality
The Kindle is an electronic book that allows you to connect to the Internet to download content (digitized books, newspapers and magazines) sold online by Amazon.com U.S. site. The content format is proprietary, they are protected by a system of digital rights management (DRM). The transfer does not require a computer or Wi-Fi connection it is carried through the wireless high-speed mobile operator Sprint. The user can also upload their own documents on the Kindle by connecting the camera to a computer via USB or by sending email to the price of 10 cents per item. Word documents and various image formats are converted by Amazon after emailing to be readable on the Kindle. A built-in browser allows access to the Web and has a set of pre-selected favorites.

There are to date 4 hardware versions:

    * 1st generation Kindle (November 2007), U.S. only
    * 2nd generation Kindle (November 2009) Kindle * DX (June 2009)
    * 3rd generation Kindle (August 2010)

and 3 levels of service without receiving service wireless, wireless reception only U.S. wireless reception internationally (see website for list of countries served).

1st generation Kindle

"This is the future of book reading. It will be everywhere." Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and Liar's Poker.

Amazon released the  Kindle First Generation on November 19, 2007, for US$399 and it sold out in five and a half hours. The device remained out of stock for five months until late April 2008.

It is the only Kindle with expandable memory, via an SD card slot.

The device features a 6 inch (diagonal) 4-level grayscale display, with 250 MB of internal memory, which can hold approximately 200 non-illustrated titles.

The device measures 19.1 cm × 13.5 cm and a thickness of 1.8 cm and weighs 292 grams. It has a monochrome screen 6 inches (15 cm) diagonally, whose definition is 600 × 800 pixels and the resolution of 167 dots per inch. The Kindle has a keyboard, an audio output to listen to audio books, a card reader SD memory and a USB 2.0 port to connect to a computer. It is equipped with an internal memory of 256 megabytes, of which about 80 are reserved for its own operating system, based on a modified version of the Linux kernel (version 2.6.10). The device firmware can be updated, allowing Amazon to add new features. According to Amazon, the Kindle can store about two hundred pounds and its battery life varies between two and seven days (respectively with and without using the wireless network).

Amazon did not sell the Kindle First Generation outside the United States. Plans for a launch in the UK and other European countries were delayed by problems with signing up suitable wireless network operators.