Stephen King pens Kindle2 exclusive

AMAZON IS EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE the arrival of the new version of its Kindle electronic book reader today, and the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the internet trader has added a bit of clout to the launch by persuading pulp horror author Stephen King to write a new book which will (for the time being at least) be available exclusively on the Kindle 2.

Quite why Amazon would go to all the trouble of securing what will certainly be a massivley lucrative deal for the New England author, when it is selling as many of the $359 electronic libraries as it can make, is beyond us.

But the company is hoping to seriously ramp up production of the paperback-sized device which has been plagued by limited production based on overly-conservative estimates of demand and sales.

Details about new version of the device, which has a specially-produced screen which emulates the look of paper, are being kept secret, but we suspect it will have a larger viewing area, faster screen refresh rates and higher storage capacity.

We can but hope that the price will also drop to something rather less wallet worrying. µ