You may have seen this around: the newest ebook reading gadget is out, and Amazon is behind it.

This looks like a pretty neat device. I would want to see one “in the flesh” first, and haven’t been able to get my mitts on one yet. If I am able to, I’ll forward on my thoughts.

Looks to be pretty neat, but it sure is expensive, and there are some real questions as to its durability.

One of the neat things about the Kindle is the tie-in with Sprint cellular. The main way you load books or newspapers to the Kindle is over the air via a cell phone connection. There is no monthly fee for this apart from what you would pay for the book or newspaper itself. That makes things pretty simple.

Here is the link to Amazon about the Kindle.

Mike Wendland, the excellent tech writer for the Detroit News, has a partial review — See his review here. The comments from other readers of the review are pretty good, too.

CNet has a review of the Kindle, see it here. They *mostly* like the gadget. User reviews aren’t overly great; but note that a lot of them haven’t seen or used the unit. Worth a look if you’re considering buying one of these devices.

Also, here is the Kindle’s main competitor right now, the Sony Portable Reader, which has some definite possibilities. Here is a link to the Sony Portable Reader.

If I learn more about the Kindle I’ll pass along my thoughts.