Amazon, that pioneering ecommerce giant, has taken it’s third step along the path of changing the way in which the world consumes the written word. Speaking at the company’s new South Lake Union headquarters, Ian Freed, vice president of Kindle for Amazon, demonstrated (video link) the new, smaller, lighter version.

So, what’s the new stuff? Is there a hint of the direction that Amazon wants/intends the e-reader market to go? We think the key feature may not be hardware at all, but price. The new devices are considerably cheaper, at $139 for the Wi-Fi-only model, and $189 for the 3G model. Speaking in a related interview, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said:
“We developed this device for serious readers. At these price points, it may be much broader than that. People will buy them for their kids. People won’t share Kindles any more.”
Just a guess Jeff, but that may appear to be steering away from the higher-end iPad territory, into safer waters?

Hardware-wise, what do you get in the new package? From the press release:

“Kindle’s revolutionary wireless delivery and massive selection of content-now in a 21 percent smaller and 15 percent lighter design, with 50 percent better contrast, 20 percent faster page turns, up to one month of battery life, double the storage…”

And, there are even more interesting, “hidden” features. There’s a second English dictionary, a PDF contrast adjustment and… a microphone. Now the User Guide DOES say, “The microphone is not currently enabled, but is provided for future use.” I’m guessing it’ll take the hacker community, all of about , oh say, 10 sec? to be all over that. Skype over free 3G, anyone?

I’ve never really WANTED an e-reader, but this smaller device? Hmmmm…