The first Amazon Kindle was boxy and angular. It had a tapered depth, but that thickness ultimately became an albatross. When inside its leather case, the Kindle's spine indeed resembled that of a book--but that was the last thing I was looking for. I stopped carrying books while on-the-go years ago, simply because of the room it required in my gear bag. And while the Kindle's built-in storage and SD Card slot together mean I have what feels like infinite space for e-books, the reality is, it still was another device for me to carry.

The indicate that Amazon has indeed improved its design dramatically. The unofficial pictures show a more rounded design, and one that's significantly slimmer (no scuttlebutt on the weight or dimensions). The buttons for paging through texts look smaller, too; I was among those who liked the larger buttons (it meant I didn't page through with just one finger or part of my hand; but, I, like everyone, found those buttons also meant I inadvertently paged ahead when I didn't intend to). The keyboard also appears to have undergone a dramatic change: Gone are the angled, more QWERTY-style keyboard; instead, the keys are smaller, more round, and mushed together--reminiscent of the keys now common to cell phones.

The presumed design changes may help make Kindle more attractive for road warriors. While has become, this road warrior found herself using her Kindle at home more than she did while traveling (ahem--I already regularly push the allowable carry-on weight limits for some airlines, thank you). Its bulk and weight were just two reasons I skipped traveling with the Kindle regularly. But size and weight weren't my only reasons for removing Kindle from my travel kit. The next reason was...

2. Power

The next Kindle needs to take advantage of the USB power revolution. That the first Kindle relied on its own power connector (albeit one shared with some Sprint phones) was an annoyance and a travesty; that meant remembering yet one more charger, and having yet one more charger on hand to jack in my messy power strip. Yes, I can go buy an for my iGo charging system, but ultimately, I'd rather be able to simply jack in a mini-USB cable, same as I use for countless other devices. This would open me to charging the Kindle off a USB-powered battery pack, such as the mobile battery pack that Kensington cells; charging from my laptop; or even charging via USB on my Monster Outlets-to-Go power strip, (OTG300 USB) which includes a USB connection.