Over at Kindle Nation, Steve Windwalker wonders if the battery improvement in the Kindle upgrade is only for the global model.
That’s my current interpretation, alas, although Steve isn’t so sure.
I think the “Gobal Wireless” in the bulleted item is in fact there to exclude the domestic-only model.
The hardware in the global Kindle 2 just may be slightly different from the original K2’s—the radio-related components at the very least. I’m going by an old Engadget item mentioning that the U.S.-only Kindle 2 has a CDMA radio, with an empty slot for one for the international market.
Needless to say, I’ll welcome observations from TeleRead community members who actually have a chance to test this-here battery stuff on their upgraded 2s. Enlighten us!
Have been using the Kindle2 Global Ed. in Japan since release and have to say the update is a world of difference.
The WCDMA modem required for the global version is of course a much bigger battery hog than the last generation. On top of that, the sleep mode polled the network so often I was getting used to seeing the battery level drop 30+% if I forgot to shut it off at night.
The new change seems to effect how the modem operates and polls the network. I doubt it effects usage time at all, but it dramatically improves sleep mode.
This appears to be a fix, rather than an enhancement. The battery drain during sleep mode was simply unacceptable. This brings it up on par with the US versions.