As some of you might know, especially those of you who've visited our Rumors section, Amazon is most likely set to announce this Monday (February the 9'th) the next iteration of its famous portable eBook reader, the Kindle, a new and improved version that will address some of the issues that affected its predecessor, while in the same time providing a more streamlined and attractive design. And this is no speculation, since, just a few days before the actual press event, a few very official-looking photos have leaked onto the web, accompanied by some official data regarding the pricing.

Hence, in a post on the MobileRead forum, user Alexander Turcic has provided a very interesting gallery of Kindle 2 photos, all of which look way too good to be either spy shots or photoshop art. Actually, they're shot in the same style as the photos for the original Kindle, which leads us to believe that we're talking about a leak of the actual official press photos to be used by Amazon.

Anyway, what these pictures bring new to the table is a much thinner form factor, as well as brushed metal backside, similar to that of the iPod (after all, Amazon hopes that the Kindle will become the “iPod of mobile readers” in the near future). Furthermore, these shots also reveal a couple of stereo speakers installed on the device's rear side, which means that the reader will also provide extensive audio support.

As mentioned earlier, some details regarding the pricing and availability have also been leaked. Hence, apparently, Amazon doesn't plan any price increases for the new Kindle 2, since it will also sell for around 360 US dollars, starting February 24'th.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether this data and photos will be confirmed officially, but I have a hunch we'll be posting these photos again on Monday, this time coming straight from Amazon's press office.

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