Kindle Firmware 2.5 Imminent: Twitter/Facebook Integration, Ebook Collections, More

Amazon have announced a new firmware build for their Kindle ereader, currently in private beta, which adds social network sharing, improved ebook organisation tools and more.  Kindle Version 2.5 will be released for both the Kindle and larger Kindle DX models in late May 2010; one of the headline features is the ability to share book passages on Facebook and Twitter directly from the Kindle itself.

There's also a new Collections feature, which allows you to "organize your books and documents into one or more collections" and likely comes as a response to criticism that navigating page after page of on-device texts is a cumbersome way of managing content.  It will also be possible to password protect the Kindle, together with seeing which passages in the current text you're reading are being most highlighted by other Kindle users.

Amazon are also boosting the number of fonts on offer, promising sharper clarity and two new larger sizes, along with adding the ability to "zoom into PDFs and pan around to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics."  The update is being rolled out to select testers currently, before its wider availability in the coming months.

[via The Digital Reader]