Will the next version of the Kindle be released February 9? TechFlash and other media received an email invitation for an "important Amazon.com press conference" that day at the The Morgan Library & Museum in New York -- and speculation is growing that the company will unveil Kindle 2.0 at the event.

Rumors have circulated about the latest version of the electronic book reader ever since Amazon.com sold out of the original version before Christmas. Citing an unnamed source, TechCrunch reported in late November that the next generation of the device would be released in the first quarter.

Feburary 9, obviously, would qualify. Stay tuned.

The New York setting for the Feb. 9 event may be significant -- Amazon chose the city to unveil the first version of Kindle in Nov. 2007.

Amazon has generated some impressive buzz around the Kindle -- including a well-publicized plug from Oprah Winfrey last fall. But the Kindle's supply issues and temporary absence from the market have left an opening for competitors, including Sony's e-book reader and various e-book applications for the iPhone.

Update: Amazon confirms that CEO Jeff Bezos will be at the Feb. 9 event, portending a major announcement.

The New York Times Bits Blog has more on Kindle 2.0's likely design changes:

If the leaked photos on the gadget site Boy Genius Report are to be believed, the new device corrects some of the design flaws of the first model, adding round buttons instead of those strange angular ones, and smaller side buttons to avoid accidental page turns.

But the biggest changes may be inside the device. The new Kindle likely uses the new Broadsheet microchip from Epson and E-Ink, which makes the display technology for the Kindle. E-Ink’s chief executive, Russell J. Wilcox, described the technology to me a few weeks ago, saying that it breaks the screen into 16 pixel sets and can update them in parallel, allowing for faster screen refreshes and a generally more responsive screen. He added that the technology was somewhat analogous to putting a better graphics card in a computer and would help e-readers become better full-featured devices.