Amazon is preparing to release an updated version of its Kindle firmware that brings more integration with the rest of the world by adding social networking support and the ability to see the most popular highlights in the book you're reading. Being more social isn't the only feature that comes with Kindle 2.5, though—the firmware also comes with password protection, a much-needed way to group your books, and more.

Kindle 2.5 isn't scheduled for a broad public launch until "late May," according to Amazon, but we got early access so we could play around with the new features.

Collections

First up is the most substantive part of the update: collections. Finally, Kindle users can create groups or folders (however you want to think of them) for books, giving users a way to organize the chaos that is otherwise a giant list of books on the home screen. Perhaps some of them are samples that you're making your way through, while others are new books that you haven't started. Or maybe you like to organize books by fiction and nonfiction, or by topic. Just hit the Menu button from the home screen, where the "Create New Collection" option has been added. From here, you can enter the name of your collection (don't worry, this can be changed later if you want), and save.