The Technology Chronicles
Amazon introduces larger Kindle DX for newspapers, magazines, textbooks
By Ryan Kim on May 6, 2009 at 8:37 AM
Amazon unveiled the Kindle DX this morning, an e-reader with a 9.7 inch screen that is 2.5 times larger than the Kindle 2, which debuted earlier this year.
The DX, which is available for pre-order for $489, will attempt to serve up content from newspapers, magazines and textbooks, the kind of larger page stuff that is harder to read on a smaller device.
"You never have to pan, you never have to zoom, you never have to scroll, you just see the documents," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at a press event at Pace University in New York.
The DX will come with PDF reader for reading documents, will have access to 275,000 books, 3.3 gigabytes of storage, enough to hold 3,500 books and documents. The device will automatically switch between portrait and landscape view and will have many of the features of the Kindle 2 including 3G wireless access, text-to-speech, whispersync for syncing across devices and a 16-shade e-ink display. The device ships this summer.
Users can get reduced pricing on three newspapers, the New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe, starting in places outside of the newspapers' main coverage areas.
Amazon has struck deals with large textbook publishers like Pearson, Cengage Learning, and Wiley, which represent 60 percent of the market. Students from five colleges will get to participate in a Kindle pilot program this year.
As I mentioned before, I'm not sold on how this will really help the publishing industry, especially at a price nearing $500. I think there's a market for this stuff, especially textbooks but for print publications, I'm not sure if this can do a lot to turn things around for them.
But what do you think, especially you newspaper and magazine readers and college students? Is the convenience and portability of the DX worth your money?
rkim
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