Amazon Debuts $489 9.7" Kindle DX E-Reader
Called the Kindle DX, the device looks and feels almost exactly like the refreshed Kindle 2 from February. The biggest difference (literally) is the panel. Instead of the standard 6" screen, this device includes a 9.7" (diagonal) e-ink display which will supposedly enable newspapers and textbook publishers to get their content into digital form more easily. The other new capabilities are built-in PDF support (finally!), auto-rotation via an integrated accelerometer and storage for up to 3,500 books. If you're keeping count, the Kindle book store now has over 275,000 titles available, which sure beats your local library.
According to Amazon, the DX's screen has 2.5x the surface area of the Kindle's 6" display, and it also features 16 shades of gray for showing more subtle changes in text. Also new with this device are initiatives from both The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. All three papers will begin a trial this summer to sell the Kindle DX along with a newspaper subscription for a discounted rate, but there's a huge, huge catch: you can't be in an area where home delivery is available. In other words, the newspaper firms are alienating thousands of potential buyers as they force people to continue reading paper articles -- a dreadful idea, if we may opine. After all, what are the chances that someone is out of home-delivery range, yet has access to Sprint's 3G network for downloading new editions of the newspaper? This clearly wasn't thought out very well.
Thankfully, the above situation is just a "trial," and we're hoping that newspaper executives see the light and begin offering their content (along with the subsidized Kindle DX) to anyone who wishes to buy in. After all, how many potential customers are they losing by forcing an actual paper upon them? Give people the choice to go digital!
On an entirely different front, Amazon has also rounded up Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Princeton University, Reed College, and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, all of which will launch trial programs to make the Kindle DX available to students in the fall. While details aren't yet available, the schools will "distribute hundreds of Kindle DX devices to students spread across a broad range of academic disciplines." Interestingly enough, there was no similarly big announcement made by any major textbook publishers. We guess that "used textbook" market is a bit too lucrative to give up so soon, huh?
The Kindle DX is available for pre-order right now at the very steeping asking price of $489. Some of the newest, most interesting features are detailed below.
New Built-In PDF Reader
Kindle DX features a built-in PDF reader using Adobe Reader Mobile technology for reading professional and personal documents. Like other types of documents on Kindle, customers simply email their PDF format documents to their Kindle email address or move them over using a USB connection. With a larger display and built-in PDF reader, Kindle DX customers can read professional and personal documents with more complex layouts without scrolling, panning, or zooming, and without re-flowing, which destroys the original structure of the document. Everything from annual reports with graphs to flight manuals with maps to musical scores can be viewed on a single, crisp screen with Kindle DX.
New Auto-Rotation
Kindle DX’s display content auto-rotates so users can read in portrait or landscape mode, or flip the device to read with either hand. Simply turn Kindle DX and immediately see full-width landscape views of maps, graphs, tables, images, and Web pages.
New 3.3 GB Memory Holds Up To 3,500 Books
With 3.3 GB of available memory, Kindle DX can hold up to 3,500 books, compared with 1,500 with Kindle. And because Amazon automatically backs up a copy of every Kindle book purchased, customers can wirelessly re-download titles from their library at any time.
Incredibly Thin
Kindle DX is just over a third of an inch thin, which is thinner than most magazines.
3G Wireless, No PC, No Hunting for Wi-Fi Hot Spots
Just like Kindle, Kindle DX customers automatically take advantage of
Amazon Whispernet to wirelessly shop the
Syncs With Kindle for iPhone and other Kindle Compatible Devices
Just like Kindle, Kindle DX uses Amazon Whispersync technology to automatically sync content across Kindle, Kindle DX, Kindle for iPhone, and other devices in the future. With Whispersync, customers can easily move from device to device and never lose their place in their reading.
Massive Selection of Books—Plus Newspapers, Magazines, and Blogs
