PDA

View Full Version : Amazon to introduce "big screen" Kindle device this week


fee
05-04-2009, 06:28 PM
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/05/04/amazon_to_introduce_big_screen_kindle_device_this_ week.html

Amazon to introduce "big screen" Kindle device this week

By Slash Lane
Published: 12:00 PM EST

Amazon.com is expected to introduce later this week a version of its Kindle digital eBook reader with a larger display screen fitted for presentation of newspapers, magazines and textbooks in a more traditional format, according to reports.

The big-box retailer and online bookseller on Monday began issuing to members of the media invitations to a special press conference this Wednesday, May 6th at 10:30 a.m. that will take place at Pace University in Manhattan.

These invites arrived just hours after a report in the New York Times cited people briefed on Amazon's plans as saying the retailer was gearing up to introduce "a larger version of its Kindle wireless device tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks."

The newspaper, which is expected to be one of several media outlets involved in the unveiling, believes eBook readers with screens larger than the 6-inch display on the existing Kindle may pose an "irresistible proposition" to newspaper and magazine publishers who are looking to save millions on the cost of printing and distributing their publications at a time when there business have come under immense financial pressure.

The jumbo Kindle, as some have called it, is expected to be the first of several similarly-positioned devices due to hit the market in the next 12-months, with other offerings reported to be in the works by the likes of News Corp., the magazine publisher Hearst, and upstart Plastic Logic.

A Kindle with a larger viewing surface could renew consumers interest in paying for subscriptions to content that has in recent years has become freely accessible on the Web, while also affording publishers the opportunity to present their material in a digital format that resembles that of their print editions.

But when Amazon takes the wraps off its new device on Wednesday, it may focus on an entirely different market: education. In the weeks leading up to the introduction of the Kindle 2 (unboxing, review) this past February, rumors were abound of an upcoming education model that would feature a larger screen and be marketed to students as an alternative to textbooks.

Plastic Logic
Plastic Logic has been touting its own larger-form factor digital eBook reader, expected to hit the market later this year.


With Amazon having selected an educational institution to host this week's event, it's likely those rumors will pan out to some degree. The retailer chose public libraries as the site of its first two Kindle introductions.

----------------------
Thoughs?

smokeyjoey8
05-04-2009, 08:44 PM
Holy crap!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/emokid8/kindlejumbo-090504-1.jpg

davmoo
05-04-2009, 08:58 PM
If it would have a nice "screen" like in that image, and not be any more expensive than the current Kindle 2, I'm in.

tamtamg
05-05-2009, 08:19 AM
Holy crap!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/emokid8/kindlejumbo-090504-1.jpg

this is up there in the worse photoshop jobs ever done. look at how awkward her left arm is.

vidkid7
05-05-2009, 03:03 PM
Photoshop'd or not, I want to believe.

tokenuser
05-05-2009, 03:13 PM
... if it doesn't screw with PDF formatting and will allow annotation, this might be perfect for my wife.

Especially good would be integration with a product like end note. Perfect combination for an academic audience.

fee
05-05-2009, 04:48 PM
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/05/kindle-dx-2-2009-05-04_22-17-39-rm-eng_2.jpg

Engadet has spy photos of the new Kindle "DX" Press release tomorrow.

davmoo
05-06-2009, 04:23 PM
Nope. Not at that price. If they want to bundle a couple or three one-year subscriptions to national newspapers or something with it, yeah, I'd go for it in a heartbeat. But not $523 (I'm one of the lucky people that lives in a state where Amazon has a distribution hub, so I have to pay sales tax) for just the bare device.

serafina
05-07-2009, 12:11 AM
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346639,00.asp

http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/20/0,1425,sz=1&i=205958,00.jpg (http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l%253D240047%2526a%253D240042%2526po%253D10 ,00.asp?p=y)

Seems a bit too big for my tastes, not to mention pricey. Might be good for textbooks that need detailed illustrations or some such, I suppose.

photogray
05-07-2009, 02:58 AM
That will be amazing... i might just order the new one...
http://www.snagpic.com/users/img/2269/n09x0302vnsn/clear.gif

klitzy
05-07-2009, 04:30 AM
Digital age of media just gets better and better...I love it. Could I see myself actually using it? Hmm. I can just see it now...I would be spending all my time looking for something to read and by the time I get to it, it would be time to work, go to school, attend class, etc...