Amazon's Big-Screen Kindle DX Debuts

Larger Kindle Now Reads PDFs, Has Rotating Screen

(CNET)  This story was written by CNET's Caroline McCarthy.

---

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled Wednesday the much-anticipated large-screen Kindle e-reader in a lecture hall at the downtown Pace University. Called the Kindle DX, the new device is geared toward readers of personal and professional documents, newpapers and magazines--and textbooks, a potentially huge target market.

The debut of the bigger Kindle wasn't exactly a secret: rumors of a larger-screen Kindle had been around for quite some time, and concrete reports began to surface earlier this week.

According to Amazon's Kindle DX page, the device has the following:

A 9.7-inch display with 16 shades of gray (the standard Kindle has a 6-inch display.

Capacity to hold up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents.

An auto-rotating screen to show either portrait or landscape views.

A built-in PDF reader.

3G
wireless network support with no monthly fees or annual contracts.

Battery capacity to "read for days without charging."

Text-to-speech abilities to read publications aloud.

Several of those features are shared with the current Kindle 2, but several are unique to the Kindle DX: the native PDF reader that doesn't require the files to be converted, the rotating display, the 3,500-publication capacity compared to 1,500 for the Kindle 2, and of course the larger screen.

"You never have to pan, you never have to zoom, you never have to scroll, you just see the documents," Bezos said.

The Kindle DX retails for $489 (the standard Kindle is $359), and is available for pre-orders now on Amazon. It'll ship this summer.

As expected, education is a big market for the bigger Kindle. Amazon has partnered with textbook manufacturers Pearson, Cengage Learning, and Wiley to bring textbooks to the Kindle--which Bezos says make up 60 percent of the textbook market--as well as universities Arizona State University, Princeton University, Reed College, the University of Virginia, and Case Western Reserve University to launch a Kindle DX pilot program this fall.

(Amazon)

"We're going to get students with smaller backpacks, less load, easier access," said Bezos, and introduced Case Western president Barbara Snyder, who said that the university would be seeing how study habits and the learning process change with the use of Kindles as textbook replacements.

Many predicted that the Kindle DX would be geared in part toward helping out the struggling newspaper industry, and indeed, three newspapers will also be testing out the Kindle DX this summer in exchange for future product development help. The publications participating are the New York Times, the Boston Globe (owned, and recently nearly shut down, by the New York Times Company), and the Washington Post.

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of the New York Times Company, said that the Times and the Globe will first be available on the Kindle DX in markets where home delivery is not available.

The Kindle DX showcases "our commitment to reinvention and to taking full advantage of digital media," Sulzberger said, "which are providing a compelling laboratory for entrepreneurs, for technologists, and of course for journalists. The new Kindle DX is an important milestone in the convergence between print and digital."

"Newspapers have been an absolute bestseller on Kindle," Bezos said. "People love waking up in the morning to find that their New York Times, their Washington Post, their Wall Street Journal have been 'automagically' delivered overnight. They like the fact that when they travel their subscription follows them around."

In addition to launching the new device, Jeff Bezos hailed the rise of the Kindle phenomenon in general, and its lofty goal of working toward "every book ever printed, in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds."

"Eighteen months ago, we launched Kindle, and at the time we had 90,000 books available for Kindle. (We had) 230,000 books just three months ago when we launched Kindle 2," Bezos said. Now, the count is 275,000 books. "We've added another 45,000 books in just the last three months. We're actually accelerating."

CNET News reporter Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.


By Caroline McCarthy
Copyright © 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved.

Share:

• Share
• Yahoo! Buzz
• Twitter
• Mixx

More From CNET Tech News

• Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell leaving
• Joost: It Coulda Been A Contender, Or Not
• Google: Michelle Obama Pic Not Our Fault
• Hulu Looks to Get into Music Videos, Too
• IBM Making Computers to Rival Human Brain
• "Verify Your Account Info"? It's Phishing
• A CNET Conversation with Eric Schmidt

• 

  VideoNew Apple Laptop Redesign

• 

  VideoScrabulous Shut Down

Add a Comment

by May 9, 2009 4:45 PM EDT

I've got a Kindle 2 and I love it. I've currently got about 3 dozen books on it, as well as some pdf documents I converted. It also plays mp3s, reads aloud, and lets you adjust the font to make for easier reading. the web browser is also handy - i can read internet news ANYWHERE. Oh - you can also make notes, and it has an integrated built in dictionary. and you can read Word documents on it also. My book pages aren't in color, they're black and white. why would you need color?

Reply to this comment

by barbaram99 May 7, 2009 10:10 PM EDT

Does any one if that reader as a talking voice that reads the books to us . I am legally blind and I would not buy it. i have a used notebook computer,

Reply to this comment

by suncat13 May 7, 2009 12:37 PM EDT

I also don't see why this is so great. With a paper textbook, you get color pictures and graphs (ever try to look at a color graph in black and white?), you can write notes in the margins and highlight the important stuff. As for entertainment reading, you can easily carry a paperback in your backpack or coat pocket, take it to the beach, read in bright sunlight or on a dim subway, and turn it in to a used book store and pick up another for a fraction of the price of a new book. Outside of the geek factor, a paper book or textbook beats a Kindle hands down.

Reply to this comment

by budmag06 May 7, 2009 1:46 AM EDT

One can buy a used best seller at a yard sale for a quarter. Why spend hundreds on this mess? What fools people are with their money! This should sell well in CA.

Reply to this comment

by sjc_1 May 7, 2009 12:42 AM EDT

You can buy a web book for $299...I do not see the attraction.

Reply to this comment

by presjfk May 6, 2009 6:48 PM EDT

I will hold out for a color Kindle - or buy a used Kindle when color comes out. Anyone heard anything about a color Kindle?

Reply to this comment

by cmjjax May 6, 2009 4:19 PM EDT

As for affordability, it is probably to obvious that it is a waste of time to state, but we are in the early stages of this new technology, and at during such a period, the cost will be high. However, it will come down. Go back and look at the Kindle DX. Do you see it? It is the future.

Reply to this comment

by slantedview May 6, 2009 3:36 PM EDT

If the average person can't afford this thing how do they expect the average person (market aimed at students) to be able to afford a higher price tag? I guess their parents will have to buy it for them.

This would be a good thing if it were affordable. They need to lower the price. Good luck selling this one without Oprah's endorsement.

Reply to this comment

by ass_u_me May 6, 2009 2:48 PM EDT

yeah, I thought this was coming (e-readers), and I was not believed.

Reply to this comment

Add a comment

Comment SUBMIT

Click here to add another comment.

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

Comment reply

Submit Cancel

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

Report offensive content:

If you believe this comment is offensive or violates the CBSNews.com Terms of Use, you can report it below (this will not automatically remove the comment). Once reported, our staff will be notified and the comment will be reviewed.

Select type of offense:

Offensive: Sexually explicit or offensive language

Spam: Advertisements, commercial links, or repetitive posts

Disruptive posting: Flaming or offending other users

Illegal activities: Promote cracked software, or other illegal content

Off-topic: Commentary unrelated to the storyline

Comments (optional):

Report Cancel

E-mail this comment to a friend.

E-mail this to: (Separate multiple e-mail addresses with commas. Limited to 10 addresses.)

Your e-mail address:

Send me a copy of this message

Note: Your e-mail address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the e-mail and in case of transmission error. Neither your address nor the recipients's address will be used for any other purpose.

Add your own personal message: (Optional)

Hi, I found this user's comment on CBSNews.com and thought you might be interested in reading it. Send e-mail Cancel

I've got a Kindle 2 and I love it. I've currently got about 3 dozen books on it, as well as some pdf documents I converted. It also plays mp3s, reads aloud, and lets you adjust the font to make for easier reading. the web browser is also handy - i can read internet news ANYWHERE. Oh - you can also make notes, and it has an integrated built in dictionary. and you can read Word documents on it also. My book pages aren't in color, they're black and white. why would you need color?

[barbaram99]

Does any one if that reader as a talking voice that reads the books to us . I am legally blind and I would not buy it. i have a used notebook computer,

[suncat13]

I also don't see why this is so great. With a paper textbook, you get color pictures and graphs (ever try to look at a color graph in black and white?), you can write notes in the margins and highlight the important stuff. As for entertainment reading, you can easily carry a paperback in your backpack or coat pocket, take it to the beach, read in bright sunlight or on a dim subway, and turn it in to a used book store and pick up another for a fraction of the price of a new book. Outside of the geek factor, a paper book or textbook beats a Kindle hands down.

[budmag06]

One can buy a used best seller at a yard sale for a quarter. Why spend hundreds on this mess? What fools people are with their money! This should sell well in CA.

[sjc_1]

You can buy a web book for $299...I do not see the attraction.

[presjfk]

I will hold out for a color Kindle - or buy a used Kindle when color comes out. Anyone heard anything about a color Kindle?

[cmjjax]

As for affordability, it is probably to obvious that it is a waste of time to state, but we are in the early stages of this new technology, and at during such a period, the cost will be high. However, it will come down. Go back and look at the Kindle DX. Do you see it? It is the future.

[slantedview]

If the average person can't afford this thing how do they expect the average person (market aimed at students) to be able to afford a higher price tag? I guess their parents will have to buy it for them.

This would be a good thing if it were affordable. They need to lower the price. Good luck selling this one without Oprah's endorsement.

[ass_u_me]

yeah, I thought this was coming (e-readers), and I was not believed.