Amazon Unveils New $489 Kindle DX with 9.7-inch Screen
We visited Pace University in New York this morning for the unveiling of Amazon's newest Kindle. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos just finished showing off the Kindle DX, a larger version of the company's popular e-reader. Other than price (more on that later), the biggest change to the DX is its huge 9.7-inch, black-and-white display, which, in terms of readability, looks similar to the 6-inch Kindle 2's display. Today's presentation focused on four primary types of e-content: books, personal and business documents, textbooks, and newspapers.
The DX gets 4 gigabytes of onboard storage (3.3 gigabytes available for user content), so it can hold about 3,500 books. The new Kindle also gets native support for PDFs. Bezos explained that this, along with the DX's larger screen, enables an improved PDF-reading experience, since you no longer have to zoom in and out to get around the page. An auto-rotate function is a welcome addition to Amazon's latest; tilt the DX on its side and the page rotates into landscape view (similar to the iPhone and iPod touch). This could be useful when looking at atlases, reading sheet music, exploring maps, and viewing photos.
As far as affordability goes, the DX's $489 price tag is hardly going to win any new followers. Fortunately for some lucky university students, Amazon is teaming up several universities for a pilot program starting this Fall. Amazon has also worked out deals with three leading publishers (which comprise 60-percent of the textbook market), to bring textbooks to the device. Although Bezos did talk about e-textbooks in overly-dramatic language ("Students... with smaller backpacks!"), we admit that it would've been great to run around campus without having to tote along huge math and science tomes. That said, we're skeptical about how effectively colored graphs (think economics and biology) and illustrations will work on the black-and-white DX.
We got a little hands-on time with the device, and it feels like an evolved piece of previous Kindle technology. The five-way control stick, slow page refresh, and text-to-speech tech are still here, but, unlike the Kindle 2's circular keyboard buttons, thin Tic Tac-like buttons dot the DX. Although we'd like to get some more time typing and annotating with the device before passing final judgment, the keyboard (and the DX's wider body) took some getting used to -- it's not like typing on earlier Kindles or even a BlackBerry.
If you've got $489 burning a hole in your pocket and you're ready to upgrade, you'll have to wait a little longer; the DX doesn't ship until sometime this summer (pre-order here). For more highlights on the press conference, and images, check out Engadget's live coverage of the Kindle DX announcement.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
andree2537 said 4:28PM on 5-06-2009
I own the original Kindle. I love it for reading books because I can adjust the type size. I do not see how it can be used as a text in science and mathematics because reading tables and charts is horrible. They frequently come out too small to be read.
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Jewelzy263 said 2:30PM on 5-07-2009
Is the new Kindle DX backlit for low light reading?
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dickn2000b said 4:21PM on 5-07-2009
$489.00 for the privilege of reading e-books... I don't think so. Look folks... I have a string of advanced degrees, all earned before the PC was invented, so I suppose most of you will think me old fashioned. Nothing could be further from the truth. Two of those advanced degrees are in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics. But, in my opinion, $489.00 is just too much money for a gadget that will be obsolete in a few years... just like this computer I'm now using! The big difference is I can use this computer for an almost infinite number of applications. How many does the Kindle handle?
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Marisa said 6:09PM on 5-07-2009
I agree with you. I am an online graduate student and bought the Kindle to upload my reading assignments for the convenience of reading away from home. After $399.99 and an additional service fee a month later I bought a good four in one printer, printed my reading and stored them in a nickel folder. I like the Kindle for entertainment reading, but for class I need to be able to make notes and refer to them when completing assignments.The price is too high for technology that is obsolete before you get to the car. Students can find better uses for $489.99.
wtre428476 said 7:47PM on 5-07-2009
you mut have wasted a lot of paper without a printer LOL
Marie said 5:25PM on 5-07-2009
I remember when the prices went DOWN as technology went up. I thought the price of original Kindle was overpriced, so I passed. Since the price went up, I won't be buying the Kindle. Period.
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shamrock said 6:07PM on 5-07-2009
Another thing we don't need to buy. Hooray.
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creatureboydan said 6:10PM on 5-07-2009
wow!! It looks worse than the last one!!!
Yay Amazon for proving they can make things even worse!!
i may be in the minority here, but ill stick with my Sony PRS-500 (the first one) any day over that....that...abomination. Sure mine may be old and outdated, but it still does what its supposed to do and thats all i need it for, i dont need any of that fancy BS like mentioned in the story above, with the screen changing or the back light. People can never be happy with what they have!!!
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kahoohiwahiwa said 6:21PM on 5-07-2009
I have to say that I find this Kindle stuff intriguing, even though I'm a die-hard fan of good old-fashioned paper books. The thought of sitting on the beach or in the park with this thin piece of technology is attractive. However, for $500, you'll not make me jump the fence any time soon.
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