Why Kindle DX Won’t Save Newspapers

With its large-format Kindle DX (being announced this morning), Amazon aims to reinvent newspapers for the modern age. (And for textbooks, for that matter, but that’s a separate commentary.) The popularity of the Internet, coupled with the current economic downturn, has left the newspaper industry in a shambles. The magazine industry is not too much better off. But I don’t see the                Kindle DX and other such e-reader devices previously discussed by companies like Hearst and News Corp. as the salvation of newspapers.

Woebegone Print Days

All of that said, I remember my days as a railroad commuter, and can see the appeal of digital version of newspapers pushed to a device. After all, the Kindle-delivery of newspapers has its advantages such as no more newsprint bleeding onto my fingers, no more wrestling with a tabloid and broadsheet-sized newspapers (New York commuters have perfected the four-way fold for reading The New York Times), and no more paper to have to recycle.

But the danger for Kindle DX, and other Kindle-clone devices, is that the aforementioned advantages only apply to a dwindling subset of the population that still subscribe or buy newspapers. The rest of us will need more convincing to start paying again for news and for a hardware device.

Of course, if a publication wants to subsidize my device purchase, in exchange for a subscription commitment, that could sweeten the deal.

Maybe consumers that have given up on newspapers could be enticed if the device is heavily subsidized by publishers. But even that approach is fraught with caution: Acer’s Aspire One is not much of a bargain at $50, if you consider you’ll be committing to a 2-year AT&T Wireless data contract that will cost you $1440 to $2400 over the life of the contract.

KindleDX Size  :

The new model measures 10.4 inches long by 7.2 inches across, by .38 inches thick. It is the same thickness as the original model, but is 2.4 inches longer and 1.9 inches wider. The screen is 9.7 inches measured diagonally, compared to the six inch screen of the original. The KindleDX weighs 18.9 ounces, which is about twice the weight of the original.

Here is a summary of features that you get with KindleDX:

·         Screen: the 9.7″ screen makes this device more attractive to college students and newspaper  publishers/readers.

·         Color: 16 shades of Gray which is currently the best in the industry.

·         Auto-Rotate: auto-rotate your screen (portrait, landscape) as you turn your device.

·         PDF Reader: native support for PDF has been added to this gadget. In the previous generation, PDF support was provided through a conversion service.

·         Thickness: it’s as slim as a regular size magazine. And it’s portable too. You won’t have any trouble taking this with you in your trips.

·         Storage: holds 3,500 ebooks on the 4 GB internal memory. That’s more than twice as much storage as the previous generation.

·         Wireless: you still get wireless 3G connection on your gadget. You can download your content in less than 60 seconds.

·         Read To Me: let your gizmo read your book to you.

·         Battery Life: you can read your device with wireless turned off for two weeks.

·         iPhone: you can easily switch back and forth between your reader and iPhone.

·         .docx support: support for .docx is at experimental at this stage but it’s a welcome addition. 

The KindleDX is too expensive. For what we’re getting, which basically amounts to a larger KindleDX 2 with more storage, I’m not impressed. But that doesn’t mean it can’t eventually be worth that price. With a few additions, I think the  could eventually provide enough value to justify spending $489 on it.

Concrete Signs KindleDX might succeed 

1. People are actually pre-ordering. We know from what various kindle blog sites are writing and what people are commenting at forums etc. that a decent number of people have actually pre-ordered the KindleDX.
2. Although the tone of nearly every kindle dx review at news sites and big blogs is negative, the anti-dx arguments all hinge on price or its inability to cook you breakfast (in addition to being an etextbook reader). Even in the recession there are a lot of people for whom $489 is not a deal breaker.  

A touch screen
As a Kindle 2 owner, one of the things I miss is a touch screen. I want to be able to highlight different sections of the book with my finger instead of using the knob. And I especially would like to be able to move the page around with my finger, while zooming in on sections with a “pinch”-like feature. Perhaps the iPhone spoiled me a bit, but I think it’s a more intuitive way of using devices like this. It would also make the KindleDX feel more like a book instead of a gadget

As for PDF documents, there’s no explicit zoom feature, but switching into landscape (horizontal) mode crops the PDF and essentially enlarges a portion of it. One of the problems with the Kindle is that it doesn’t appear to have the horsepower to properly zoom in and out of PDF files quickly, and thus this horizontal mode is Amazon’s workaround. While it may not offer the most flexibility in terms of viewing options, it’s not bad.

I promised more on the Web browser improvements and here it is: you can now switch from a basic mode to an advanced “desktop” mode that allows you to view the Web page as you would on your desktop (you switch into landscape mode to get a wider angle of view).

A few bundled books

Amazon should ship the KindleDX to consumers with a few free books. They can choose the books to be bundled with their DX at the time of purchase. Amazon can limit the selection to certain titles (books that were published more than a year ago, for example) if it wants, but any way you look at it, letting customers get some free books makes them more willing to spend $489.

16 shades of grayAs with the Kindle 2, the DX’s e-ink screen delivers 16 shades of gray, which means sharper images than the first-gen Kindle. (Those hoping for a color screen will have to wait for future versions.)

A library in your handNewspapers, magazines, books, and personal documents are accessible on the KindleDX . The unit also includes a full version of the New Oxford American Dictionary, so unfamiliar words can be looked up on the fly.

User-configurable reading optionsUnlike a paper magazines or newspapers, the KindleDX lets you adjust the font size to your liking. It also offers a text-to-speech option that uses a synthetic voice to read aloud to you.


Going wideNew to the Kindle series is screen rotation. Like the iPhone, the KindleDX will automatically rotate the screen from portrait to landscape mode when you flip the unit on its side.

Still no touch screenUnlike the competing Sony Reader, the latest KindleDX still doesn’t have a touch screen. However, the built-in keyboard makes it relatively easy to enter search terms and Web addresses.  

New Kindle DX to Be Given to College Students for Textbooks

First Impressions of the New Kindle DX

The first thing I notice about the new Kindle DX — shown Wednesday morning at a news conference in New York — is that it still seems small. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If it is going to replicate a newspaper or textbook, you don’t want some clunky thing to lug around.

The DX has a 9.7-inch display, which the company says is 2 1/2 times the size of the Kindle 2. But the device doesn’t feel or look as large as a sheet of copier paper. It won’t give you the feeling of reading an entire page of a newspaper. You read the paper by flipping through it, article by article.

But you never see the big picture — a full page — that can reward you with the article you didn’t think you wanted to read, but are lured in either by the placement it on the page or the art that goes with it. The larger screen should have been able to offer a different experience than the one on the first two versions of the Kindle.

That said, the text, photos and drawings replicate the experience of reading a newspaper or a textbook.

The photographs are clearer and more defined than those you’d see on a printed page. Better than what you see on a high-resolution computer monitor? No. But if the goal was to replicate the newspaper reading experience, then Amazon seems to have succeeded.

On a biology textbook, it is very easy to see the detail to distinguish the different phalanges.

It is easy to blow the picture up, and the resolution holds as you do.

The display automatically rotates when you change the orientation of the Kindle.

The price: $489. It ships, the company said, this summer. The Amazon.com site has it ready for pre-order. This is where many consumers may stumble. The device offers a good experience, but is it a $500 experience?

Three newspapers — The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe — will offer a reduced price on the Kindle in exchange for a long-term subscription. The Times and Globe will be offered starting this summer in areas where home delivery is not available. No prices of that promotion were released.

Amazon emphasized that the Kindle would exchange personal documents, all without the user having to look for a wireless hot spot.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, pointed out it is easier to turn the page on sheet music by pushing a button. He is right. The Kindle could find a sub-market among musicians.

Plastic Logic Vs Kindle DX – Features

Credit for a lot of the information in here goes to the MediaShift Blog at pbs.org.

Neither offers a color screen. Plastic Logic says they are working on it. PVI and EInk (developers of the

Every book ever in under a minute

Bezos reminded the assembled journalists at this week’s launch event that the Amazon Kindle will soon be able to offer “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. “We’ve added another 45,000 books in just the last three months. We’re actually accelerating.”

“The display is 2 and a half times the size of the Kindle 2,” added Bezos, adding that with the “Built in PDF reader, you never have to pan, you never have to zoom, you never have to scroll. You just read.”

Also, rather niftily (just as with Apple’s iPhone), “You just rotate the device and you go to widescreen mode.”

“Any highly structured documents look great on this device. Here’s a cookbook, lots of structure. Here’s another one, a photo of sushi… it’s making me hungry. Computer books, they’re highly structured, complex layouts. They shine with the Kindle DX.”EInk screen Kindle DX uses) say 2010 or later.

Kindle Dx ebook reader started by Amazon 

People who are fond of reading books find anything and everything which comes on a piece of paper to read interesting. But in today’s busy world we don’t find enough time and place to bring those huge books along. But Amazon has a solution for all those booklovers. It is the new Kindle DX e-book reader.

With the new Kindle DX e-book you can now read your favorite books on a 9.7 inch e-ink display. It is very clear and lucid for reading newspapers, books and other large articles. It is a user-friendly device with a built in accelerometer. With the use of the accelerometer you can easily rotate your e-book reader in any direction for more suitable reading. Kindle DX also has a PDF reader pre-installed. It can help you in opening the documents without converting them using the Amazon’s online services

The portable device is beautifully designed using the latest technology so that you will enjoy reading without paining your eyes. The Amazon Kindle DX also supports contents from Cookbooks, computer books, and textbooks and other formats.

Featuring an in-built PDF reader, the portable device ensures resounding e-reading experiences. You don’t need to pan, zoom or scroll or re-flow the document. The all you need is emailing of your favored documents to the Kindle mail account or download the content to the portal device via an USB.

The Kindle DX features an Auto-rotate option which enables the readers to see enhanced landscape views of pictures, graphs, maps, tables and web pages. You are ensured to flip the e-book reader to use the device in any of your hand.

As its reviews, Kindle DX also supports 3G wireless connections. Hence, you don’t require to sit before a PC or look for WiFi hotspots to exploit Amazon’s Whispernet to access to digital contents.

With Kindle DX, you can read some of the popular newspapers like The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Washington Post. You need to open an account to access these newspapers.

Kindle DX possesses all the important features, which we have found in its earlier version Kindle. The upgraded e-book reader offers a 250,000-word Oxford American dictionary. It also provides bookmarking option, notes and six different text sizes to make your reading experience more interesting 

Kindle DX, a girl’s review

I wanted to upgrade from my Kindle 1 to the new Kindle DX, I really did.  I’ve been looking forward to the announcement for days and finally got to see what it looked like today.  Sadly, I won’t be upgrading.  There are several very cool things about it as well as several problems that did not get addressed in the DX.  But I won’t bore you with the details of any of those because there’s basically ONE thing that will keep me from upgrading:  it won’t fit in most of my purses.

I know they’re pushing out to a new market - the business and student market - and those users would have bigger bags.  But this DX version is not ready for prime time on the academic market, believe me, I’ve done some research on my Kindle and the highlight/notes functions are quite primitive and they don’t seem to have improved those.  So to me, that means they still need to please their biggest current market which seems to be women.  Women read more books than men.  Women follow Oprah more than men.  Hence, the Kindle should suck up to women.  If only they had made it about an inch and a half shorter, it would fit in most of my purses and certainly all my favorite ones.  To have your Kindle determine the look of your purse is a fashion no-no, in my opinion.  We all have our own tastes and although mine is far from Vogue’s, it’s still my own style, not Amazon’s.

Amazon starts Kindle DX e-book reader

You are fond of reading books? And you don’t have a lot of place and time to bring the books with you? Amazon gives you an answer. It is the Kindle DX e-book reader.

You can read your favorite books on a 9.7-inch e-ink display. It is comprehensible for reading newspapers, books and other large articles. Kindle DX is user-friendly and has a built-in accelerometer. With it you can simply rotate your e-book reader for more suitable reading. Also Kindle DX has installed PDF reader. It can help you to open documents without converting them using Amazon’s service.

Let’s look inside. You can store your favorite books on a 4 GB internal storage. Approximately it is enough for 3.500 high-grade books. Also Kindle DX has the free 3G access to the Kindle store databases. You can easily download books or articles through web browser.  

 Hands On with the Amazon Kindle DX

 Hot on the heels of the super-successful Kindle 2 launch, Amazon announced the Kindle DX ($489 direct), a larger, higher capacity, and more expensive version. I was able to get some hands-on time with the device and found it to be just as advertised: a larger version of the Kindle. That said, that extra screen size and the new partnerships with textbook vendors could help the Kindle DX open markets previously untapped by e-book readers.

The Kindle DX’s interface hasn’t changed much from Kindle 2. The Home button is still the best way to restart your navigation process and the five-way directional toggle lets you navigate the menus. I still think this process could be smoothed out some, but it isn’t too difficult to move around. Although the Page Forward and Page Back commands are still along the right side of the device, they’ve been removed from the left-hand side.

One key improvement is the addition of an accelerometer. Like the Apple iPhone, the Kindle DX can detect its orientation and rotates the screen accordingly. This lets you view documents, photos, and charts in landscape mode. In fact, the device can even be operated upside down, so that left handers can use the Page Forward/Page Back keys with their left hand if they want. (Typing on the QWERTY keyboard upside down is much, much more difficult.)

Otherwise, the Kindle DX supports the same assortment of file formats, including Kindle, (AZW) TXT, Audible, HTML, Doc, JPEG, GIF, and PNG. Files can be sideloaded via the microUSB cable or sent through Amazon’s Whispernet service for $.15/MB. 

As with the Kindle 2, the DX comes with a built-in 1xRTT EVDO modem for wirelessly loading books and other digital content using the companies Whispernet service. Whispernet works seamlessly in the background, but it should be noted the company recently moved to per MB pricing for files that you upload to the service. If users do start uploading lots of their own files to the device, as Amazon seems to want them to, this could end up adding to the price of the device.

Other than the increased size, the biggest improvement in the Kindle ecosystem is the deal with textbook publishers. The textbook market will be key for the DX to succeed. Amazon has already signed up three of the top five textbook publishers (Cengage Learning, Pearson, and Wiley) as well as 27 University Press Publishers. The Kindle DX will be used in trials with at least five universities this fall.

There are lots of unanswered questions about the Kindle DX that I will answer when the device comes into PCMag Labs for testing. That said, given how closely the device builds on the Kindle 2 platform, it seems like a useful addition to the Kindle portfolio. This will be especially true if Amazon can succeed in evolving the device from a pure e-book reader into a device for reading all sorts of digital documents, including textbooks, magazines, blogs, word documents, PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, e-mails, or any other document people currently print out.

 

 

        Amazon KindleDX