The rumors proved to be true, and Amazon has indeed launched a larger Kindle.
As we reported the other day, rumors had begun to circulate that Amazon was about to launch a second, larger, version of their ebook reader, the Kindle. We had first heard whispers of a larger Kindle as far back as last August, but when the Kindle 2 launched, we figured those rumors had been wrong. Today, though, was a different story.
The new Kindle DX features a 9.7″ diagonal screen compared to the regular model’s 6″ screen. It also adds a new trick to the screen in that you can rotate it from the standard portrait layout to a landscape one simply by turning the device on its side. This new addition is very reminiscent of the iPhone and iPod Touch, but still a handy feature depending on what you’re reading.
Screen space wasn’t the only thing to increase in size as the hard drive has been increased to 3.3 GBs, or enough space to hold up to 3,500 books. Seeing as the Kindle 2 can only 1,500, this is a huge jump for the device. (We here at StarterTech still want to know how this is a necessary feature… did people actually used to think, “Oh, if only I could carry 3,500 books with me anywhere I go!”… we don’t think so)
The main reason for this new addition to the Kindle family is more integration with newspapers and text books. The newly retooled gadget is going to retail for $489 if you buy it outright, but at some point this summer, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe will be offering deals where you can get it cheaper if you agree to a long term subscription plan with them. The details of this have not yet been released, but it is an interesting proposal to help save some of the struggling newspapers in this country.
What may be the most brilliant plan for expanding the popularity of the Kindle is getting it into the hands of college students. No one likes lugging around huge school books, nor how much you have to pay for them. With this in mind, Amazon has partnered up with Princeton, UVA, Case Western, Arizona State, and Reed College to do pilot programs where students will be able to have their text books on the new Kindles. No word on how many students at each school will be involved, or on pricing for the device & the books, but the programs are coming at some point.
While these are all interesting possabilities for the Kindle, the newspapers and the schools, until these devices feature a color screen, it just isn’t going to reach its full potential. Right now both the Kindle 2 and the Kindle DX sport screens with 16 shades of gray, and that’s enough for reading a book, it’s a major drawback to the realm of text books. Newspapers can survive on the gray screen, but text books thrive with colors in the forms of charts, graphs, pictures and so on. Imagine your art history text book in 16 shades of gray… you get the point. Sure color is going to add to the cost and suck the battery life faster, but if you want mass adoption to happen, that is where this device is going to have to go.
As for now, we’ll pass. While the DX is a step in the right direction for this device, it still just isn’t enough to sell us on the concept as a whole.
