 
It was just over two months back that Amazon, the world’s biggest
e-retailer launched the 2.0 version of its Kindle Reader. The Kindle 2
features a host of new features not found on the original Kindle.Now
Amazon has introduced Kindle DX, a larger screen (9.7 inches) version
which will make it easier to read newspapers, magazines and textbooks.
 The screen, though bigger, is still black and white (or rather, 16
shades of grey) but it offers built-in PDF support. There is no support
yet for Flash or video. All the other features of the Kindle 2 are
intact, except for the bigger 4 GB memory which can hold 3,500 books. It
also has a landscape mode - just rotate the screen a la iPhone.
There is no memory card slot and the battery is not user removable.
Many people would love to see a color touchscreen on the Kindle and we
may see one in the future. At the moment, e-Ink displays such as the
ones used by Amazon Kindle cannot reproduce color.
The cost is still prohibitive at nearly US$ 500, (you can buy a basic
Netbook/Notebook with that kind of money) but Amazon has deals with the
New York Times and the Washington Post that could subsidize the cost of
the reader. This could be a new avenue for the newspaper industry to
reach out to new subscribers in areas other than their physical base.
 Amazon currently charges $5.99 to $13.99 for monthly Kindle
subscriptions to newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the New
York Times.Amazon is also working with leading universities to trial
more textbooks for the Kindle DX.
The idea is simple - would you carry a US$ 130 Chemistry textbook
that weighs around two kilos or a Kindle DX that weighs a fraction of
that and can potentially carry thousands of textbooks ?
Kindle 2/DX is not the only kid on the block - Sony has an e-Reader
and Plastic Logic is likely to come out with one next year. But the
Amazon Kindle, with 275,000 books and magazines and counting, is the
most popular.
“It’s meant for people to read. It’s light, it feels good in your
hands. You don’t notice it’s there. It doesn’t beep at you, it doesn’t
get warm in your hands,” says an Amazon spokesman.
The jury is still out on whether the likes of Kindle will eventually
extinguish print, but there is no doubt that they will become more
popular as the years go by. |
