วันอังคารที่ 6 ตุลาคม พ.ศ. 2552

Kindle DX : News Cool! : Amazon Launches Kindle DX


Amazon Launches Kindle DX
Will the larger screen, better for displaying electronic textbooks, appeal to students?
Amazon hopes the larger screen and improved display will entice students to use Kindle DX and Cengage, Pearson, and John Wiley have agreed to make textbooks available through Kindle DX. Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Princeton, Reed College and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia will launch trial programs this fall in which they will distribute Kindle DX to students across a range of subjects. “We look forward to seeing how the device affects the participation of both students and faculty in the educational experience,” said Barbara Snyder, president of Case Western
Kindle DX Debuts; Will It Attract Student Readers?
Ending a week of heavy media speculation, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezosunveiled the new, larger-format Kindle DX on May 6 in front of about 200 journalists and camera crews at Pace University in lower Manhattan. Using a giant projection screen, Bezos delivered a presentation on the new $489 device, which is essentially a Kindle 2 with a bigger, 9.7″ screen, a new “native” PDF reader, and three gigabytes of storage.
Bezos also announced agreements to launch a pilot program with six universities that will distribute the Kindle DX to students and load the devices with textbooks from three of the largest U.S. textbook publishers—Pearson, Cengage, and John Wiley—as well as a newspaper deal with the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post. (”Prominently” missing from this list of textbook publishers, however, is McGraw-Hill Education, as theNY Times live blog of the event pointed out.)
But while much of the early speculation about the Kindle DX focused on its ability to deliver newspapers, Amazon’s pilot agreement with the universities and publishers seems just as critical to the device’s future and fraught with many pitfalls.
News-no-papers
Back on the stage, Bezos added that, “people love getting newspapers on their Kindles. They love that it follows them around.”
“We’re pleased to announce that three papers have signed on with us, the NYT,Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle,” all set to offer “reduced prices for long term commitments on subscriptions.”
NYT chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr adds that his company - one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world - “knew that one day an e-reader would offer the same experience of a newspaper.
“As each new generation of the Kindle came to market, that dream continues to get closer to realization,” the Times man added. “This is an example of how we’re using every medium to meet the demands of our readers.
“We will offer the Kindle plans where our paper is not available to provide our readers with what they want, and where they want it.”
4 Minute Roundup: Kindle DX; Google vs. Newspapers
Here’s the latest 4MR audio report from MediaShift. This week I look at the unveiling of the new wide-screen Kindle DX aimed at newspaper, magazine and college textbook readers. Will people pay $489 for it? Plus, I look at the AP and News Corp.’s moves against Google, with the AP playing hardball for running content in Google News. Meanwhile, Google is now under the antitrust microscope for its deal with book publishers and having its CEO Eric Schmidt on Apple’s board of directors. Plus, I ask “Just One Question” to Roger Fidler, program director for digital publishing at the Reynolds Journalism Institute.

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