Portable Ebook Reader

Amazon has announced that the highly anticipated Kindle DX will be shipping starting June 10, 2024. Woo-hoo!

The shipping schedule apparently goes like this:

• Pre-orders placed before June 5 will start shipping on June 10
• New pre-orders (after June 5) will be treated as first come, first served
• New pre-orders will likely be shipped in between 7-10 days?

So basically, even if you haven’t pre-ordered a Kindle DX, you didn’t really miss out on anything, as you can still order now and get one within 2 weeks. That’s not bad at all!

Read more here…

It seems that Amazon has really been stepping up their portable ebook reader game in the last few weeks. They’ve gone from two Kindle releases over a 1.5 year period to announcing something major every week or so. That’s quite a turnaround!

Here’s some of the recent developments from Amazon:

• Kindle DX - This was an expected but still huge announcement on May 6, 2009. It’s the largest ebook reader yet and the first ever to incorporate an accelerometer device, so pages are automatically rotated between portrait and landscape, simply by turning the device.

• Kindle for iPhone v1.1 - Amazon recently released a new version of this popular app which is available from the iPhone App Store. Some of the notable new features include:
  • Pinch screen to zoom images within books
  • Read in landscape or portrait mode
  • Select alternate text colors and backgrounds to improve reading comfort in low light
  • Tap on either side of the screen or flick the screen to turn page

• Amazon Encore - Amazon has joined the “publishing” industry. They’ll reportedly be publishing authors who are currently doing it themselves and are showing promise. Amazon has obviously realized that there’s tons of money to be made in publishing, especially with a lot of their future competitors going under.

• Kindle Publishing for Blogs - Amazon is now allowing bloggers to sell their blogs to Kindle owners through the Kindle Store. This is huge news for web marketers and content publishers as it provides a simple method for generating income from their labors of love.

Many people have been asking lately -“Which is a better choice for me, the tried-and-true Amazon Kindle 2 or the brand new Kindle DX?”.

Well…today we plan on helping you answer that question!

The Kindle 2 is Amazon’s 2nd generation Kindle device and was released on February 23, 2009. It had many improvements over the original Kindle, but due to its smallish size, it was still not ideal for reading larger print media like newspapers or magazines.

Amazon’s solution to this problem came shortly after, with the May 6, 2024 announcement of the Kindle DX. It has a much larger screen (2.5x the size of the Kindle 2), can natively display PDF files, and is the first Kindle device to come with an accelerometer so pages can be viewed in either landscape or portrait by simply rotating the unit. (If you’re familiar with the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, these also come with an accelerometer.)

Note: The Kindle DX won’t be shipped until sometime in the summer of 2009, so if you need a portable ebook reader ASAP you’ll want to look elsewhere.

Below is a detailed comparison of many of the features of these two popular devices. We want to give you as much information as possible so you can make an educated decision about your purchase.

* Red text denotes the “winner” for each feature

As you can see, it’s neck-and-neck between these two Amazon electronic reading devices. Each one has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. The best way to decide which one is best for you, is to ask yourself these questions:

• Is price important? (Kindle 2)
• Is screen size important - ie. will I be reading a lot of magazines and newspapers, rather than novels? (Kindle DX)
• Is portability important? (Kindle 2)
• Do I plan on reading a lot of PDFs? (Kindle DX)

Hopefully that was helpful and you now know which Kindle is right for you! If not, please let us know how else we might be able to help you decide.

As anticipated, Amazon recently announced the release of the brand, spankin’ new Kindle DX! It’s now available for preorder at Amazon for $489.

“Personal and professional documents look so good on the big Kindle DX display that you’ll find yourself changing ink-toner cartridges less often,” said Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos. “Cookbooks, computer books, and textbooks - anything highly formatted - also shine on the Kindle DX. Carry all your documents and your whole library in one slender package.”

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Having had much success with the Kindle 2 (in part thanks to Oprah’s recommendation), Amazon is rumored to be releasing a new widescreen version soon.

Apparently the new device will have dimensions closer to a standard newspaper, and it’s expected that several large newspapers (such as The New York Times) will partner with Amazon and implement a system to charge for content.

Over the weekend invites were sent out for a press conference later this week. It’s possible that this conference could be the anticipated announcement of the Kindle 2 Widescreen!

Editor’s Note: the image to the right is the original Kindle 2; no sneak preview is available of the widescreen version yet, so you’ll have to use your imagination for now