Amazon has just announced yet another new Kindle device, now available for pre-order. The Kindle DX is meant to make PDF documents, textbooks, reference books, and other graphic-intense materials easier to read. The Kindle DX has a screen two and a half times the size of the regular Kindle. Not only is the screen bigger, it has a wide screen mode, which allows you to tip the device 90 degrees to produce a larger, landscape view (like the iPhone). There is also a 5-way controller on the device which, so it seemed in the promotional video, should make it fast and easy to increase and decrease text size as needed when reading a cookbook, textbook, or professional document. Amother big advantage of the Kindle DX over the Kindle 2 is that the DX can natively download PDF files, no computer conversion needed.
I actually found out about the Kindle DX when I logged onto Amazon to buy a paper book. The book was a home reference, filled with pictures, diagrams, and useful sidebars. It wasn't available in Kindle format- but I avoid buying diagram-heavy reference books in Kindle even when they are available. The Kindle DX, with its large screen, sharp graphics, and ability to zoom in and out of diagrams and sidebars, should make books that include more than just straight narrative text feasible and useful in Kindle format. But my home reference still has one advantage over its future Kindle DX version: the hard copy has color (the Kindle DX graphics are sharp, but still grey scale).
There is little doubt, based on the promotional video presentation, that Amazon hopes to win a share of the college textbook market for the Kindle through the DX model. The promo also heavily targeted professionals.
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