Amazon has begun taking orders for its new Kindle DX e-reader, which is slated to begin shipping on Wednesday. The device has enough storage capacity to accommodate 3,500 books, the company said.
The wireless device — which sports a big 9.7-inch diagonal screen but is just one-third of an inch thick — delivers instant access to magazines, newspapers and more than 285,000 books without users having to pay a monthly cellular bill. Amazon says e-books purchased for the device are delivered in less than 60 seconds over a built-in 3G wireless link that is widely available in all 50 states.
Still, analysts note that the new device’s purchase price is hefty. “The Kindle DX retails for a whopping $489,” said Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. “While other premium products will launch in the price range of the DX, there will also be a race to get to a $199 price point with simpler models.”
Hope For Struggling Newspapers
The Kindle DX arrives at a time when analysts say the e-reader market is poised for liftoff. “By 2011, we expect five million U.S. consumers to own an e-reader,” and “by 2013, we expect 13 million U.S. consumers to own” one, said Rotman Epps.
Struggling magazines and newspapers such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post are hoping to counter slowing ad sales and subscriber growth by jumping on the Kindle DX bandwagon. “By offering a subscription through the Kindle DX to readers who live outside of our delivery areas, we will extend our reach,” said Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
USA Today also remains on track to begin delivering an electronic edition of its national newspaper by e-mail to paperless subscribers on Aug. 3, said the daily newspaper’s Director of Communications Alex Nicholson. The Kindle DX offers native PDF…