Thursday, January 07, 2010

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT FROM AMAZON RE KINDLE AVAILABILITY

Amazon Kindle DX Now for Sale to Customers in More Than 100 Countries
Kindle DX with a 9.7-inch display now available for pre-order and ships January 19


SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that Amazon Kindle DX, the purpose-built reading device that offers Kindle’s revolutionary wireless delivery and massive selection of content with a large 9.7-inch electronic paper display, is available for the first time to customers around the world. With 2.5 times the surface area of Kindle’s 6-inch display, Kindle DX’s larger electronic paper display with 16 shades of gray has more area for graphic-rich content, such as professional and personal documents, newspapers, magazines and textbooks. Kindle DX with Global Wireless is available for pre-order starting today for $489 at www.amazon.com/kindledx and ships Jan. 19.

We’re excited to be able to offer Kindle DX to customers worldwide so they can carry all of their personal documents along with their whole library in one slender package.”
Kindle DX wirelessly downloads books, magazines, newspapers and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution 9.7-inch electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle DX includes a native PDF reader, auto-rotate capability and storage for up to 3,500 books. Kindle DX utilizes the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so you never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot.
“Kindle DX is great for personal and professional documents, cookbooks and textbooks – anything that is highly formatted. Documents look so good on the big Kindle DX display, that you’ll find yourself changing ink toner cartridges less often and printing fewer documents,” said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “We’re excited to be able to offer Kindle DX to customers worldwide so they can carry all of their personal documents along with their whole library in one slender package.”

Kindle with Global Wireless, Amazon’s 6-inch purpose-built reading device, was released in October 2009 and has already shipped to over 130 countries. Kindle is the most wished for, most gifted, and #1 bestselling item across the millions of products sold on Amazon.com.

The Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore) offers international customers over 300,000 English-language books, including New Releases and New York Times Bestsellers, which are typically priced less than physical editions. International customers pay only the listed price of the book – no additional wireless charges or roaming fees.
Over 1,000 different rights-holders now have books available in the Kindle Store, including leading publishers Atlantic Books, Bloomsbury, Canongate, Faber and Faber, Harlequin, HarperCollins, Lonely Planet, Penguin, Profile Books, Quercus, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Wiley.

More than 100 top newspapers and magazines are also available in the Kindle Store for single purchase or subscription, including The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Financial Times (UK), The Times (UK), Globe and Mail (Canada), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany), Le Monde (France), O Globo (Brazil), Hindustan Times (India), The Mainichi Daily News (Japan), El Pais (Spain), La Stampa (Italy), Shanghai Daily (China), El Universal (Mexico), Moscow Times (Russia) and The Prague Post (Czech Republic).

Customers around the world can now enjoy the same features that have made Kindle DX a top seller in the United States:

· Wireless Delivery of Personal and Professional Documents: Customers can take their personal and professional documents with them around the world with Kindle DX. They can even wirelessly receive personal and professional documents while they’re on the road, saving the hassle of searching for a printer or fax machine.

· Built-In PDF Reader: Kindle DX features a built-in, native PDF reader using Adobe Reader Mobile technology for reading professional and personal documents. Like other types of documents on Kindle, customers can wirelessly receive their PDF format documents on their Kindle if they have wireless coverage or move them over using a USB connection. With a larger display and built-in PDF reader, Kindle DX customers can read professional and personal documents with more complex layouts without scrolling, panning or zooming, and without re-flowing. Everything from annual reports with graphs to flight manuals with maps to musical scores can be viewed on a single, crisp screen with Kindle DX.

· Auto-Rotation: Kindle DX’s display content auto-rotates so users can read in portrait or landscape mode, or flip the device to read with either hand. Simply turn Kindle DX and immediately see full-width landscape views of maps, graphs, tables and images.

· 3.3 GB Memory Holds up to 3,500 Books: With 3.3 GB of available memory, Kindle DX can hold up to 3,500 books, compared to 1,500 with Kindle. And because Amazon automatically backs up a copy of every Kindle book purchased, customers can wirelessly re-download titles from their library at any time.

· Annotation and Bookmarks: The Kindle DX keyboard lets customers add annotations to text, just as they would write in the margins of a book. Customers can edit, delete and export these notes, highlight and clip key passages, and bookmark pages for future use. Additionally, Kindle DX automatically bookmarks the last page a customer reads of any content.

· Automatically Syncs With Kindle and Kindle-Compatible Devices: Amazon’s Whispersync technology automatically syncs customers’ last page read, bookmarks, notes and highlights across Kindle, Kindle DX, and Kindle-compatible devices like Kindle for PC and Kindle for iPhone, as well as Kindle for Mac coming soon.

· Incredibly Thin: Kindle DX is just over a third of an inch thin, which is thinner than most magazines.

· Adjustable Text Size: Kindle DX has six adjustable font sizes to suit your reading preference. You can increase the text size of your favorite book or periodical with the push of a button. If your eyes tire, simply increase the font size and continue reading comfortably. Now every book in your library can be large print.

· 3G Wireless, No PC, No Hunting for Wi-Fi Hot Spots: Just like Kindle, Kindle DX customers automatically take advantage of Amazon Whispernet to wirelessly shop the Kindle Store, download or receive new content in less than 60 seconds, and read from their library—all without a PC, Wi-Fi hot spot, or syncing. Amazon still pays for the wireless connectivity on Kindle DX so books can be downloaded in less than 60 seconds—with no monthly fees, data plans or service contracts.

· Extended Battery Life: Kindle DX now offers extended battery life – read for up to one full week with wireless on and up to two weeks with the wireless turned off.

· Text-to-Speech: Kindle DX offers the experimental read-to-me feature “Text-to-Speech” that converts words on a page to spoken word so customers have the option to read or listen. Customers can switch back and forth between reading and listening, and their spot is automatically saved. Pages turn automatically while the content is being read so customers can listen hands-free. Using the read-to-me feature with books, newspapers, magazines, and personal documents, Kindle DX can read to you.

· No Setup Required: When customers order a Kindle DX, it arrives from Amazon.com ready to use. There is no software to load or set up. Customers are immediately ready to shop, purchase, download and read from Kindle.

· Built-in Dictionary and Wikipedia: Kindle has built-in access to The New Oxford American Dictionary, which contains over 250,000 entries and definitions, so readers can easily look up the definitions of words within their reading. Kindle customers also have seamless access to the world's most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia—Wikipedia.org. With Kindle DX in hand, looking up people, places, events and more has never been easier. It gives whole new meaning to the phrase “walking encyclopedia.”

No comments: