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Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

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Re: Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

#31

Post by jamiequint »

henning wrote: post #29
inigojones wrote: post #8

The killer feature is that it reads PDFs natively now (i.e., without having to convert them). For someone who prefers to read on screen and who has to read a lot of PDFs, this is very exciting.

Where can those PDFs come from? Can I just send it files from my computer's hard drive and then read them on the Kindle, like an iPod for PDF?

You get a kindle email address. You email PDFs to it and they automagically appear on your device. Although this costs $0.10 a pdf. You can also plug it in and it opens as a flash drive, then you just drag and drop. (In the case of the Kindle 2 you also have to convert to the right format, DX sounds like it will be easier)

Re: Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

#32

Post by marcus »

jonknee wrote: post #22
jballanc wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want them to get rid of the keyboard. Isn't there some rule about size vs time-you-actually-spend-using-the-feature? At its present size, I'd say that if you're not using the keyboard 1/4 of the time you're using the Kindle, then it's too big.

Not having a keyboard would make it a pain in the ass to search for content. Amazon is highly vested in making it easy for you to get more content. Yadda yadda, the keyboard aint going anywhere.

Don't be that sure, I can envision a version with a single button activating the voice recognition software that will allow you to download whatever you want.

Re: Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

#33

Post by htrbtrb »

sireat wrote: post #14
akirk wrote: post #12

I wonder how PDF in larger paper formats (A4, US Letter) look on the bigger screen. They get rendered with illegibly small text on my Sony Reader (which has the same-size screen as the normal Kindle). Too bad again, that the Kindle is US only.

I plan on getting Kindle DX even though I am based outside US presently. The wireless features are not that important to me, nice screen and native PDF support however is.

With the first kindle that was very difficult unless you had a US credit card with a US address.

Re: Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

#34

Post by jamiequint »

whacked_new wrote: post #16
vaksel wrote: post #9

Based on the price of this one, I think we'll see the small Kindle go down in price soon. Because right now it doesn't make any sense to buy the small one. I still wont' buy one, chances are they'll release a color version in a couple of months, thats the next obvious step

Obvious but orders of magnitude harder in difficulty. I'm thinking 2 years, from a Japanese company.

The problem here is that nobody can release a similar device and get adoption because they don't have the content. Similar to iTunes and the iPod. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a device monopoly.

The only people that could pull off a licensing deal would be Barnes and Noble or Borders and they don't seem to be in a position to do that. At least Apple has the Zune Store as competition (as much as it sucks). Amazon's going to have nothing. Sony can't compete on device technology alone without the ability to get content onto those devices easily.

Re: Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

#35

Post by hapless »

talison wrote: post #17

Looks great but does anyone else think the price is a bit expensive? Not that this is a great comparison, but I can buy a netbook for $299 or less these days. Why such a up-front hardware cost when Amazon will get recurring revenue from Kindle books? Are they taking a loss on the book sales to boost downloads?

Once you see the e-ink screen in person, the $500 price tag just doesn't matter. It's jaw-dropping. It is considerably better than you might imagine.

(I speak from experience with the Sony PRS-505, but it is my understanding that the kindle e-ink is almost identical.)

Re: Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

#36

Post by juliend2 »

inigojones wrote: post #8

The killer feature is that it reads PDFs natively now (i.e., without having to convert them). For someone who prefers to read on screen and who has to read a lot of PDFs, this is very exciting.

can it read protected PDFs also? I suppose that i can enter my password with the keyboard.

Re: Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

#37

Post by dschobel »

jonknee wrote: post #22
jballanc wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want them to get rid of the keyboard. Isn't there some rule about size vs time-you-actually-spend-using-the-feature? At its present size, I'd say that if you're not using the keyboard 1/4 of the time you're using the Kindle, then it's too big.

Not having a keyboard would make it a pain in the ass to search for content. Amazon is highly vested in making it easy for you to get more content. Yadda yadda, the keyboard aint going anywhere.

they could always go with a virtual keyboard now that the refresh times of the screen are getting better.

Re: Amazon releases the rumoured large-screen Kindle

#38

Post by dschobel »

The kindle is in a strange position now.

The more features they add (like native PDF) the more people will clamor to make it more input friendly (like the talk of a wacom-esque interface below).

Here's hoping Amazon knows where to draw the line and it just remains a damn good way to read text.

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