Big-screen Amazon Kindle inbound

Could it be coming to the UK

4 May 2009 11:30 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Amazon is about to release yet another larger screen version of the Kindle as early as this week according to sources, as it looks to throw American and British newspapers a digital lifeline.

Although not currently available in the UK, according to the New York Times, the book e-tailer "will introduce a larger version of its Kindle wireless device tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks".

Neither Amazon or any of the newspapers included in the supposed deal, including the New York Times and the FT in the UK, would comment. However that hasn't stopped the NYT reporting that those who have been briefed and willing to talk are saying that a new model is inbound very soon.

The article cites the UK's FT as saying that they are "looking at this with a great deal of interest”, suggesting the device could be coming to the UK, finally.

“The severe double whammy of the recession and the structural shift to the Internet has created an urgency that has rightly focused attention on these devices”, The FT's CEO told the paper.

The magazine publisher Hearst and Plastic Logic are also rumoured to be working on an ereader for the publisher's magazine collection.

Newspapers such as The Independent here in the UK, with their bloated work force and printing costs, are struggling in tough economic times, as they try and work out how to make money from the content they produce in the face of smaller, leaner publishers or individual bloggers.

Many commentators believe an electronic device would allow the papers to once again charge for digital content over readily giving it away for free, as they are currently forced to do in order to compete on the Internet.

UPDATE: Amazon has now called a press conference for Wednesday 6 May. Invitees got the following message:

“We’d like to invite you to an Amazon.com press conference scheduled for Wednesday, May 6 at 10:30 am ET. The press conference is scheduled to take place at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University, located at 3 Spruce Street, New York City. Doors will open for registration at 9:30 am ET”.

We will keep you posted.

Full tags

Gadgets, ebooks, Kindle, Amazon