The mystery behind what Amazon will announce on Wednesday has taken another twist. The WSJ is reporting that Amazon will, indeed, announce a University textbook specific model with a larger screen at the press conference later this week. So where did this come from and what else can we expect?
One Lev Gonick from Case Western Reserve University has confirmed that Amazon will be providing the university with larger screen Kindles next school year. Those Kindles will be distributed for those taking chemistry, computer science and some freshman seminar with content pre-installed. According to Gonick who is the CIO, CWR will be comparing experiences between students who have the Kindle and those who are using standard textbooks. Gonick also stated that the new Kindle will have a “fully functional Web browser.” Whether or not this is the Kindle DX with the 9.7″ screen remains to be seen.
Five other universities have also been indicated for the upcoming university specific Kindle. Those include Pace, Princeton, Reed, Darden School at the University of Virginia and Arizona State.
Arthur Sulzberger Jr., New York Times Co. Chairman is said to be sharing the stage with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at the event on Wednesday which quasi-confirms the rumors of a newspaper specific Kindle.
And in case you didn’t know, Hearst Corp. is investing in a start up that’s developing an e-reader to compete with Amazon’s Kindle. News Corp. is also looking at investing in another e-reader competitor. The Detroit Free Press and Detroit News will be seeing an 8.5- x 11-inch device this coming summer as a trial launch from Plastic Logic.
And the rabbit hole gets even deeper.
via WSJ