The high price of Amazon's large-screen Kindle DX was starting to look a little odd as the cost of the basic Kindle plummeted, so Amazon has rectified the matter with a $110 price cut.
The Kindle DX, once $489, is now $379, and it's not the same model as before; Amazon is now shipping an updated Kindle DX with an improved 9.7-inch E-Ink display, claiming that its contrast ratio is 50 percent better than the old Kindle DX. The new model also sports a graphite frame that's darker than the basic Kindle.
The news comes at a busy time for Amazon and the Kindle brand. Last week, Amazon launched a Kindle app for Android phones, beating Barnes & Noble to the punch, and followed up with audio and video-enhanced e-books for the iPad this week. Barnes & Noble also recently cut the price of its Nook e-reader to $199 and introduced a Wi-Fi only model for $149, prompting Amazon to cut the Kindle's price to $189.
The Kindle DX, however, is aimed more at challenging Apple's iPad. As TechFlash points out, Amazon doesn't specifically mention the iPad in a press release, but touted the virtues of the Kindle DX's E-Ink display over other devices. "Unlike backlit computer or LCD screens, Kindle DX's screen looks and reads like real paper, with no glare," says the press release. "Read as easily in bright sunlight as in the living room." Amazon also noted that 3G coverage is included in the Kindle DX's price, and requires no subscription.
Right now, Kindle DX is the lone contender in the field of large-screen e-readers. Plastic Logic is working on an 8.5-by-11-inch e-reader called the Que, but this week suspended its launch indefinitely. I'm sure people who were waiting for the Que will now defect to the Kindle DX, but Amazon doesn't publish sales figures for its e-readers, so it's hard to gauge whether there's much interest in jumbo e-readers to begin with.
