The 9.7-inch newspaper-reading Kindle DX will be announced this morning, 10:30AM ET. Check out all the details here.
Archive below:
10:02 PM ON May 5 2009
matt:
Our Kindle DX liveblog kicks off right here at 9:30am EDT with pre-game coverage leading up to the unveiling at 10:30am. See you soon!
9:09 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
Good morning! I'm in NYC this week so I'll be your surprise liveblog operator along with matty b and john m. You guys excited? Eh? EH?! Ehhhhhh. Ok we will get started soon!
9:18 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Testing, 1 2 3 pancakes.
9:18 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
Hey! Good morning! I'm in NYC this week so I'll be your surprise east coast live blog operator, along with Matt and John M. Good news, Amazon didn't hold this event in a basement, so I hope that reception will be fine. You guys excited? I'm kind of meh! Could use a bit more sleep. But I'm sure we'll be fine. So far, looks like a few people are lined up. I'll let you know when things happen.
9:23 AM ON MAY 6 2009
B. Lam:
Matty just showed up. There's not much to see but he's going to toss a few photos up of the event building, at Pace University, and oh look, Wired's Brian X Chen just showed up.
9:28 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
9:28 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
Brad from the NYTimes is here. We think there's going to be a lot more than what we've heard…otherwise, why would they have an event instead of tying this to the kindle 2 launch a few weeks ago.
9:30 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
It smells like wet dog blended with rotten garbage topped with gangrene out here. Gotta love NYC.
9:31 AM ON May 6 2009
Mahoney:
Have a hunch on suprise guest considering the City Hall location: MIKE BLOOMBERG?!
9:35 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
9:35 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
Are we being let in or not?
9:43 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
We're inside! Clearly, Pace has not redecorated since the 1970s prison-chic movement.
9:44 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
We are inside and the wifi looks decent this time. People are lining up at the inner doors.
9:45 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
It looks like they're serving crappier coffee than last time, too, out of ugly plastic jugs, not fancy metal jars with waiters.
9:46 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
14 minutes til show time.
9:46 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Dude from PCMag sounds pretty hyped about the idea of a giant Kindle. I dunno. Is just bigger better?
9:47 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
What do you think is coming out today? Josh from Engadget thinks it's going to be a small kindle! Wearing patented sweater vest.
9:47 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"Will it save newspapers?" Spoiler: no.
9:48 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Seriously. Pace is like a fortress. I feel trapped in a tomb of concrete and dull browns.
9:49 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
9:51 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Josh from Engadget has a very tasteful bag.
9:53 AM ON May 6 2009
Mahoney:
9:54 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
Josh and matt are talking about street fighter.
9:54 AM ON May 6 2009
Mahoney:
Brian looking sharp. No pajamas or laptop suspenders? SAD.
9:56 AM ON May 6 2009
Mahoney:
Beyond these doors: THE BIGGEST KINDLE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.
9:56 AM ON May 6 2009
Jason Chen:
9:56 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
OMg I can see inside through the door! The first slide says…a…m…a….z…I can't make out the rest. Sorry. 2 mins til show time.
9:57 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
We're standing in line by ourselves. Does everyone else know something we don't know?
9:59 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
We should be going inside the inner sactum soon, where the Amazon queen lays Kindle eggs.
10:00 AM ON May 6 2009
Mahoney:
With the Engadget boys. One big happy family!
10:02 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
We're inside. The queen must be behind the blinding white screen with the Amazon logo.
10:04 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Man, this theater is small. I wonder if this reflects how even Amazon feels about the magnitude of the announcement? It's a big Kindle with newspaper powers?
10:04 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:05 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Mahoney doubts my theory that a giant Amazon queen lays Kindle eggs. It makes perfect sense. She was too slow pooping them out during the original run, then she got a little bit faster, and now they've got her laying giant eggs.
10:06 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The aluminum body of the MacBook Pros is biting us in the ass finding the Wi-Fi signal Amazon is supplying, which will no doubt be imminently crushed under the weight of a hundred bloggers.
10:07 AM ON May 6 2009
Jason Chen:
10:07 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:08 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Everybody's got MacBooks, almost everybody's using Canon. There are a few Nikons hanging around, though. We're still hanging out.
10:09 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:09 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The lights dimmed a bit, and I got excited. But it was just a tease. =(
10:11 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Where is Jeff Bezos??? Did the queen turn on him?
10:12 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:13 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The music has taken a slow turn for the worse. It's making me sleepy.
10:14 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Are you enjoying our photo spread of Blam? We're trying to coax him into going topless post-liveblog.
10:15 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:16 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
what's the official gum of gizmodo liveblog? stride. Matt buchanan says it lasts through one entire game of ultimate frisbee. cough.
10:16 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
We're chewing Stride gum, because it lasts a long time. I guess that makes it the official gum of Gizmodo liveblogging.
10:18 AM ON May 6 2009
Jason Chen:
10:19 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The only problem with Stride is that while it lasts a long time, when it dies, it dies hard. And I think Orbit tastes better, but it doesn't last as long.
10:21 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
If Jeff Bezos wrote a book, what do you think it'd be about?
10:23 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The music they're playing just keeps getting worse. I don't even know what this crap is: It's like a chick moaning with some pianos and jangly instruments and synthesizers. What the hell, Amazon, what the hell.
10:23 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
Can kindle make you love reading like THIS?
10:25 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Music's fading out. Are we starting??
10:26 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
That is a big stage for just one little man. Surely, Jeff Bezos has guests. Michael Bloomberg? The NYT's Sulzberger clan? The Amazon Queen? Stephen King's half-cousin who wrote a physics textbook in 1976?
10:28 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The Amazon Queen: Does she have six legs, or eight? Is she more Predator than Alien? Does she have a stinger?
10:29 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Music. So. Bad. There's a reason I listen to At the Drive-In before liveblogging, but I don't know if the power-up effect can last through this.
10:31 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Factoid: Almost everyone here still has a full head of hair.
10:32 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
We should be starting soon, seriously.
10:32 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
The New big Kindle is not bigger than this book. I guarantee it.
10:36 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Dum dum dum dum dum. It sounds like Final Fantasy battle victory music now.
10:38 am ON May 6 2009
Jason Chen:
Remember to comment over here!
10:38 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Oh, here go! Jeff Bezos.
10:38 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The Kindle vision "every book ever printed in any language."
10:38 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:39 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
We're up to over 275,000 books today, from 230,000 in Feb.
10:39 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:39 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Kindle sales are now 35 percent of books–there's a big spike with Kindle 2 launching.
10:39 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:39 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
That's 35 percent of all the books Amazon sells. Kindle. Whoa.
10:40 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:40 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
They're taking long tail approach: Starting with head, working toward tail. So 270,000 books compose over a third.
10:40 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Why's Kindle great? LCD is "like shining a flashlight in your eyes."
10:41 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Talking about why Kindle is still great: "Don't even have to own a PC."
10:41 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:41 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Talking up 3G like you really need hardcore internets to download books.
10:41 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Lots of pretty people holding books.
10:42 AM ON May 6 2009
B.Lam:
10:42 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"It takes a lot of design effort to make something disappear." Like the Kindle.
10:42 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"The device doesn't beep at you, doesn't get warm in your hands to make your hands sweat."
10:42 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Yes, it's a giant Kindle commercial right now.
10:42 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:43 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Here we go: "What about my personal and professional documents?"
10:43 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Looks like Kindle is going to get an upgrade: "Paperless society never came."
10:43 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:43 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Printers have proliferated and "so have their evil companion" the toner cartridge.
10:44 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:44 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"Why do we print?" Is it because we love all the suckitude?
10:44 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Why does Jeff Bezos run out of Cyan all the time?
10:44 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
"I always run out of cyan first" A sure sign he's printing flesh.
10:44 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"Paper is better than traditional screens." That's why we print he says.
10:44 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Oh my god. He just said "One more thing."
10:45 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"8 1/2 x 11″ giant on the screen. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
10:45 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"You need a big display."
10:45 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Kindle DX!
10:45 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
2.5 times the size of the Kindle display.
10:45 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Built-in PDF
10:45 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:45 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"Beautiful on this device."
10:46 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"You never have to pan, you never have to zoom, you never have to scroll."
10:46 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
It looks really nice and readable. Maybe this IS the Kindle we've been waiting for.
10:46 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Auto-rotate, like iPhone.
10:47 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"Highly formmatted books shine on this screen." Like cookbook. Mmm molten lava cakes.
10:47 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Photos look better, though still black and white.
10:47 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:47 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The QWERTY keyboard is squished along the bottom with tinier keys. This thing does look weirdly ginormous.
10:47 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:48 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Textbooks. They've got three textbook publishers on the hook with 60 percent of the higher education textbook market: Pearson, Cengage Learning and Wiley.
10:48 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Showing a Calculus textbook. Calculus still sucks!
10:48 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Biology textbook up now. It still sucks too!
10:48 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:48 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"Students with smaller backpacks. Less load. Easier access."
10:49 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:49 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"What about the students?" Five top universities are trialing Kindle DX
10:49 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:49 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Arizona State, Case Western, Princeton, Virginia
10:49 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:49 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
And Reed College.
10:50 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Case Western president on stage now talking about how great it is.
10:50 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
So we're chilling out.
10:50 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:51 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
I wonder how all of those Kindle 2 owners feel right about now?
10:51 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
I mean, this is what the Kindle 2 should've been, no?
10:52 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Jeff's back.
10:52 AM ON May 6 2009
Jason Chen:
10:52 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"Newspaper have been an absolute bestseller on Kindle."
10:52 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:52 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
He just said "automagically." Wow.
10:53 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:53 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
This summer, three newspaper are piloting Kindle DX with reduced price in exchange for long-term subscriptions.
10:53 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
NYT, WaPo and Boston Globe. Where's the WSJ?
10:54 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
I was right! Arthur Sulzberger from the faltering NYT is here.
10:54 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
YOU'RE ALL STILL DOOMED. JUST ELECTRONICALLY DOOMED, NOW
10:54 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:54 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:55 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:55 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Seriously, where the hell is the Wall Street Journal? New York Times and Boston Globe are the same doomed company. Washington Post has always been slightly ahead of the curve.
10:56 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
He's insistent on calling it an "experiment." The NYT needs more than this to survive. Have you guys checked out the Times Reader on Windows and Mac? It's a pretty awesome digital newspaper experience. Better than Kindle DX, I bet.
10:56 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Kindle DX will be offered to readers in areas where home delivery is not available. Huh?
10:57 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Mentioning popular Times authors. Left out Maureen Dowd. That's what you get for hating on Twitter, lady.
10:57 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Demo time!
10:57 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
We'll get to play with them outside.
10:58 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Showing off built-in PDF reader.
10:58 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
Press sure is pushy today.
10:58 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
There's a giant camera guy lurking over his shoulder. Kind of weird lookin.
10:58 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:59 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
10:59 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Sheet music. Violinists of the world, unite.
10:59 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Camera just blew up.
11:00 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Refresh times could still be better, yeah.
11:00 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
11:00 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The image is backwards on the screen. New feature! It warps time and space.
11:00 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
"How did we get the projector to show backwards?"
11:01 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"If you think of yourself as looking at this through a mirror you can see even in reverse" it's super clear.
11:01 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
11:01 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
My head hurts. In reverse. "Never seen the New York Times backwards before?"
11:01 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
"I'm sorry I can't make the news any better." Sad story on the page.
11:02 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
Technical Difficulties. CONFICKRDLE DX
11:02 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Man, if this happened during a Stevenote, we'd be covered in blood from the slaughter by now.
11:02 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
He invited us up to check it out on the projector. Such a nice guy!
11:02 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
11:03 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Man, nothing but bad news as he's flipping through.
11:04 AM ON May 6 2009
Jason Chen:
The official pricing details and info are here.
11:04 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
The navigation for the NYT looks a bit primitive: A standard table of contents for sections, and then there's a list of articles.
11:04 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
11:04 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Preview of article text underneath headlines. Reminds me of the way websites are formatted for iPhone, actually.
11:04 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Biology of Fishes, third edition. "A good textbook." Okay, Jeff.
11:05 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Tuna fish on screen. I want sushi.
11:05 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Scombroid: A fish of the mackerel family. Now you know.
11:05 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
New feature for Kindle DX: Not only can you change font, but you can decide how many words per line.
11:05 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
11:06 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Shorter line length or longer.
11:06 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Margins are expanded, basically.
11:06 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
I guess that's something to do with all of that screen space–more space!
11:07 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
What do you get with Kindle DX? 9.7 inch screen with auto-rotation, 3G access to 275k books, 3.3GB of storage–up to 3500 books.
11:07 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Native PDF support, no panning, zooming or scrolling.
11:07 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
$489
11:07 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
$10 less than I'd expect.
11:07 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
11:07 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Ships summer 2009, pre-order now at amazon.com/kindleDX
11:08 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Page is live now to pre-order.
11:08 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
That's it! See you in a few with our hands on Kindle DX!
11:08 AM ON May 6 2009
B. Lam:
11:10 AM ON May 6 2009
matt:
Be sure to check all the details about Kindle DX in one place: here.
11:17 AM ON May 6 2009
Jason Chen: