Image source: www.electricpig.co.uk

Amazon has showcased a new version of its Kindle e-reader, targeted at reading papers, mags and documents. The device is 250% larger than the recently-announced Kindle two gadget.

“You never need to pan, you never need to zoom, you never need to scroll. You read,” Amazon’s Manager Jeff Bezos claimed at the Manhattan launch. The device has a built-in PDF document reader and the company said deals with 3 leading textbook publishers to put their content on the reader.

Regardless of the excitement surrounding the release of the new Kindle electronic book reader, reaction has been mixed. Though the Kindle DX screen is over double the dimensions of prior models, the main feedback is the higher asking price. At $489  the difference represents an increase of $130. Other negatives about the most recent version of the Kindle included the fact it had sixteen different colors of gray but no color and no video capacity.

The new device can hold 3,500 books and has access to over 225,000 titles. But Amazon isn’t the sole business in the e-reader market. Sony is there and so too is the iPhone with a Kindle app ( though that is available only in the States for the moment ). Plastic Logic will reveal its version later in the year. A trial of the new Kindle DX service will start in America this summer.