Bigger Amazon Kindle For Periodicals Is Days Away

The New York Times was first to report on the new Kindle Monday, leading to speculation that the news had come internally—that is, that Amazon was working with the Times and other periodicals for content on its new Kindle.

The Times article, written by Brad Stone, doesn't quote Amazon or Times spokespeople but does say the Times is "expected to be involved in the introduction of the device, according to people briefed on the plans."

Neither Amazon nor the Times were available for comment immediately but, according to reports, Amazon has scheduled a press conference at Pace University in New York for Wednesday morning.

The company's plans for the large-screen Kindle have been a hot rumor for at least a month.

With the print periodical industry in a downward spiral, an Amazon Kindle for magazines and newspapers might be a means of survival—or at least a paradigm shift—as production costs for digital editions of print periodicals would be undoubtedly cheaper. Conde Nast's Portfolio magazine is a recent industry casualty, and The Boston Globe this week is nearing a shutdown if it can't work out budget concerns with the New York Times Co., its parent company. Both the Seattle Post Intelligencer and the Rocky Mountain News ceased print publication in March, and are now online-only operations with significantly reduced news staff.

Amazon is hardly the first company to propose a large-size e-reading device. Both Hearst Corp. and News Corp. were previously said to be developing large-format e-readers, and Hearst Corp. is allied with FirstPaper LLC to create software for digital periodical platforms.

Plastic Logic, another of the many Amazon Kindle rivals out there, is also launching a tablet-size e-reader, currently scheduled for release next year.