June 16 - 1:05pm EDT   Plans are underway to spread the Kindle format, and open up access to the dedicated hardware, says Amazon's CEO. Speaking at a Wired conference, Jeff Bezos has explained that Kindle books should continue to sell for $10 as they go on sale through the iPhone plus "other mobile devices and other computing devices." A Kindle app is already available for the iPhone, though purchases must currently be made via the web. [full story]

June 12 - 4:35pm EDT   Just days after shipping on Wednesday, the Kindle DX e-book reader is already sold out at Amazon, with another shipment expected by June 17th. The $489 device, sold exclusively through Amazon, apparently sold out on the first day, also thanks to pre-orders. [full story]

June 10 - 4:50pm EDT   Amazon on Wednesday started shipping the Kindle DX. The most advanced of the retailer's e-book readers was unveiled in May and is billed not only as a much more natural means of reading newspapers and magazines but also as an ideal tool for schools. Its 1200x824, 9.7-inch screen both affords more room for images and auto-rotates for landscape reading when the DX is tilted on its side. [full story]

June 1 - 1:10pm EDT   Amazon this afternoon said that it would ship the Kindle DX on June 10th, shipping its largest e-book reader ahead of the promised summer schedule. Launched just last month, the e-paper device centers on a 9.7-inch, 1200x824 display large enough to be used for textbooks and for a larger view of newspapers and other common literature. It accordingly gets an accelerometer to auto-rotate documents for viewing in landscape while gaining native PDF support to read many free documents without needing them converted. [full story]

June 1 - 12:50pm EDT   Taiwan-based Prime View International (PVI), one of the larger suppliers of e-paper displays, today set out plans to acquire e-paper display maker E Ink for $215 million. E Ink's displays are used in the relatively successful 6-inch Amazon Kindle 2 e-book reader as well as its rival, the Sony Reader. The company also makes a 9.7-inch display for the Kindle DX, which it similarly sells as a prototype kit to hardware developers. [full story]

June 1 - 8:55am EDT   Google this weekend signaled its plans to offer paid e-books through its site. The approach would let users effectively "unlock" books and view them over the web; offline reading will rely on browser caching. While potentially less convenient than downloads, the approach is said by Google senior partnership director Tom Turvey to avoid creating a "silo" that limits access and should let smartphones as well as any other devices with sufficiently advanced browsers read the text. [full story]

May 28 - 6:30pm EDT   Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, responding to a question presented at a shareholders meeting, has claimed that his company is unlikely to ever publicly reveal sales numbers for the Kindle, and according to Physorg. The executive also suggests a device utilizing a color display is still in the early stages of development. [full story]

May 25 - 1:25pm EDT   Toshiba has recently introduced a KDDI handset known as the biblio that, in addition to voice support, will double as an e-book reader as well. Instead of an electronic paper display like ones found in established e-book readers, such as Amazon's Kindle, the biblio makes do with a traditional 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen with an extra-long 480x960 resolution. The handset will have 7GB of internal memory for storing content that can be expanded thanks to microSDHC memory cards up to 8GB. [full story]

May 14 - 12:50pm EDT   Book publishers have started exploiting the text-to-speech kill switch feature enabled by Amazon for Kindle books, reports show. At least 40 e-books from Random House, including major titles from Toni Morrison and Stephen King, can no longer use the Kindle 2's TTS feature to read the books aloud. Random House hasn't officially announced the move on its own. [full story]

May 11 - 10:15am EDT   Amazon has introduced a new variation of the Kindle Store, optimized for the iPhone and iPod touch. The website is tied to the Kindle for iPhone app, in which users tap the Get Books button to launch the Kindle Store link in Safari. The formatting of the website has been specially tailored to the size and dimensions of Apple handhelds. [full story]

May 8 - 4:25pm EDT   E Ink Corporation, the supplier of the electronic paper displays used in Amazon's Kindle 2 and the recently announced 9.7-inch Kindle DX, has announced on Friday it is offering a 9.7-inch AM-300 EPD Prototype Kit. This gives hardware developers access to the same technology used in the Kindle DX, allowing them to create their own e-book devices with similar capabilities. The display has a resolution of 150 pixels per inch and can display multiple shades of gray. Text can be read in a dark room or in direct sunlight and at any angle. Once set, it draws no energy from the device, with an electric current needed only when a 'page' is turned. [full story]

May 6 - 3:50pm EDT   The all-encompassing News Corp. media company founded by Rupert Murdoch is said to be "looking at hardware" to bring the latest news and entertainment content from its many assets to users, according to a Wednesday report that is citing knowledgeable sources. Such a device would deliver content in a "user-friendly way," and though no specifics have been given to the Daily Beast about the device, Murdoch himself commented on the possibility of such a gadget last month. [full story]

May 6 - 10:50am EDT   Amazon as promised announced the Kindle DX, its extra-large version of its e-book reader. The device centers on a 9.7-inch, 824x1200 E Ink display that both provides a larger view of newspapers and other articles but is pitched as particularly well-suited for periodicals, textbooks and other large documents: a built-in accelerometer lets it tilt on its side to view charts and other information better-suited to a landscape view. Native PDF support is equally new and lets owners view many documents without having to convert them through Amazon's e-mail service. [full story]

May 4 - 10:45pm EDT   Following a leak on Monday, a new report confirms that Amazon.com unveil a new larger-screen version of its Kindle e-book reader with an improved web-browser later this week at an abruptly announced press conference for May 6th, while Engadget has posted new alleged photos and specs of the new device, claiming that it has an 9.7-inch display -- compared with the current 6-inch screen -- along with a built-in PDF reader the ability to add annotations in addition to notes and highlights. [full story]

May 4 - 8:40am EDT   Amazon today quickly followed up on rumors of a larger Kindle reader today by announcing a press event for Wednesday the 6th at 10:30AM. The online retailer doesn't say what the event will include but is consistent reports of a new device being ready as early as this week and is holding it at Pace University, the original location for the New York Times' head offices and a likely indication of a deal with the newspaper for a new Kindle device. [full story]