kindle for periodicals

Online retailer Amazon plans to unveil a large-screen version of its Kindle electronic reader this week tailored for displaying newspapers and magazines, The New York Times reported on Monday.
Amazon has invited media outlets to a press conference in New York on Wednesday but has declined to reveal what it plans to announce at the event.
The Times, however, said Amazon will show off an e-reader that "could present much of the editorial and advertising content of traditional periodicals in generally the same format as they appear in print."
It quoted "people briefed on the plans" as saying that the Times was one of several news organizations "expected to be involved in the introduction of the device."
Kindle's traditional electronic reader is designed for books but the new device has a screen roughly the size of a standard sheet of paper and is more geared towards periodicals "and perhaps textbooks," the Times said.
With advertising revenue and circulation declining at US newspapers and magazines, the Times said the device was being seen by struggling US media companies as "a way to get readers to pay for those periodicals."
It noted that several other companies are reported to be developing their own e-readers including Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., newspaper and magazine publisher Hearst and California-based start-up Plastic Logic.
The Plastic Logic e-reader, a lightweight device with a touch screen about the size of a pad of letter paper, is going to be used on a test basis by two Detroit newspapers later this year.
"Publishers could possibly use these new mobile reading devices to hit the reset button and return in some form to their original business model: selling subscriptions, and supporting their articles with ads," the Times said.
It noted that digital distribution would allow newspaper publishers to save millions on printing and distribution costs.
Amazon already offers dozens of newspaper subscriptions for its existing Kindle readers including the New York Times, Newsweek, The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal.