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Tablets & Slate PCs in Steve Ballmer’s CES keynote? The debut of Apple’s new iTablet? Dunno, but the Kindle DX does wireless worldwide on Jan 19th

amazon_kindleCES is off to a great start with plenty of new product news… and we haven’t even had the keynote kickoff!

As I noted last month (all of a week or so ago) I decided to get on the ebook reader bandwagon and finally ordered a new Amazon Kindle. I was torn on the size: the 6" appeared best for my needs at home, but the overwhelming majority of feedback I received was in favour of the 9.7" Amazon Kindle DX, and I agreed.

But I found that the wait was 3-5 weeks! http://bit.ly/6qUwlx from bit.ly

Now I know why, thanks to chatter at CES on Twitter from engadget last night (http://bit.ly/5I04ex), the WSJ Blog and now this latest mail from Amazon: the new Amazon Kindle DX includes global wireless support, shipping January 19th for $489. I love it when a company takes the initiative and beats my email query to the punch, asking about my back order…

From: Amazon.com Customer Service 
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 12:11 AM
Subject: Update on your Kindle DX order

Dear Kindle Customer,

Today we introduced Kindle DX with Global Wireless – the next generation of our 9.7” wireless reading device.

Because you already ordered the original Kindle DX and are awaiting its arrival, we are pleased to inform you that we are upgrading your order to receive a Kindle DX with Global Wireless at no additional cost. You will receive the new Kindle DX as soon as it becomes available later this month.

We kept everything readers love about the original Kindle DX, then added global 3G wireless coverage and improved battery life.

Kindle DX with Global Wireless now enables you to wirelessly download content in over 100 countries and territories. With an extended battery life, you can now read for up to 1 week on a single charge with wireless on, a significant improvement from the previous battery life of 4 days.

Read more about Kindle DX with Global Wireless at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015TG12Q/

With your Kindle DX order already placed, you will be among the first to receive Kindle DX with Global Wireless, and you do not need to do anything.

You can cancel your order or check on order status by visiting your order summary here: <link>

If you purchased a 2-Year Extended Warranty for Kindle DX, your warranty will automatically apply to your new Kindle DX with Global Wireless device. If you have not purchased and are interested in a 2-Year Extended Warranty for Kindle DX, visit the product page at www.amazon.com/dp/B002GYVVY2

We hope you enjoy Kindle DX with Global Wireless.

Amazon.com Kindle Customer Service

So, why get one now rather than wait for a new Apple tablet or a Windows based slate PC? (Or as Brandon coined, a "slablet". "Tablate" sounds horrible 😉 Perhaps "Slate PC." Whatever it is, imagine netbook performance w/ touch: that would be sweet.) As I said last month to stephbu, No, I have a tablet PC (actually, two) and wanted a Kindle for the Amazon book offerings and simple business model for buying content, and I expect there’ll be subscription fees tied to an Apple tablet offering.

As noted by njeaton and others on Twitter, the venerable New York Times reported here that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will reveal "slate-like" PC tomorrow during Steve Ballmer’s CES keynote (http://bit.ly/6JBX07), and there’s already a (Kindle) app for that. (Regardless of tomorrow’s CES keynote, I’ll keep my Amazon Kindle (love it) & adopt the “Kindle for PC” app.)

You can follow Microsoft’s going’s on at CES via http://www.microsoft.com/ces/ beginning Jan 6 @ 6:30PM PST with the live keynote – it will be streamed live from the convention.

And, no, to answer several mails from friends and associates this week: I’m not at CES this year (that’s two year’s running I’ve missed it in person, and my wife just asked, "when were you last there?"  Hey, Al Roker’s there covering the gadgets along with the weather, so you’re good.) So I offer my post "Surviving CES in Las Vegas: A few helpful hints", with a few tips for those heading off to Vegas this week for the event, recycling the bits in the blog post. I figure that with the number of great folks following the play-by-play on the ground in Las Vegas on Twitter (what’s the best hashtag to use? I’m following #CES generally) and in the news, I think that I’ll get my fill of new gadgets and devices. Plus, the various email alias subscriptions and RSS feeds will likely blow out my Outlook mailbox quota.

 

Tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360, CES 2010, CES, travel tips.

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