Amazon Kindle DX will cost $489 but newspapers will subsidize the price

Here's what you need to know about Amazon.com's (AMZN) Kindle DX that you didn't know yesterday: It will cost $489. If you subscribe to the New York Times, Washington Post or Boston Globe, it will cost less.

How much less will be announced this summer by the publishers, when the Kindle DX begins to ship, Amazon.com chief executive Jeff Bezos said today at Manhattan's Pace University.

Following the model consumers are familiar with from cell phone plans, if you subscribe to the New York Times, for example, and agree to pay a certain amount a month for a period of time, the gadget will cost less.