U.S. State Department Buys 2500 Kindles ($16.5 Million No-Bid Contract) For Libraries and Ed Centers

UPDATE 2 (6/13/12) More Information from the State Department in a New Report by Laura Hazard Owen

UPDATE (6/12/12): Both NextGov and paidContent have updated their reports on this story with information from the U.S. State Dept. 
From NextGov:

“The State Department awarded a $16.5 million contract to Amazon to stock designated libraries and U.S.-friendly educational centers around the world with 2,500 Kindle e-Readers, procurement databases show.”
“Kindles were seen as the only appropriate devices for this contract, which was not opened for competitive bidding. The devices will aid those seeking to study English and learn about America.”
[Clip]
“Competing devices such as the Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony Reader Daily and Kobe e-Reader were unsuitable as they couldn’t offer the same the text-to-speech function, battery life and global Wi-Fi connectivity, according to a government document.”

FBO Database Record for Contract
Read the Complete Article
See Also: Why is the U.S. State Department paying Amazon $16.5 million for 2,500 Kindles? (via paidContent)
DOS-Amazon (Kindle) Jusitification and Approval

Filed under: Libraries, Publishing, Reports