My Kindle Stuff

I ordered the Kindle 3 as soon as I saw it was available for purchase.  I was lucky enough to get picked for an Amazon marketing video (which they haven’t used yet) so I’d gotten a early preview of the Kindle 3 and knew prior to the announcement that I had to get one.  I ordered the 3G Graphite model and am eagerly awaiting its arrival although still undecided on covers.  I don’t know whether to get the Amazon cover or wait to see what M-edge puts out as I’ve been using M-edge covers since my Kindle 1 days.

But I digress.  Here is my issue.  I’ll be either selling my Kindle 2 or giving it to my hubby.  I don’t have as much of an issue if I keep it in the family, but if I sell it?  What the heck am I supposed to do with my as-yet-unread Samples?  This may sound trivial, but I have 135 of them.  If only a few, I could just write the names down and call it a day, but with over a 100, I am faced with somewhat of a quandary.

After calling and a bit of back and forth with Kindle Customer Service, it’s been explained to me that while my collection of Samples (the name anyway) can be synched from one device to the other, the sample books themselves won’t be.  Heavy sigh…..Do I go thru them one by one and add to my wish list? Do I transfer them to the new device? Do I just forget them and rebuild a new list?  Frankly, I don’t want to just forget about them; I find books via Twitter links, Twitter and GoodReads recommendations, Amazon recommendations and just browsing. I don’t think that I’d ‘re-find’ many of the books in my Samples and I wouldn’t have added them if I didn’t think they’d be worth my time.

I hope you don’t have the same problem, but if you do, I have a couple of recommendations. Neither is fun, both are time-consuming, but I don’t believe there’s any other way to do it.  If you start now, you have a few days to get it done.

Add the books to a Wish List. This is the least techie way to transfer Samples.

• Go to your Amazon account and  create a new Wish List called Samples, if you don’t have one already. This is the only step that will require your computer
• On your Kindle, turn on the Wireless
• Highlight your Sample book and click right on the 5-way
• On the next page, use the 5-way and highlight Book Description

• On the Book Decription page, use the 5-way to highlight Add to Wish List

• Click Enter on the 5-way and the next page shown will allow you to choose a Wish List
• Highlight the Wish List that you want to add the Sample to and press enter on the 5-way

• Click to confirm
• If successful you’ll get a box that states the book was added

• Click to close the confirmation box
• Click the Back button 4 times to get back to your Sample collection or if you haven’t created a collection, just click the Home button.
• Rinse and repeat for all of your Samples

If you want a quicker way and feel comfortable when navigating around your Kindle files and directory structure, you can screenshot each page of your Samples, pull the screenshots onto your computer and then review and add to your next Kindle as needed.  This is made easier if you have your Samples in a single collection, but if they are mixed in with your books, the Sample lable next to each one make them easily identifiable.

Create a Screenshot Book list/Transfer Sample files to your New Kindle

You can copy the Sample files from your Kindle to your computer and then to the new Kindle.

• Connect your Kindle to your PC via the USB
• Navigate to the documents folder on the device
• Do a search for EBSP in the documents folder
• Copy all files to a location on your computer
• Connect the 2nd Kindle and copy all the EBSP files into the documents folder

If you don’t need to bring over all your samples, you can create a screenshot list and transfer at your leisure or save for future uploading

• Open your Sample collection (or go to the first page that lists a Sample)
• Hold down Shift+ALT+G to take a screenshot of the page (Shift is the up arrow)
• Go to each of the pages in succession that contain Samples and take a screenshot
• Transfer the screenshots to your computer (Instructions for Windows)
• Connect the Kindle to your computer
• In Windows Explorer, open the Kindle documents directory and copy all .GIF files to your computer
• The files are given random names similar to screen_shot-<numbers>.gif

• The screenshot will list all the books and Samples as shown on your Kindle.  You can transfer the books listed in the screenshot to your Kindle either via the above method (easiest) or the Amazon site from your computer or search for them from your Kindle

I hope this helps if you’re like me and have a lot of Samples.  The above methods will work on all Kindle devices, Kindle 1 thru 3 and including the DX models.  As of now, unfortunately, you cannot organize your content into collections on the Kindle Anywhere applications for your iPhone/iPad, PC/Mac, Blackberry and other smartphones.  The Kindle for PC app notes that library organization is being worked on–perhaps in the future, we’ll have an easier way to deal with Sample from device to device.

(Update: This method does not work since the 2.5 update. Hopefully there will be a manual way to do this in the future)

I have written a couple of times on how Amazon needed to have some way for customers to update their ‘Furthest Page Read’ settings without going thru the hassle of a phone call or email to Customer Service. Thanks to dyingc from the MobileReads forum, there is a way to do it yourself although somewhat clunky.

Here’s the issue -

When using Whispersync, staying on the correct page across multiple devices works great–until you decide to re-read your content.

You read thru a book on either your Kindle and your iPhone (or another Kindle).  First time thru, you stay in sync on any device.  Later you decide to either re-read or restart the book. Unfortunately, the ‘Sync to Furthest Page Read’ will always be the furthest page you got to, so your furthest read page remains at either the end of the book or the furthest page you got to and Whispersync will be let you know when you open that book on the device.  You can tell it not to go to the furthest page and continue reading.  Go to the other device and try to sync, and you will be taken to the furthest page read, not the place you were at when you stopped reading on the other device.

This is a problem in a couple of ways.  The simplest is that it makes it hard to re-read or restart any book and use Whispersync to keep your place on more than one device.

Solution – Reset the Furthest Page Read
Use the same device for all of the steps below before opening the book on a different one, the below example is using a single Kindle

1. Set the Synchronization off  on your Amazon Account (Go to Amazon -> Your Account -> Manage Your Kindle -> Manage Kindle Device Synchronization -> click the “Turn the Synchronization off” button to turn off the synchronization)
2. Wait about a minute, then exit & re-enter your book
3. Go to the beginning of your book on the Kindle
4. Sync to the furthest  page. If it tells you that you’re on the furthest location, you’re good to go. You must get this exact message “Already at furthest read location”, If not, see 4.1. 
   1. Select Cancel on the sync message that is displayed, exit and re-enter the book to attempt the reset again.  (I think that the Amazon databases have to get reset-thus the delay; in any case, it always works for me on the 2nd attempt). Proceed to Step #5 if you get a message “Already at furthest read location”
5. Turn on the synchronization setting on your Account – your Furthest Page read will be reset to your new location.
6. On your other devices–if further along in the book, you will have to go to the beginning of the book, but once done the Furthest Page Read location will sync with your Kindle.

Like I said, its not the most elegant solution, but it works.

Amazon was busy last night adding pages on how to use the new features in the Kindle 2.5 update.  For a synopsis of those features, see the post here.  Although the Amazon Kindle Help pages have been updated, as of this post, the downloadable Kindle Guide has not.

Edit: Right now a few lucky ‘beta’ users are getting the upgrade.  Who knows, turn on your wireless and maybe you be able to join the crowd

Organizing your Kindle

After creation, you can add items, rename or delete a collection without changing your document or book.  Collections seem to only apply to Books and documents and it looks like periodicals and blogs can’t be added to them, however books can be added to multiple collections..  Similar to your clippings and notes, collections will be available on other Kindles, but it doesn’t look like they will be available yet on other devices unless Amazon is using the word ‘Kindles’ to mean Kindle devices like the PC/MAC, iPhone/iPad or BlackBerry. Importing a collection will NOT add the book to your device at the same time.

Popular Highlights

Amazon will let you opt-in to their Annotate Backup feature and your highlights will be added to the list of highlights for that book if two other customers have overlapped the same passage.  Other users will see those highlights with a grey dashed underline when reading the book or on the kindle.amazon.com page.  You can also share your highlights and notes on Facebook and Twitter after you link those accounts to your Amazon account.

Fonts and Text Sizes

The Kindle will have a total of 8 fonts sizes compared to the current 6.  You’ll also be able to zoom any images and the zoom will utilize the portrait or landscape orientation as needed when increasing the image.  PDFs can now be increased based upon set percentages and a ‘fit to screen’ option.

Kindle Password

Along with setting a password, you’ll be able to add a password hint.  Should you forget the password, Customer Support can help you reset it.  Self reset of the password will wipe the device.

You can see all the details on any of the new features on the Amazon website.

A new Kindle update is coming soon! It looks like Amazon is adding features that Kindle users have been requesting since the first Kindle hit that first user’s hands. The update should hit your Kindle in late May.

Book and document organization -   You’ll be able to add documents and books into collections.  Users have been asking for folders, others have been asking to tag books–I bet this functionality lands right between the two.

PDF Updates – pan and zoom PDF files to read that super small text you’ve been complaining about.

Password Protection – You’ll be able to add password protection to your Kindle.

Fonts - Amazon is adding two fonts sizes.

Facebook/Twitter integration – Looks like we’ll be able to post to either service.  Not something I need, but I know that many users frequentlyn utilize both.

Kindle Community Highlights – This has not been on the top of anyone’s list that I’ve seen, but the ability to see book highlights that other users have found interesting or compelling will bring your Kindle books into an entirely new realm.

Edit: Sadly, these updates will not apply to the Kindle 1 (First Generation)

———————————-

From the Kindle Update page

Kindle Software Update Version 2.5

• Kindle Version 2.5 Overview
• Automatic Wireless Updates
• Information for Kindle (1st Generation) Users

Kindle Version 2.5 Overview

The 2.5 software update for Kindle and Kindle DX is coming soon. We are rolling out the new software update to a limited group of Kindle users and plan a broad release in late May 2010. Check back here for updates on the release schedule.

Here’s a list of the coming enhancements:

• Collections: Organize your books and documents into one or more collections.
• PDF Pan and Zoom: Zoom into PDFs and pan around to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics.
• Password Protection: Password protect your Kindle when you’re not using it.
• More Fonts & Improved Clarity: Enjoy two new larger font sizes and sharper fonts for an even more comfortable reading experience.
• Facebook & Twitter Posts: Share book passages with friends on Facebook and Twitter directly from your Kindle.
• Popular Highlights: See what the Kindle community thinks are the most interesting passages in the books you’re reading.

Automatic Wireless Updates

We send out software updates wirelessly in batches. When a new software update is available for your Kindle, it will automatically be delivered to your device as described below. There is nothing you need to do.

• Kindle checks for updates: All Kindles are designed to automatically check for and download updates when one is available. If an update is available, your Kindle will download and install the update the next time the wireless connection is activated and your Kindle goes into sleep mode.
• Updates in less than 10 minutes: During the update, you’ll see screens that show the update progress. The update should take less than 10 minutes and is complete when your Kindle displays the Home screen. Do not power off or reset your Kindle until the update is complete. You can check to confirm the software your Kindle is running, by going to the Settings screen on the device. The software version will be displayed on the bottom of the screen.

There is a new version of Calibre available (0.6.1).  This version makes book conversion and library maintenance for the Kindle even better.

If you have a lot of books that were not purchased via Amazon, Calibre can make your life a lot easier.  You can maintain a library of non-Amazon purchases and downloads, convert those books to Kindle format, perform mass deletions/additions to your Kindle, email items from your library to your Kindle, and update the metadata on items in your library.

You can view the Calibre update page here.

In the latest update, Calibre conversion has been revamped.  Now you can convert from any:  CBZ, CBR, CBC, EPUB, FB2, HTML, LIT, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, TXT
To any
EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, TXT

You can automatically perform a conversion to a default format when sending items to your Kindle in a single step.

You have the option of adding a metadata page to the beginning of your books.

For the folks with more than model of device, Calibre recognizes the Sony Reader, Kindle, BeBook, Cybook, Ectaco Jetbook, Irex, iPhone and Android phones.

The metadata page is huge for Kindlers.  Since you can edit the Comments in Calibre for each book, plus add Tags to items in bulk, this will help you organize until Amazon gets their act together.  I have played with tags using Series names/order, genres, etc. and even though I would prefer folders for my Kindle (tags aren’t the best way to deal with Samples or items that I have already read), tags work pretty darn good.

There is also a startup wizard that establishes your default settings and the ebook viewer can now display all of the formats that can be converted.

Other enhancements include updates to pdfs and bug fixes

Although I use a few different hacks and tools for my Kindle, overall, I find that Calibre is the one Kindle tool that seems to bring everything together.