My Kindle Stuff

Well, it was a few days late, but I finally got my Kindle today.  As I knew I would be, I love the updated screen, the new button placement and smaller form factor.  Looking at the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3 side-by-side shows off my new Kindle to advantage.

There are a plethora of positive reviews, comparison videos and comparison reviews out there so I won’t go into any of those details.  You can google for those, or if you want a really thorough video comparison, Len Edgerly of The Kindle Chronicles has a great one.  Unfortunately, I am going to talk about the features that I don’t feel are an improvement, and a couple of items that I think should be changed right away.

Number Keys

(Edit:  I’ve been advised to hold down the ALT key to do the below, but I’m still not happy with the removal of the numbered row)

At first, I was resigned to accessing numbers via the SYM key.  It would be a little inconvenient, but I was willing to overlook it to have the smaller size. Not any longer.  The lack of a row for the numbers means that if you plan on storing more than a couple of pages of content, you are almost forced to use collections and it is an example of bad design.

Example:

On the Kindle 2, if you have a lot of pages, you can use the number keys to enter the number, and click to go to that page.

On the Kindle 3, you have to enter a letter, click the DEL key to remove it and then use the SYM key to enter the page number.  If Amazon has a UI expert, that one definitely slipped thru the cracks, but I’m pretty sure this can be solved with a software update adding the Go To item to the Home menu.

Wi-Fi/3G

There is no way to turn either off separate from the other.  Turning off wireless means both get turned off.  This is a pretty minor issue, but without an explanation of how/when 3G and/or Wi-Fi are accessed by the device, I’m left wondering how either setting on is affecting battery life.

Headphone/Speaker jack

Why, oh why is this on the bottom of the device?  If my device is on a stand or in my lap, that means that I’m going to have to bend the cord at an angle that will eventually break the wire.  It belongs back on the top or even on the side of the Kindle.

Volume bar

See above reaction.  This too should be moved back to the side of the device or up on top.  My vote is the side, but I’ll be happy with either.

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Okay–done with the griping.  On to the things that I love.

Font Settings

Yay for the sans serif font!  I won’t need to use the font hack any longer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for those awful topaz formatted books, but we can’t have everything.

Weight

I know that some of the reviews stated that you can’t tell the difference in weight between the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3, but I can.  And I know that anyone with weight sensitive hands and/or wrists will appreciate the marked (to me, anyway) difference in weight.

Top Bar

When you 0pen a book, you can see the Title, Time and wireless status on the top bar, but as soon as you turn the page, they disappear to make more room for the text of the book.  At first, I didn’t like it , but as I’ve been reading, I appreciate the extra text. I wish it worked the same on waking the device up.  If you read more than one book at a time, you won’t know (without skimming the page) which book you are in.

Contrast

This has been said over and over, but it is so improved that it can’t be overstated.  The Kindle 3 screen is very crisp; I can’t get over how good it looks.

All in all, I am very happy and satisfied with the Kindle 3.  Amazon did a lot of small improvements that really add up to a big improvement overall.  Well that’s it for me, its back to reading on Mr. Slate.  He’s naked now, but I’m expecting the Amazon cover tomorrow.

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.

It’s here, boys and girls.  I’m happy to be among those announcing the latest Kindle release.  Per Amazon and yours truly (I got to play with one about a month ago), the latest Kindle is thinner, lighter and comes with enough new features to justify an upgrade.

Since I got some time to use the Kindle 3, before I highlight new stuff, I’ll give my initial impressions.

Despite it not being greatly reduced in size, the Kindle 3 (K3) seems a LOT smaller.  I’m not sure if its because of the color change or not, but it really fits better in your hand.  Also, those couple of ounces make it noticably lighter.

The graphite color makes the text really pop.  It actually looks like a sheet of paper under the glass.  I haven’t seen the new DX-and it hadn’t been released when I saw the K3, but I loved the new eInk screen.

Even lighter and smaller didn’t make it feel flimsy.  The K3 is solid in-hand and has a slightly tackier surface on the back so you don’t feel like you might drop it.

All in all, there are just enough new tweaks on the K3 to make me click that Order button and get ready to pass off my K2 to the hubby when it arrives.  I highly recommend that you get one if you’ve been on the fence.  If you do, I’d be happy if you’d use this Affiliate link when you order.
3G & Wifi version
Wifi only version

Okay. On to specifics.  If you want more details on everything, you can download the new K3 User guide here.  The official press release is also linked to below.

Screen
As expected, it comes with the latest eInk screen that has a much improved contrast.  If you haven’t seen it on the newer DX, I can assure you that it beats the current Kindle’s contrast hands down.  And since the current 6″ Kindle 2 has a pretty good contrast, that’s saying a lot.

The screen also refreshes much faster.  I had to readjust my page turning to accommodate the faster page turns. And no more loud clicks when you turn the page.

Internals
The battery is twice as robust, lasting up to a month with the wireless turned off.  It will be nice to go on longer trips without taking the charger.

The storage has also been doubled to 4GB so you can carry a ridiculous number of books with you where ever you go.

Externals
The 3G+Wifi model comes in Graphite or White, but the Wifi model is white only.

All the ’stuff’ has been moved to the bottom of the device. Power, charge, Adapter plug, USB, Volume controls, etc. They’ve also added a microphone that for now is not enabled.  I see some updates coming….

Home and Menu are now button instead of on the side and the Previous/Next buttons are smaller and on both sides of the K3.  Those are welcome, but the new location of the Home button took some getting used to. The 5-way controller has been flattened, now its a button with raised edges for up/down, left/right.

There are new Kindle covers.  They come in Black, Burnt Orange, Chocolate Brown, Hot Pink, Steel Blue, Apple Green and Burgundy Red.  They come in two models, one with and one without a reading light.  The one with a reading light uses the power from the Kindle.  Both covers have an elastic strap to keep closed when not in use.
Cover with Light - $59.99
Cover without Light – $34.99

Connections
There are two models now – 3G/Wifi and Wifi only.  The Wifi only model is $139–insanely cheap; especially when compared to the prices of eReaders last year.  I’m sure there are quite a few people happy to see the price get lowered.  The new price points put this device well within reach.

Now, when downloading an item, you can monitor the progress via the menu.

Once configured, your Kindle will automatically connect to your home or other wifi connection. Also, connection to AT&T is free and does not require a sign-in.

Reading
The PDF Reader has been updated so that you can do dictionary lookups as well as add notes & highlights.

The Kindle 3 has been enhanced with read-to-me menus.  This is a great new accessibility feature which was promised after the lawsuit following the university trials.

There are new fonts – condensed, regular and sans serif.

Line spacing has also been brought back (hello!) and Audible has been added to the Kindle Storefront menu.

Official Press Release

Well, I’m swamped by rumors, happy with Kindle news and what with all the good books I’ve found– just wallowing in Kindle-goodness.

Rumors

First for the rumors.  Sometime yesterday the 6″ Kindle went out of stock, there were refurbs available, but they’ve since sold out as well.  Rumors on Twitter, Amazon Discussion boards, Kindleboards and MobileReads speculate that the Kindle 3 is just around the corner.  In response, 3rd parties have already raised the prices of used Kindles upwards of $230, pretty much reflecting the old Kindle price of $259.  It will be interesting to watch the price gouging wars if the Kindle 2 stays out of stock for a few days.  I don’t dare look at the prices on ebay (ugh).

News

In Kindle news, Amazon issued a Press Release announcing that Stieg Larsson (author of the Millennium Trilogy)  is the frst author and first member of the “Kindle Million Club”.  That club is for writers whose books have sold over 1 million Kindle copies.
This kind of confuses me as I thought James Patterson was the 1st, but apparently that news was for selling a million ebooks (whether Kindle or otherwise) and was issued by his publisher, not Amazon.  So there you go.
For those thinking that the iPad was going to be the death of the Kindle–raspberries to you.  I say up with dedicated devices that do one thing great rather than focus on muli-ourpose ones that do a lot of stuff just okay. Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPad, but my Kindle is my baby!

My Lastest books (All VERY good! If you are into the Fantasy genre, be sure to check them out)

All that Lives Must Die (Mortal Coils #2) – Mortal Coils (Mortal Coils #1) by Eric Nylund – Mortal Coils was one of my Best Books of 2009

Tracking the Tempest (Jane True #2), Tempest Rising (Jane True, #1) by Nicole Peeler

Acacia: The War with the Mein (Acacia #1) by David Anthony Durham

Salute the Dark (Shadows of the Apt #4), Blood of the Mantis (Shadows of the Apt #3), Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt #2), Empire in Black & Gold (Shadows of the Apt #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Amazon announced last night that they have made a deal to publish 20 books from the Wylie Agency.  They will be publishing electronic versions of these books and have 2 years of exclusivity.  12 of the 20 will be available globally.  The books are a mix of highy regarded literary works.

They are:  (I) indicates international availability

• “London Fields” by Martin Amis  (I)
• “The Adventures of Augie March” by Saul Bellow  (I)
• “Ficciones” (Spanish Edition) by Jorge Luis Borges(I)
• “Junky” by William Burroughs
• “The Stories of John Cheever” by John Cheever  (I)
• “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison  (I)
• “Love Medicine” by Louise Erdrich  (I) Pre-order
  
• “The Naked and the Dead” by Norman Mailer  (I)
• “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov  (I)
• “The Enigma of Arrival” by V.S. Naipaul
• “The White Castle” by Orhan Pamuk  (I)
• “Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Roth
• “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie (I)
• “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” by Oliver Sacks
• “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson  (I)
• “Rabbit Run” by John Updike
• “Rabbit Redux” by John Updike
• “Rabbit is Rich” by John Updike
• “Rabbit at Rest” by John Updike
• “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh (I)

They will have an updated and uniform look that has been optimized for the Kindle  screen.  ALL are $9.99 with prices slightly higher outside of the U.S.

See the Press Release here and for more Kindle exclusives see this page.