My Kindle Stuff

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

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.

Thank you Amazon!  Now, when browsing Kindle books, you don’t have to use the Universal Wish List button.  You can add right from the product page.  As a plus, anyone with a Save For Later items will have the wish list automatically created and those books moved into a new wish list.

Well I went to my local B&N today to get an up-close and personal with the new nook.  They had two demo models and I was also lucky enough to get about 30 minutes with the demo guy and the nooks.  I immediately told him that I wanted to compare it side-by-side with my Kindle 2 and he had no problem with that.  I am sure that many will think that because I am a ‘Kindler’, that I’m being too harsh and critical, but I can only compare the experience when using the nook to my current Kindle experience and I hope that some of my criticism of the device can and will be addressed by software updates.  I’d like to see the nook as real competition for the Kindle – so far, its announcement alone seems to have forced Amazon to address some of the needed improvements in the Kindle–that’s a good thing.
I’ll try to address only things that make up any major differences in using the devices.  All things being equal, there is access to most of the same books with Amazon edging out ahead on pricing, but with nook offering some library books, nooks lending feature comparable to the Kindle text-to-speech feature as well as Amazon’s wireless but pay-per-item email feature vs. nook’s in-store sample readability and wifi offerings.  Users’ mileage and options will vary on the  usefulness of any of those features.  
I would have had the nook as the real winner in the competition because of the LCD screen but, well you can read on to see why not…
My first negative was that one of the in-store display units required two resets and we still couldn’t get it to work, and had to move to the second.  That doesn’t seem to bode well for users getting shipped right now, most reviewers admit that a software update is needed and I have heard other reports of demo units not working as well.  Hopefully, these bad units were from initial stock known to have a few issues so were sent to stores rather than customers.

(Update:  I forgot to mention two things on the nook that are a big plus.  Their book navigation notes both a book ‘location’ and a PAGE NUMBER!  This is uber-awesome for book clubs, students and workplace use.  Even though I got a few silent blinks when I asked whether the page numbers were for the hard or paper-back versions, any reference to actual page numbers is nice.  The second thing is that B&N sprang for an upgraded .PDF model than the Kindle.  Per the B&N employee, the .PDF is text searchable.  I’d like confirmation of that.)

In-book
The screen contrast seems a bit better than on the Kindle 2.  The gray background doesn’t seem as gray so that makes the text seem clearer.  There are also options to change the font that are not available on the Kindle without a hack and users can add their own screensavers which again are not available on the Kindle.
IMO, B&N did themselves a bit of disservice when they designed the navigation in terms of an eReader.  You have to go through too many touches of the screen to get to a book, navigate thru books, get definitions and other things.  Keep in mind that I am coming from a Kindle interface where I can open any one of the 10 books on my home page with one click, use my thumb to highlight as well as get any definitions.  I imagine that traversing through the menus and options may not be as distracting when shopping as a user expects more interaction in that scenario.  But up front, there are too many screens with too many options just to open one of the books in your list.
Opening and going through a book side by side with the Kindle, the screen refresh of the nook is markedly slower in the page refresh–markedly.  I did not see any of the LCD lag mentioned in other reviews, but the eInk refresh definitely needs some work.  Every time a book is opened, it looks like the nook updates the ‘flow’, and turning a page was also slow.  I estimate about twice as long on the page refresh and 3 to 4 times as long to open a book and sync the main display to the LCD .
The dictionary and notes and highlight features of the nook also require interaction with the touch screen.  To illustrate the different, in the same time it took the B&N guy to open a book and go to the 1st page, I had a book open, had gone to the next page and gotten a definition.  I used one hand, he had to use two.

In short, as far as navigation and menus, the nook really needs the assistance of a usability expert to trim down the menu selections and options to something WAY more workable.

Shopping
I liked the shopping experience of the nook better than the Kindle store experience as pricing showed up in the book list and the screens shown seemed really clean as far a the options for browsing.  Being able to browse books on a device doesn’t sound like much, but it added to something that I was missing with my Kindle–that in-store feel.  I really like a good bookstore.  
Also having the price right up front within the list was a nice feature.  I got an in-store advertisement in a box on the screen right in the middle of browsing books that I would find distracting if were to repeat, but maybe they pick stuff based upon what you’re browsing.  I don’t know as that box only showed up once. They need to add a feature that shows you customized recommendations though.  I was told that the ‘Recommended’ book list would not be customized to either my browsing or past purchase history.  I find that hard to believe, but since the device was not registered to me, I could not verify that.
I almost had a cow when one of the books available on the nook was Stephen King’s Under the Dome, but I was later told that it was a sample.  It was a big sample, though as I saw a Chapter 8 on the list.  Most Kindle samples are only the 1st two chapters.  I didn’t think to ask if that was because I was inside the store, but for nookites, I hope not.  A big sample would be great because I have purchased Kindle books based upon the 1st two chapters only to regret it because it was all downhill from there.

Overall
I found the nook to be noticeably heavier in my hand.  Since I didn’t have hours of reading time, I’m not sure if that would be any factor to the reading experience, but we’ll see how that shakes out with daily use.  
I really did not get any value from the addition of the LCD screen.  There were just too many menus for what is in essence a single purposed device.  The nook is for reading books.  Period, end of sentence and for me, the experience was not enhanced in any way by the LCD it and in fact, was a distraction at best.  Perhaps if B&N opens that area up to development, it may really turn into something, but for now it gets a shrug.

I was really surprised that there is no content management.  The demo unit only had 10 books on it, but in contrast, I have 108 items on my Kindle.  One of my first questions was how to navigate thru the nook if I had a similar number of items and was told to search, but that wasn’t what I was looking for.  If I was searching, I would probably be looking for more of  what I call a ‘browse’ search, not a I’m looking for a single specific item search.  I would probably be looking for a choice of various genres, authors or perhaps a series.  B&N missed what to me is a big Kindle complaint by not jumping on the ability to organize your books with more options than the Kindle offers.  
I don’t think this is the ‘Kindle-killer’ that B&N was looking for, but even though I will remain a dedicated Kindler for now, the nook is definitely a viable option.