Kindle Buzz

E-Books Start to Take Hold

Kindler — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:34:21 GMT

After ten years, are e-books really starting to take hold? The New York Times story suggests sales are on the rise. Earlier stories agree. Why? The beauty of the format is the convenience. Now, we just need more readers.

Jeff Bezos interviews compiled

Kindler — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:21:25 GMT

The blog The Kindle published an overview of several Jeff Bezos 2007 interviews. Switch promises to do the same for 2008 interviews.

My favorite quote, “The book is so highly evolved that it disappears when you’re reading - all that remains is the author’s world. This became our top design objective for the Kindle.”

What is your favorite quote about the Kindle?

Bezos interview on SmartMoney

Kindler — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:43:53 GMT

SmartMoney discussed the role of the Kindle to the Amazon bottom line. Future products are asked about but Jeff Bezos is cryptic except that we can forget color.

SM: What new features might we expect from the Kindle? Color? Animation? When I tried to read the newspaper on my Kindle, I couldn't easily jump to the business section.

Bezos: Color or animation isn't likely. E Ink [the type of technology Kindle employs] display doesn't support color in a commercial way. Plus, the rapid screen updates required for animation create eyestrain. The Kindle is more like a printed page — easier on your eyes. We will do on-air updates. Perhaps we'll create better user interface to improve what you're talking about for a newspaper.

No word on the student version.

Incredible Day

Kindler — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:36:59 GMT

Amazon Kindle Discussion Board

Kindler — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:51:00 GMT

Have you ever wanted to discuss the Kindle all day long ? Did you know that you can share your joy on one of the most active Kindle discussion sites: KindleBoards?

Today, KB sent out the following Press Release as a nice reminder to register and interact with others:

KindleBoards.com has emerged as a leading online resource for Kindle, Amazon's wireless reading device. Drawing over 7,000 visitors daily, the free site is a lively hub of Kindle discussions, user tips, accessory reviews, and book discussions for Kindle owners.

Bellingham, WA. November 26, 2008 -- KindleBoards.com has emerged as a leading online resource for Kindle, Amazon's wireless reading device. The site provides a discussion forum for Kindle owners and for people who have interest in or questions about Kindle.

Features of the site include Kindle news, user tips, accessory pictures and reviews, answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), book reviews, and discussion about Amazon's downloadable books, blogs, newspapers, and magazines.

Kindle users have embraced the site and participate actively in its discussion forums. In November 2008, KindleBoards attracted over 500,000 page views. The site draws 7,000 unique visitors daily.

"With over 20,000 posts on a wide range of Kindle-related topics, we are thrilled that people have engaged so enthusiastically in the KindleBoards forums," says site owner Harvey Chute. "Our members are a fascinating, diverse, and articulate group, sharing a common passion in books, reading, and Kindle."

A popular KindleBoards feature is the FAQ board. Moderated by Leslie H. Nicoll, co-author of The Amazon Kindle FAQ, the KindleBoards FAQ answers the most common questions posed by Kindle users. Its clear explanations are augmented with helpful graphics and screenshots. "The FAQ is designed to be useful for both new and experienced Kindlers," Nicoll noted. "And beyond the FAQ, we have many active members who go out of their way to help other Kindle owners - by answering questions, offering tips, and sharing their Kindle experiences."

KindleBoards features an advanced search function, enabling visitors to readily locate discussions of interest. Users can include images and videos in their forum posts. An active team of moderators engages in site discussions, and hosts Kindle-related events in the forums.

The KindleBoards "Link-Maker" function facilitates the posting of clickable book covers in user posts. The resulting discussion threads are populated with colorful icons representing the books being discussed. Those icons may be clicked by readers to immediately access and download books in Amazon's Kindle Store.

"Our objective is to be a friendly, competent, and lively gathering place for all things Kindle," Chute said. "We welcome all Kindle enthusiasts - from new and prospective Kindle owners, to others who may have enjoyed their Kindles for a while and are looking to make the most of the experience."

Established in November 2007, KindleBoards (http://www.kindleboards.com) is an independent, free resource for Kindle enthusiasts.

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Amazon Kindle: How often do you download books?

Kindler — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:15:00 GMT

After a year of reading e-books on the Kindle , I started to wonder how often I was downloading books. Here is a screen shot.

Not bad. How often do you download?

Amazon Kindle: Site Statistics

Kindler — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:02:00 GMT

This site launched over one year ago. I stopped writing in January because of distractions with other products, however, my interest in the Kindle continued throughout the year as I read everything on my 2 devices. One device traveled the east coast with a daughter as she read her high school summer readings on the Kindle. The other day I saw other people were commenting and asking about the Kindle and Kindle 2.0 on this site. Therefore, I decided to share the reading trend on the site. Why not?

Thank you.

The New Amazon Kindle 2.0 Q1 2009

Kindler — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:32:00 GMT

2009 is shaping up to be a great year for the Amazon Kindle. After Oprah told the world about the wonders of the Kindle and sales skyrocketed as people have been waiting patiently for the device. However version 2.0 is just around the corner. One year and three days ago, I asked about 2.0 features. Now we know that leaked pictures suggest a longer and thinner device and today's news from top technology sites is that the version 2.0 is expected the first quarter of 2009.

This is fantastic news for Amazon because other competitive e-readers are just around the corner. Hopefully the student reader and color screened readers are also shipping in 2009.

1,000 Pages of Reading

Kindler — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Imagine a 7 hour car drive saved by the Kindle, and you are picturing yesterday's adventure. While my daughters traded back and forth on the driving task, I kept my focus on several textbooks previously downloaded on the Kindle. Interestingly, none of the places we stopped had electric jacks and so I was greatly pleased that my reader kept its charge.

What is the longest travel adventure you have taken and still had a charge on your trusty Kindle?

Random House Credits Amazon Kindle

Kindler — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:40:00 GMT

Matt Shatz, vice president for Random House's digital operations, stated "e-book sales have increased by triple digit percentages in 2008, thanks in part to Amazon.com's Kindle reader."

As an avid reader, the kindle has simplified reading and previewing texts. The growth is definitely not a surprise.

Amazon Kindle: Are you tired of waiting?

Kindler — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:24:08 GMT

According to Amazon NowNow, Amazon shipped approximately 4,000 Kindles. This number may be true or false but the number has me wondering about the number of people waiting. If you are tired of waiting - and the waiting is turning to anger - what are your thoughts?

I asked in Amazon NowNow, why isn't Amazon releasing their sales figures?

A nasty answer came back stating: "Why do you care?" I care because the number of sales validates my interest and purchase. I am human - and happier when a large purchase is made and know other people made the same purchase.

A second answer stated Amazon does not need to release the sales figures. Well, they could generate more excitement - unless they are hiding something. Of course, there is an obvious snag. By not releasing the sales numbers then some people think something is wrong.

Finally, a third answer suggested Amazon did not sell that many Kindles and does not want people to know this information. OK. No big deal. I love my Kindle and consider myself to be one of the lucky ones. You will be happy when you get yours too.

Amazon Kindle: Is one enough?

Kindler — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:28:29 GMT

Interestingly, one Kindle is not enough. I find myself sitting and watching others use my Kindle. In fact, my Amazon Kindle is very popular with the family. My younger sister loves to flip through a couple books on the Kindle. My older sister wanted to borrow "the book" (aka the Kindle). One of my brothers put several samples onto the Kindle - Thank you for not buying them with my account. My parents have grabbed the Kindle and flipped through different texts, too. Actually, every person who has been over to the house this holiday season has picked up the Kindle and read.

Yes, the Kindle is very popular this Holiday. Are you having trouble keeping track of your Kindle, too?

Postscript: What about using the GPS feature in the Kindle as a security feature?

Amazon Kindle: Favorite Text Size

Kindler — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:34:38 GMT

One of the nice features regarding the Amazon Kindle is the ability to change the text size for books. I decided the third setting is the easiest on my eyes. The text size allows me to remove my glasses and keep the Kindle at a distance. After reading several books and articles at different text sizes, I am curious if others find their eyes do not hurt after reading for a long period of time.

Postscript: What are you reading today? I downloaded Bill Bryson's A short history of nearly everything. No, I will not include a link because I am simply curious whether anyone else is reading something interesting.

Amazon Kindle: Hidden Features

Kindler — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:23:17 GMT

Numerous features are silently sitting inside your Amazon Kindle.

Bonus content

The main GUI and most of the back-end code is written in Java. The framework is quite elaborate and can be extended with extra "booklets".
After spending some time investigating it with JAD, I found some undocumented shortcuts, features and easter eggs. Here's a more or less complete list.

Picture viewer

I'm not sure why Amazon didn't make it public (maybe because paging is kinda slow), but there is a basic picture viewer in Kindle.
To activate it:
1) make a folder called "pictures" in the root of Kindle drive or SD card. Kindle also checks for "dcim" made by cameras.
2) put your pictures for a single "book" into a folder inside that. The subfolder name will be used as the "book" name. Supported formats are jpg, png, gif.
3) in Home screen press Alt-Z. A new "book" should appear. Open it to view your pictures.
4) In the local menu you can toggle dithering, resize to fit and full screen mode.

Keyboard shortcuts

Various undocumented/underdocumented keyboard shortcuts. I italicized most interesting ones.

Global keys

Alt-Shift-R reboot Kindle
Alt-Shift-. restart GUI
Alt-Shift-G make screenshot
due to an implementation bug, screenshots can only be stored on SD card, not the main storage. A gif file is saved in the card root.
Shift-Sym start demo
Enabled only if allow_demo=true is passed on the Java commandline. Needs a special demo script present on the SD card.

Home

Alt-Shift-M Minesweeper
Alt-Z rescan picture directories
Alt-T show time

Reader

Alt-B toggle bookmark
Alt-T spell out time
Alt-0 enable/disable slideshow
Alt-1 start slideshow (if enabled)
Alt-2 stop slidehow
Alt-PageForward/PageBackward go to next/prev annotation or one "chunk" (1/20th of a book) forward or backward

Settings

411 show diagnostics data
511 run loopback call test
611 diagnostic data service call
c/e/s
126 Lab126 team members

Font List

J show/hide justification options

Picture viewer

Alt-Shift-0 set current picture as screensaver
F toggle fullscreen mode

Minesweeper

I,J,K,L up,left,down,right
M mark mine
R restart
Space open cell
Scroll move cursor up/down
Alt-Scroll move cursor left/right
H return to Home screen

Text input

Alt-Backspace clear all
Alt-H/Alt-J move cursor
(the following don't work in search field for some reason)
Alt-6 ?
Alt-7 ,
Alt-8 :
Alt-9 "
Alt-0 '

Browser

It seems there is a location capability (GPS?) in the CDMA module. I cannot check it as I'm not in USA but the following shortcuts are programmed inside the browser.
Alt-1 show current location in google maps
Alt-2 find gas station nearby
Alt-3 find restaurants nearby
Alt-4
Alt-5 find custom keyword nearby
Alt-D dump debug info to the log and toggle highlight default item
Alt-Z toggle zone drawing and show log

Audio Player

Alt-F next
Alt-P play/stop

Search commands

These command work in the search field. You can enter only beginning of the command if that's enough for it to be unique.
Public commands (always available)

@help
@web
@wiki/@wikipedia
@store
@time

Semiprivate (available but not mentioned in @help)

;dumpMessages dump current debug log into the "documents" directory
;debugOn set log level=2 and enable private commands
;debugOff set log level=1 and disable private commands

Private commands

Note: following commands are clearly not intended for end users. Some of them may damage your Kindle and void your warranty. Enter at your own risk.

`help list private commands
`7777 set version to TOPmk-xyz-77770 (to disable OTA updates?)
`voltLog <1|0> enable/disable voltage table debug
`batteryLoggingDelay set battery logging delay (in seconds)
`pppStop close WAN PPP connection
`disableIndexing
`logOpenFiles
`startIndexing
`dumpBattery
`indexStatus
`compliance
`einkAdjustments
`allocate [MB]
`log611
`reloadContentRoster
`indexForever
`downloadIndex
`consumeMemory
`terminal
`checkForUpdate
`applyUpdate
`stopIndexing
`processNowNow
`processTodo
`countUnmergedDownloadedIndexes
`dumpIndexStats
`memInfo

Technology Product of the Year

Kindler — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 02:16:47 GMT

The forum polls are open for nominations of 2007 technology product of the year. Feel free to nominate your favorite UMPC, Tablet PC, or MID. Make sure that the Apple iPhone does not take the forums by storm by nominating the Amazon Kindle rather than the Apple iPhone.

Signature Products: Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader

Kindler — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:30:15 GMT

Dean Takahashi, Mercury News, states the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader are signature products of the year 2007.

The short read is titled a first look and hopefully there will be a more in-depth analysis of the differences between the two products.

Have you noticed that the number of discussions about the Kindle have continued throughout the month of December?

Amazon Kindle: The Most Lust After Gadget

Kindler — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:45:33 GMT

Digital Media Wire provides four positive comments about the Amazon Kindle and concludes:

If you put all these pieces together, the interesting conclusion is that the Kindle may represent the first real product that challenges our perceptions about how people are consuming content.

What are the four pieces?

1. RSS Feeds

2. Integrates magazines, books, newspapers, and blogs

3. Emphasis on real time information

4. Amazon's full library at a single click

What do you think? Do these four pieces make the Amazon Kindle the most lust after gadget?

Amazon Kindle: Changing Hands

Kindler — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:02:23 GMT

Holly Buchanan discovered Amazon's personalization feature. She points out that the ads for the Kindle change hands. Males see a man's hands holding the Kindle and females see female hands.

What marketing features have you discovered are working for you? Should Amazon market on television? Should magazine ads be used? What about Amazon representatives attending CES 2008? Do representatives canvas college campuses? How about striking deals with bookstores?

Amazon Kindle: Double the Asking Price

Kindler — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 01:43:29 GMT

Reports are surfacing this week that eBay auctions of the Amazon Kindle are double the original price. While some people doubt that the quick sell-out was real, the willingness to pay twice the price suggests there is a demand for the product.

We are left wondering how many Amazon Kindles sold this year - and they will have to disclose this number eventually. Will they wait until the last minute? Will people feel tricked if the sell-out numbers are small? Will bloggers write the sarcastic "I told you so" in their blog posts?

Do you believe the lack of sales figures is an indication of a relatively small number? Do you believe that the lack of disclosure might be the downfall of the product?

I wonder if Amazon officials worry about the questioning of the number of Amazon Kindle sales. Wouldn't you?

Amazon Kindle: Discovering the Little Things

Kindler — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:15:26 GMT

Management Craft published an overview of their first day with the Kindle.

What a cool device and I know I am going to LOVE it. The combination of books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs is great. I have not tried this yet, but I can highlight text and create a file of clips and quotes that I want to refer to again. I can search anywhere in the content. It has a dictionary and Wikipedia. And I can download audio books and listen using headphones (or background music). If the 180megs of storage is not enough, I can add an SD memory card. And so much more I have not yet discovered.