Kindle-holder: The Pursuit of laziness
XKCD creator Randall Munroe was bothered by having to exercise two or three muscles to hold his kindle up while reading in bed, lying on his side, so he created this lovely Kindle-holder:
(via Boing Boing Gadgets)
Screensavers for Kindle 2
The smart bloggers over at Blog Kindle have made up a download&edit process to add your own screensavers to your shiny new Kindle 2:
Before you continue with the instructions below, please understand that you are doing it at your own risk and this can potentially void your warranty. On the bright side, the update seems small, straightforward and reversable and several people (myself included – see pictures below) have successfully applied it to their devices.
To enable custom screensavers:
- Download kindle_screensaver_hack-0.3.zip. This seems to the latest version now and I’ll try to keep this post updated with more versions as they become available.
- Unpack it.
- Connect your Kindle to your PC via USB. Go to the Kindle drive (usually K:\)
- If you don’t see system folder, you need to configure Windows to show hidden files and folders. Otherwise go the next step.
- Go to the \system folder and create sceen_saver subfolder in it.
- Copy all of the images you want your screensaver to randomly cycle tough. Both PNG and JPEG formats are OK. While Kindle will resize images it’s best to resize them to 600×800 beforehand. Definitely don’t try putting 10 megapixel photos from your camera there as screensaver would then take long time to load and image will not display right. Good freeware tool to edit images is Paint.NET
- Copy Update_kindle2_user_screen_savers.bin that you’ve unpacked in step 2 to the root directory of your Kindle 2.
- Unplug the USB cable.
- Press “Menu”, select “Settings”, press “Menu”, select “Update Your Kindle”.
- It normally should take under a minute to update and reboot your Kindle. And you’re done!
If you did everything right you should see the following in at the bottom of your settings screen.
via blog kindle
The Secret Voice Behind Kindle 2’s Automagic Book Reading is…
The NYTimes’ David Pogue says the Kindle 2’s reading mysterious voice is Tom Glynn, an emo folk singer dude with beautiful hair.
via gizmodo via Tom Glynn via Pogue’s twitter via Jalopnik’s Wert
Seth Godin’s latest riff
Marketing guru Seth Godin thinks Amazon can turn the Kindle from an e-reader into a cutting-edge tool for marketing books — and offers some thought-providing suggestions. Among them: allow publishers to include a pass-along credit, so you can share the book with a limited number of Kindle-owning friends; link to Facebook so you can see which books others are sharing (not a bestseller list – a “most-shared” list), allow Friends to view your margin notes — great for reading groups.
Pogue reviews the new Sony e-reader
David Pogue of the New York Times tried out the Sony PRS-700 — and found that it’s much prettier, but all of its improvements make the reading experience worse.
First, it’s gorgeous. It’s made of sleek black metal, which is a better margin around the light-gray reading screen than the Amazon’s strange off-white plastic. And the Sony Reader does away with the vestigial thumb keyboard that makes the Kindle look strangely elongated.
What is it with Amazon, anyway? Why doesn’t it seal the deal by making the Kindle look stunning and sleek? The Kindle 2 is better than the original, but it still looks like it was designed by the makers of the Commodore 64.
Second, the Sony Reader 700 has two things many people sorely wish the Kindle had: a touch screen, which lets you turn pages by swiping your finger, and built-in illumination, so you can read in the dark. (The Kindle screen requires external light to read–like a book.)
So it’s a total Kindle-killer, right?
Actually, not in the least.
The beauty of the E-Ink screen on both the Kindle and the Reader is that it simulates the look of ink on paper. The black particles that form the images on the page are right there on the surface of the glass, as though printed there; it’s extremely satisfying to read at long stretches.
But in order to add the touch screen and the lighting, Sony had to add new layers on top of that screen–and it totally ruined the effect. Now you’re painfully aware that you’re looking at the words through a couple of transparent layers, and contrast suffers as a result; worse, the touchscreen layer introduces an annoying reflective glare that’s almost impossible to eliminate in any light. It’s deeply frustrating.
…
Second, Sony’s bookstore is priced higher and contains far fewer titles (under 100,000, compared with Amazon’s 240,000). Both devices also accept text, Word and PDF documents, meaning that you can fill them with the tens of thousands of copyright-expired, free e-books from the Web (at Gutenberg.org, for example). Sony says that the Reader also works with “other eBook stores and sites that offer PDF or EPUB eBooks — with or without copy protection, for purchase or for free.” But I’m not aware of any e-book store that’s better stocked or organized than Amazon’s.
This is for everyone wondering whether to get a Kindle or a Sony e-reader. You probably figured out my opinion long ago — but now it’s proven: I’m not alone in considering the Kindle above and beyond.
The Kindle 2.0, deconstructed
The folks at ifixit.com have taken apart their brand new Kindle 2.0, and boy does it look cool inside!
Kindle 2.0
Fascinatingly – even when you take it apart, the e-ink screen still works…
Kindle 2.0 has shipped
According to Engadget, Amazon began shipping the Kindle 2.0 on Sunday. If you’ve ordered a new Kindle, watch your deliveries today; it’s the “release” day, and you may be able to expect delivery today!
Free Cooks Illustrated Cookbook
Amazon is offering a free cookbook for Kindle users – and not just any cookbook!
The Cook’s Illustrated How-to-Cook Library: An illustrated step-by-step guide to Foolproof Cooking–available exclusively to Kindle customers as a free download, beginning February 24. Pre-order yours now!
(straight from the Amazon blog. Thanks, Amazon!)
Kindle version 1 (original) software update
Amazon has updated the software on the original Kindle. These updates include:
- Image zoom: Zoom in on any image in Kindle books or periodicals using the scroll wheel.
- Enhanced content management: Delete items directly from the Home screen with a new short-cut key–scroll to the item and push the “backspace” key.
- Improved character and font support: New support includes Greek characters and monospace fonts.
To update your Kindle software, simply turn the wireless on and leave your Kindle alone for about ten minutes.
Kindle is designed to automatically check for and download updates when one is available. If an update is available, Kindle will download and install the update the next time the wireless connection is activated and Kindle goes into sleep mode.
During the update, you’ll see screens that show the update progress. The update should take less than 10 minutes and is complete when Kindle displays the Home screen. Do not power off or reset the Kindle until the update is complete.
Alas, they haven’t enabled any sorting of documents by folders — or even viewing only the files stored on the SD card or in the Kindle Memory, both of which Content manager can do without a problem.
Nor have they done anything to make sorting and exporting your notes any more functional. But hey – baby steps! Thanks, Amazon!
Sara Nelson on Kindle 2.0
Sara Nelson, former publisher of Publishers Weekly, writes her first post on TheWrap.com about Kindle 2.0:
It’s no secret that publishers have more complicated, love-hate relationships with Amazon, which still commands less than half of the bookselling market, than, say, Barnes and Noble. But its “mind share” is huge – Amazon feels to bookselling what Xerox was to copiers in the 70s – and its power increasing. And there are plenty of traditional publishers who worry just how that power will be used: to demand special terms that cut into publishers’ profits is one real concern. So are such Amazon programs as BookSurge, which virtually gives the Seattle-based behemoth a shot at becoming a publisher. You couldn’t quite shake the feeling that all these New York publishing hot-shots were there at least partly to gauge the speed and extent to which Amazon might take over their world.
The new device itself seemed cool enough. Version 2 is sleeker, 25% thinner, Bezos said, than the size of the #1 bestselling phone (probably an iPhone, but of course, Bezos doesn’t name a product from his rival, Apple.) Its buttons are less obtrusive and more easily manageable – removing the Fisher Price See-and-Spell feeling of the original. It offers improved graphics and more storage – up to 1500 books, Bezos says. And the battery – which seemed weak in the old version – will reportedly hold its charge for two weeks.
The biggest advance, without doubt, however was the audio feature. Apparently now, “when you’re cooking in the kitchen,” as Bezos said, you can push a button and have the book that you were just reading read itself to you. (Unstated, but likely: This development surely has something to do with the fact that fact that Amazon recently bought Audible, the leader in downloadable audio books. Don Katz, the journalist who founded Audible in the late 90s, was one of the machers present.)
Interesting observations, particularly about the connection with Audible… Alas, the humble editors of KindleTips did not get an invitation to the “star-studded event”; as we haven’t been able to put our hands on the device yet, our opinions on the updates are necessarily preliminary.
