Kindle Paperwhite and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD demos video'd at the 9/6/12 press event

Videos from Amazon's Sept 6 press event demos and hands-on in the lobby of Barker Hangar, Santa Monica Airport.

I'd forgotten I had taken the video, as my new-camera directory puts them in a separate directory, so I just looked at them last night.

  Kindle-Edition Blog subscribers can't run the videos on their e-Ink Kindles, so I've put the Youtube links in, and I think it's best to view them there anyway.  Since most want to see details with more clarity, you should view them in HD if your Internet system is a very fast one.


Youtube videos default to an average image quality: 480p.

  To change the video "quality" to 1080p (which both of these are) or to 720p if that's easier on the Internet system, you'd tap the gear/wheel seen at the right bottom of a video and "Change quality" before choosing one of the bigger rectangle/screen options in the same area.

  Example at the right,
    from the Kindle Fire magazine
    demo video below.


The Kindle Paperwhite, first ...

(Link: http://bit.ly/kpaperw-demo ) (Youtube)

We were able to try this front-lit e-Ink Kindle e-reader for ourselves, and it was very responsive.  It has 25 levels of brightness, starting with zero, a setting which comes out on video as more white than the lit display, which at first takes on a bluish tinge until the camera gets used to the light reflected by it.

The staffer went through quite a few options in a short time, with some explanations too.  The demos and Q&A were in the large lobby of the Barker Hangar.


The Kindle Fire HD 8.9" used for a demo of magazine features.

(Link: http://bit.ly/kfhdmag ) (Youtube)

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch model isn't due out until November 20, but the magazine
features are exactly the same for the 7" Kindle Fire HD, which we were able to try that day, but I took this video when VP Dave Limp demo'd the features on the larger Kindle Fire.

I was especially interested in how effective the text-view is now.  These are very readable (on the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD also), and remind me of hidden booklets within a magazine, callable when you want eye-relief.  Functioning is quite a bit smoother.



Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle News: Update v2.6 for Kindle for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, for iOS 6 and iPhone 5 support, more brightness control, new font selections

Be sure to read the Warning below for devices with versions EARLIER THAN iOS 5.

From an Amazon Kindle Forum announcement a few days ago:

'                                               Initial post: Sep 24, 2012 10:27:38 AM PDT

Kevin G. - Community Manager says:


The latest version of Kindle for iOS is 3.3. Recent updates include:
* Optimization for iOS 6
* iPhone 5 support
* Increased brightness control: greater control of lower ranges for
   improved reading in dark conditions
* New font selections
* Minimum supported version increased to iOS 5

To check which version of Kindle for iOS you have, tap the Settings icon (the cog) in the lower right corner of the application Home screen (on the iPhone, then tap "i") and then tap About.  You can download and install the latest version for free from the App Store.  To learn more, visit http://www.amazon.com/kindleapp.

If you need help with this update, please visit the Kindle Help Forums '

Again, note that the minimum iOS version supported is iOS 5.

WARNING for those with earlier iOS versions
M. Ratcheson found a reason for some update problems at the Kindle for iDevices help page (emphases mine).

' Why can't I install the latest Kindle app?

In order to offer new and enhanced features on Kindle for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the minimum requirement for the reading app is iOS 5 and greater.

We are unable to make previous versions of the app available for download due to App Store restrictions.  If your Apple device has software versions 3.0 or 3.1, we recommend that you do not uninstall your current Kindle app as it will no longer be available to download.  Some devices cannot update to iOS 5.0 including iPhone 1, iPhone 3g, iPod 2, and iPod 1.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. '

Per forum responses, the new fonts include Helvetica, and these additional fonts and adjustable margins in 3.2 have improved the reading experience on the iPad.

---

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle News: Software Updates coming for new Kindle Fires - UPDATE

UPCOMING KINDLE FIRE SOFTWARE UPDATES

That's the title of an announcement made at the Amazon Kindle Forums last night, and the software updates will be arriving "in the coming weeks" for the updated Kindle Fire, and the Kindle Fire HD.

  The addition that might be of most interest to customers (I'm understating this) is a setting that will let the customer control whether or not personalized recommendations appear below the carousel on the Home page of the Kindle Fire.

These recommendations are associated with individual items on the carousel when it's scrolled in either direction.  There are some who like it because it's closer to what they might find interesting, while many hate it, so this is a welcome setting.

Here's the full text of the announcement (any links, emphases, or paragraph breaks are added by me).

'                                               Initial post: Sep 25, 2012 10:01:01 PM PDT

The Amazon Kindle team says:


We wanted to let you know that in the coming weeks, free software updates will be coming to Kindle Fire HD and the latest generation Kindle Fire.

These software updates will include Kindle FreeTime, a tablet experience just for kids allowing parents to set daily screen time limits, and give access to appropriate content for each child.

We're also adding a setting to let customers control whether or not personalized recommendations appear below the carousel on the device homepage.

In addition, customers will be able to set their device default language to one of six languages, including English (US), English (UK), German, French, Italian, and Spanish.  These updates will be delivered automatically to your Kindle Fire.

Thanks,
The Kindle Team '

That's the good news for today!


UPDATE - 9/27/12 Kindle Team replied to an individual's post today about the unwelcome re-appearance of removed carousel items  (Kindle Team individual replies are very unusual on the forums and maybe a good sign).  Boldfacing is mine.

'                                         In reply to an earlier post on Sep 27, 2012 9:46:56 AM PDT

The Amazon Kindle team says:

Waco Odie,

You stated "When items are removed on the home screen, they return to the carousel when the Fire HD turned off and restarted."

This will be fixed in the upcoming software release coming in the next few weeks.

Thank you for your feedback.

The Kindle Team  '

---

Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links
NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G/WiFi - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle NoTouch Basic, UK - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle Tips: Kindle Fire HD Movie X-Ray Feature + Prime HD Instant Video

A little more Hands-On, with the Kindle Fire HD 7" tablet

Yesterday, I read a couple of comments on news sites complaining that with a High-Definition-capable tablet, there were no HD movies that were streamable in Prime Instant Video for the Kindle Fire HD 7" (KFHD 7).  But of course that's not true.

  If you go to the Prime Instant Video main page, you'll see, in "Recently Added Movies in Prime Instant Video," that the HD versions have blue HD strips at the top of the "cover."

If you, instead, see a listing like the one at Movies & TV › Amazon Instant Video › Prime Eligible, these will be identified with "[HD]" at the end of the video title.  This particular listing is sorted by 'Most Popular,' but you can change that, at the upper-right, to "Avg Customer Rating" and other categories.

  Once you've selected an HD video, it launches a special HD display mode, and it really is beautifully sharp on this HD 7" screen, with rich colors; also, the anti-glare lamination works to make it clear from any viewing angle.  The speakers are excellent for their size and better than on larger laptops, with good stereo separation.  This is especially appreciated since I could never even hear the Kindle Fire speakers and had to get little speakers for them.

  Am on Comcast with fast download speeds, and there were no halts.

X-Ray for Movies
 I looked for an HD movie with X-Ray to try, and saw "Rabbit Hole," a frothy (just kidding) film that's beautifully acted and which had a big effect on me though I'd just selected one to 'test.'

  When I first saw X-Ray for Movies demo'd, I thought I had misunderstood that Amazon could use its IMDB database to pull info on a character in a current scene and then decided they must have just pulled general casting info to show, if you tapped the display, pausing the movie, since how would it know who was in that scene.

  As one who stops cable movies to see who's acting and the year the film was made, this is a feature I think is terrific, because it turns out that if you tap the screen to stop the movie, you get pics and bios of just the people in the last scene or two (if one fades into the other quickly).

  Scene-specific info
  While watching, I saw a scene shift to two guys, and I wondered who one of the two actors was because I'd seen him in something else but couldn't remember what.  Sure enough, the pics that came up were of just those two actors, with the choice to see their bios if you clicked on the pic.

  You get back to the movie by tapping the screen again. So, apparently Amazon bought IMDB some time ago, with this in mind all along, since they've left it alone to function as it always did.

  With X-Ray for Books -- when you're on a page and tap Menu/X-Ray, you'll get a list of characters that show up on that page and then the ability to read a short character bio and look at each appearance of the character in the book, via links to each appearance.   No need to wonder "Who's THAT?" and having to flip through until you find earlier appearances.

  But work goes into the X-Ray function then. Data is put together to keep you informed, and to give context or just additional information. Every scene in a movie is given that treatment -- someone goes through and ties data to each scene.

  What is evident with features like this is that Amazon looks for a way to add value to the normal mode.  Jeff Bezos talked about other companies that just sell gadgets whereas Amazon is selling services -- and one of those services is actually providing added content for information-focused readers or viewers.

  I've found this a very creative approach.  Instead of just getting independent developers to do apps for the user, they have staff or teams that work together to share data from one area of the company with another one, to make sure that an added-value feature works well -- information they feel would probably be of interest to the consumer.   With the Amazon software, most news site or gadget reviewers concentrate on generic hardware speed tests or whether there is any waiting time, getting out of sorts when there may be a second or two more wait, but Amazon's software tends to be putting more into place than is normally seen.  This is reading or viewing that is more interactive and with more interoperativity than is seen with other e-readers.  Add syncing everything to work with a myriad of non-Amazon devices, keeping track of place, for each, and a lot is going on.

Hope this helps, as there are so many features to sort out.  Let me know if there are other features you'd like to know more about or any that you find yourself using more than expected.

---

Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links

US: Updated Kindle Fire Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G/WiFi - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle NoTouch Basic, UK - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle News: Len Edgerly's "In the Hangar" Amazon Single. 20~ Classic Kindle books WITH Audible audio narration for free. Throw in the Vowel, on sale

SOME NEW OR RENEWED AMAZON OFFERINGS

Author and Podcaster Len Edgerly
Len Edgerly, of the popular weekly Podcast The Kindle Chronicles, has published an Amazon Single (by request of his readers), with his thoughts on the event.

Titled Inside the Hangar at Amazon's Santa Monica Press Conference - September 6, 2012, it is an engagingly written, informative take on what he heard during the announcements, what he saw during the hands-on demo stations afterward, and what he heard in his interviews with the several Kindle VPs who were made available for two hours of Q&A with approximately 400 representatives of the media, at various stations against the walls -- the usually hard to find VPs simultaneously doing show & answer sessions with often time-consuming lines of individuals from the media with microphones and videocams.

  Edgerly organizes the material well, puts everything in context and gives it all a balanced perspective.  He enjoys both Amazon and Apple offerings and has recently also been enjoying the Nook Glowlight.  There are things he finds impressive about the new Kindle offerings and things he wishes were different, and he gives some guidance from a wider frame of view and hands-on background than is normally experienced in this type of report.
  In the appendix he has links to other reading with varied and unique points of view, though I haven't finished those yet.

  Highly recommended.


My own thoughts on some of this
  He also covers the aftermath, when it became more apparent that the lower cost of good hardware and many software features not seen in competing e-readers comes at the cost of seeing more 'Special Offers' than many might prefer, although some consider the lock-screen ads no problem due to some actual attractive discount offers and the fact it usually involves only a brief glimpse of an ad before starting the Kindle, especially if you have the Kindle in a case.

Jeff Bezos emphasized at the press event that while they never plan to take a loss on hardware (as some media had thought), they obviously focus on lower margins on these and hope to make their revenue on the use of the devices, meaning they're being enjoyed, but the obvious meaning is they hope the owners will spend money at Amazon via those devices.  Amazon is a store, but a creative one that focuses on adding quite a bit of informational content in the many special features, for its book-leaning consumers.

  As investors in the stock market know, Amazon's margins are kept low, in general, unlike other successful companies, so there ARE product suggestions, based on items you've bought.  I do feel that those who'd prefer a tablet free of any online store should buy something like the Google Nexus.  (I just noticed that Amazon now has a separate Tablet Store, while looking at this product page on which Digitz is selling that tablet for a bit more {maybe because they're in shorter supply these days?} and the orders are fulfilled by Amazon).
  Buyers should keep in mind, though, that for $200, the Nexus has only 8 GB of storage space, in a world of large HD files, while the Kindle Fire HD starts with 16 GB.  Also, the Nexus has one mono speaker vs the KFireHD's two Dolby-enhanced speakers, and the KFireHD has an "HDMI out" to show its HD files on an HDTV.

 Buying-suggestions on the bottom of the Home screen (not unlike what is seen on the bottom area of the B&N Nook home screen) are, at this point, not covered by the $15 ads-opt-out, but they can be replaced by a screen of one's Favorites with a click of the star icon or avoided entirely by viewing in Landscape.

  Amazon is said to be considering an opt-out on those too, though I found today that they are keyed to specific books I've bought that are displayed on the Carousel as recent reading, and they change depending on which book is shown in the middle.  As a personal note -- and many won't feel the same way -- I've come to find it useful, while I'm hoping for a general opt-out choice on that too.
  At any rate, Edgerly discusses the post-event reactions also, from his own point of view.



Throw in the Vowel

Throw in the Vowel is a popular word game for all e-Ink Kindles except the Kindle 1 (the latter has no direct access to the screen) and is briefly available on sale at 99 cents.

I was late to get to this, so the sales window is shorter on this.



"Kindle Classics on Audible.com, for Free"
Commenter John Sauter sent in a great tip, which (as with Throw in the Vowel) I wasn't able to get to sooner, but the deal is still active.  These are free Kindle books (classics) that come with professionally-narrated audio versions (also free at this point), but read on...

  Olivia Flores Alvarez, reporting for Art Attack, a Houston press blog, reminds us of a great, no-cost, way to become acquainted with and benefit from excellent examples of classic Kindle books that come with the new Whispersync for Voice technology announced at the press conference Sept. 6.

Amazon has a list of 20 free classics on Kindle that come with, for now, a free copy of the narrated version on Audible.

  The FIRST classic on that listing, however (A Tale of Two Cities) shows at the moment a $7.95 price for the audio narration and is likely a mistake, because of the promo-list it's on and since the other books I clicked on, so far, come with free audio versions as part of that promotion.
  I would wait on that one, and I've asked for clarification of that Kindle/Audio book status.

Example - using a book I enjoyed long ago
Amazon, which has owned Audible.com for years, now is able to sync material between professionally-narrated Audible versions and corresponding Kindle books purchased by its customers, so that Kindle book owners, after ending a reading session, can pick up at the last book-location read, when wanting to use the audio version and vice versa.

  Generally, if you buy the Kindle book and it has a corresponding audio narration, the cost of getting the audio book this way will be between $0 and $3.95 (but much higher for the audio version when not bought with the Kindle version).  While the Paperwhite model has no audio, the Kindle book and audio can also be read and heard on a mobile device owned.

  How you get one of the free promos:
First, 'buy' the Kindle book linked to, for $0.00 and make sure the audio version for this promo is also $0.00 (it's noted in a box lower in the header section) since you're doing this to learn how Whispersync for Audio works in response to an Amazon promo.

  Once you've 'bought' the Kindle version, then you're told you can get, in this case, the $19.59 audio version for $0.00 because you bought the Kindle edition also.  When you click to get the free audio version, but are not yet a member of Audible.com, you're given a short membership form to fill out and they allow just the Amazon password to be used and there's no added cost to join.

  I just completed my purchase of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and it's nice to see all those $goose-eggs, when exploring how useful a feature might be.

  So, as I've mentioned before, it's a form of bundling that's been much requested, except that in most cases, it's not free but a fairly hefty discount is applied.   Information may 'want' to be free, as some put it, but those who labor to fulfill a request may want/need to be paid for the work.

I'd like to receive feedback on how well this works for anyone trying it and your thoughts on the combo pricing.  Thanks.

UPDATE - We've received quick and detailed feedback from QZA, who downloaded six of the currently-free Kindle/Audible combos and reports on the quality. He also has excellent advice on the amount of device space these will take.  An excerpt:

' ... Every hour of audio will take up about 29MB of space on your device.  An average audio book classic is about 7 - 8 hours (Moby Dick is much longer) so make sure you have about 250 MB free space before you download an audio book.  Amazon does not display file sizes, only book length in hours and minutes.  All 20 audio books won't fit on your Kindle even if you were to delete all your books so it's better to download a few and keep the rest in your archive for free fast delivery as needed. '

You can read the rest of of QZA's feedback here

---

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle News: Kindle Paperwhite e-reader display-light and glass system said to be less fragile than earlier front-lit reader

Kindle Paperwhite intro	Glimpses of font darkness	Paperwhite book covers projected onto hall screen
Paperwhite, WiFi (no 3G)	Five Generations of Kindle	Showing "9 mins left in chapter" estimate

This time, a bit about the coming Kindle Paperwhite, which was to ship Oct 1, but current product page ship time is Oct 22, partially because of demand.  I've included some photos I took at the press event, as these illustrate some of the points they stressed.

  Much has been written about the Paperwhite, because few of us expected the light to be so evenly distributed, with a soft, diffused quality.  It's easy on the eyes, with no obvious source for the lighting system and no unevenness like what we've sometimes seen with the Nook Glowlight.

  However, my own concern with what the new e-Ink Kindle model would be like has been a result of two disappointments (for some) with the Nook's front-lit reader:

  1.  possibly lowered contrast relative to older e-Ink Kindles.  Even the Nook reviews that were very positive tended to mention there was a loss of contrast as a result of the additional layer that houses the eight LED lights at the top edge of the e-Ink display, resulting in "certain lines of text looking slightly darker or lighter than others."

  2.  many reports of fragility of the lighting portion of the display so that a very light scratch on the surface, although not producing an indentation, can cause what Nook fan Kyle Wagner of Gizmodo describes as a "frightful little light tunnel that popped up" after he accidentally dropped a TV remote control about six inches onto the screen, and he excoriates himself for doing that.  The title of his piece was the sane advice that "You Really Don't Want to Drop the new Simple Touch."

The concern over fragility of front-lit eReaders
    Then TheDigitalReader's Nate Hoffelder drew attention to Wagner's article, and titled his take a bit more severely.

  Most of us have inadvertently dropped our readers or tablets a short distance to carpeted areas or even onto harder surfaces.  Hoffelder decided on a casual test (but one matching real-life scenarios), dropping his keys on his Nook Glowlight from a height of four inches.  Then he posted his photo of the results, with 4 points on the surface that now have bright light coming through, not very pleasant for reading.
  With the front-lighting off, the screen doesn't show any sign of damage otherwise.  Only the lighting system is harmed.

  There are 50 comments to Hoffelder's article.  One pointed out that this is not a reader meant for young ones.  Others at first felt he was too harsh.

  But quite a few are confirmations by readers that their Glowlights have seen this damage to the light display more than once, even while protected.

  And others expressed dismay with Nate's testing methodology.  So he decided to do another test, this time dropping his keys "from a height of 5 to 6 inches on the following devices:  Asus Transformer, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Kindle DX, Innosoul Android tablet, Kindle Touch."

  His results: "None were damaged in this experiment."

  A suggestion was made to use a screen protector, but another commenter said he'd tried that but it made the touch screen much less responsive.

  That's probably because the Nook Glowlight's display screen uses an infrared touch screen, while the Kindle Paperwhite has a capacitative touch display

  Commenter fjtorres presciently muses that

' Of course, now everybody will be doing their own “Hoffelder test” *before* releasing their product so the Nook glow might just be the end of *that* experiment. '

  In fact, I asked Kindle Team Staffers at the press event about my concern over fragility of a 2nd layer that houses lights over the text display, as I'd read so many reports on mild encounters of the screen with even-soft surfaces that resulted in damage to the lighting mechanism.  I mentioned reading information from Nook owners at Barnes and Noble's tech support site.

  One Kindle Team member actually gave me an answer (blow me down! as they tend to be so non-commital about everything).

He said that the Paperwhite light-system layer (it has only 4 Led lights) is "strong" and can handle quite a bit.   I asked if they had done tests that involved dropping objects onto the screen of a Paperwhite, and he said that they had, and that it had survived all manner of drops onto the surface.  I asked him if they'd dropped anything heavy on it, and he said, yes, and mentioned a rather heavy "brass" object and that it survived that too.

  So, Nate, if you're reading, you've probably had an effect (along with Wagner).

  Now, this is just off-the-cuff information received casually at the post-announcements demo-stations, and they'll not be guaranteeing their Paperwhites against this type of drop!  But obviously they would want to distribute something stronger than we've seen with the Glowlight so far and actually did do this type of drop-test.

  I'm interested in why the Paperwhite lighting layer would be stronger -- maybe its physical properties?  Or something about the lighting system that is more resistant to breakage?  At any rate, he was quite proud of the degree of resistance to damage from drops onto it.  Again, they won't be likely to do any kind of warranty on this, but it was reassuring to hear they were concerned with the strength of the lighting mechanism.

Other aspects
I'll be writing more about the Paperwhite, but this blog article is already too lengthy,as usual.

A few things to remember
  Like the Kindle Touch, the X-ray feature (in X-ray enabled books) gives you -- for characters mentioned on a page -- a bio plus excerpts from, and hyperlinks to, those characters' appearances in the book.

  The battery life is said to be about 8 weeks, "even with the light on."
    It's worth noting that Amazon used to base battery life on one hour of reading per day, but Barnes & Noble used a half-hour basis in their marketing and reviewers started saying the Nook had double the reading time.  I don't know any book type who reads only 1/2 hour per day though.

  The new "Time to Read" feature 'uses your reading speed" to let you know when you're likely to finish your current chapter.

  With 62% more pixels than on the last e-Ink model, it has the highest resolution of any 6-7" e-reader currently and the fonts are hand-tuned to present even complex fonts clearly at smaller sizes.   Having tried these a few times at the demo stations, I can confirm the unit is really clear and the touch screen very responsive.  The black flash page-turn of e-Ink has a default setting of one per 6 pages and I didn't notice any ghosting of the last few pages of a series.

&nbps; For families with students or for the curious of any age, the Paperwhite 3G model not only allows downloading of Kindle books anywhere but also has AT&T cellphone access (so that you don't need to rely on finding usable WiFi spots), and you can also access Wikipedia for free, 24/7 using that 3G cellular network access.  This is one of my favorite features, and it isn't found on any e-reader from other makers.

---

Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.
NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G/WiFi - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle Tip, via three Amazon Kindle Forum Pros, on How to do a Screen Capture on Kindle Fire HD

Author-Blogger Bufo Calvin alerted a few of us today to a Kindle forum post he saw describing how to do a screen capture with the Kindle Fire HD.  From what I see, it's the same key combo that the NookColor uses, though this one works very reliably.

The Kindle Forum Posting by Pineapple passed along a discovery by co-Kindle Forum Pro Tink-erbell:

' Here's a great new Fire feature courtesy of our own Tink-erbell.

"It is possible to perform a screen shot/screen capture with the Fire HD by depressing both the volume down and power buttons simultaneously.

They are stored in your photos."

I've tried it an it works really well.  Pretty cool.  When you do this it creates a folder of sorts in photos called Screenshots with a picture of your first screenshot on it.  To access subsequent shots, tap on that and they all appear. '

Bufo, who is also a professional group trainer in 'real life' and a Kindle Forum Pro, sent the following, citing Tink-erbell also:

' Hold down the lower volume button (the side nearest the power button) and the power button simultaneously for about a second and you'll get a screen shot on the KFHD.

  You'll hear a shutter click sound, and then you'll find it in Photos.  You can also share it from there. '

Extremely useful.  Hearing the shutter click sound makes it even better.  With the e-Ink Kindles, you can't be sure if a screen capture worked until you examine the file folders by hooking it up with a computer.

It doesn't work, alas, for the original Kindle Fire, as it has no volume buttons, and I've not found a way to do it that didn't involve going through complex scripts to make it possible.)

---

Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links

US: Updated Kindle Fire Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G/WiFi - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

More tips on using the Kindle Fire HD 7" tablet: Global Favorites, Now exclude webpages from Carousel. FixIt teardown of KFHD7, Cloud player streams in UK, Germany, France today, kFireHd rooted

That's the Carousel at the left, with the "Most Recent" item accessed showing first -  whether it's a book, a webpage, an app, music, a game, or some other category.

Before I begin, please note that a LIGHTER tap or press is still usually more effective with the Kindle Fire HD, just as as it was with the earlier model.

  When I forget this (because the Kindle Fire HD is more flexible and is generally more responsive to a harder touch than the first KFire was), sometimes I'll get no response from touching a Carousel icon.
  Then I realize I'm pressing too hard for the touch settings of this tablet (which someone has said blocks something) and I'll change to a very light tap or press (barely even touching the glass sometimes) and that works immediately.

With the first Kindle Fire, an Amazon Kindle forum thread focused on trying that lighter touch and it worked better for almost everyone.   The lighter tap is not as needed now, but it'll help.
  Also, the keyboard on the new KFire HD is the most typo-free one I've experienced in small-form devices -- the calibration seems very precise and responsive.

Amazon's purchasing suggestions and the Favorites feature that overrides that
  I've been using the new 7" Kindle Fire HD in Landscape mode for almost everything  -- for video and more readable webpages especially.  I had not seen, in more than a day of using it, the "Other customers bought" suggestions which show up, in portrait or vertical mode, at the bottom of the Home page where the book shelves used to be, a decision which hasn't met with the happiest noises in the forums.
 In Landscape mode, though, they don't appear.

  In portrait modes, they appear in what is also the important display area for what Amazon calls "Favorites."

  Some had worried that 'Favorites' were gone, in favor of marketing.  But they're not.

  Once you've made your Favorites by adding each from the Carousel into that area (and you can move each of these around within the Favorites area as was possible with the older Kindle Fire "shelves"), you can then click the large star icon that is accessible on almost any page, unless the bottom or sidebar menu is not showing.

 Tapping on the star icon brings up the items you designated as Favorites, which do display in a way similar to the old shelf-look but with no 'wood.'

Show the hidden basic Menu, which shows the star icon
  If no basic Menu line of options is showing on a page, you can lightly tap the "||" (or horizontal version of those double-lines) seen at the right edge or bottom of the tablet.   That brings up the basic Menu, which is often hidden in order to show full-screen material. (I really like the programmers' choice there, with less loss of screen 'real estate' for the focus of actual interest, but newcomers will tend to wonder what to do next.)

The usual large star used to bring up global tablet-favorites will be at upper or bottom right.  Someone in the forums mentioned that he "favorited" Wikipedia, and while reading a book (or using another tablet activity), he can tap the center area of the book page, say, to bring up the many options, and then tap the Star to see the  Favorites-display  without interrupting his activity otherwise, and from that he calls up Wikipedia.

(When reading a book, that's not the optimal way though.  If interested in a word or phrase on a book page, you can long-press it and get options to search the book, Wikipedia, or the Web for more info on it.)

  These are Favorites you specify or save for *global* use, in that you can save a webpage not just as a browser bookmark but as an overall 'Favorite' for the tablet, period, and do the same for any app or book, etc.

  You can access that Favorite item from just about anyplace, even while in the video or app areas -- whether it's to check a book or webpage for something or to check a personal doc or the weather.  It's browser-independent, and serves as a sort-of task switcher.

For those who haven't used a Kindle Fire before:
  You might find yourself at a screen that you're finished but with no idea of how to close it or go to something you actually want to see next.
  If the menu isn't showing, tap the small double-line ( || ) to bring the menu up.  Then tap the Home icon.
  Since Home is the starting place or where you can get your bearings :-),
the Home icon will be the first item on the horizontal lower status line or at the bottom of the vertical sidebar.

  While reading a book, pressing Home in the book's reader menu will close the book and record or save the last-page you read and any notes and highlights that aren't saved yet for sync'g with a myriad other devices and with the backup-servers.  I think this is one reason for a small delay when ending a session.

  (If you approve Amazon's ongoing backup of your annotations, they're placed on your personal Amazon annotations web page with each book and are copyable and printable.)

MAKING a Favorite
When on a page or app that you want to globally add to Favorites for the tablet and not just for a webpage, you can exit the page by tapping the Menu and pressing Home.

At that point, the Carousel at the top will have the "Most Recent" activity at the far left -- the first one in the Carousel.  That helps identify where you were, for one thing, if you want to make a global Favorite.

  To move it into Favorites, you lightly long-press it and choose to "Add to Favorites."

  Other options shown on the long press are to "Remove from Carousel" or "Remove from Device"  (With any removal of an item from the tablet, a copy would remain in your Amazon server backup area if you got it from them, in case you want to read or use it again someday. Removing items not being used frees up storage space.

Option to NOT display webpages as "most recent page" in Carousel
Because so many have objected to their last activity being displayed to anyone who might be in the vicinity of your tablet when you're using it, there is now an option to not display webpages as the 'most recent' page but that's an Amazon Silk browser setting, found under the Web browser menu, and titled "Silk Settings, where you see the setting under "Saved Data."

  The setting is "Display most recent page in Carousel" and can be checked or not.  That's in answer to people who didn't like that others around them could easily see which webpages they'd been on last and asked Amazon for a way to exclude it from the Carousel listing.

  There've been times I didn't want the last webpage prominently included (mainly because it can be ugly looking, often much bigger than other Carousel items).  On the other hand, I like being able to add certain really useful webpages as global Favorites that I can call from anywhere, and the Carousel is where it's done, so I keep it as shown.

Trending feature
Another batch of info pages shown under the Carousel when the area is not filled with Favorites, is "Trending" -- what I've seen there are news pages that are not the usual headliners and are sometimes actually interesting (to me). So far, I've not seen a promotion there.

  But again, I'm almost always in Landscape (unless reading a book) and don't see, then, the marketing for "Other customers bought..."  Amazon was upfront at the press conference about making the money not so much from the sale of a tablet  but when the owner uses it and of course that wouldn't be from just passive video watching, reading, or playing games. Amazon would want to draw attention to what you can buy.  So, it's a tradeoff and those who want to avoid marketing at all costs can get a Google Nexus, although for the same price, the Nexus has only 8 GB of storage space, one mono speaker, and no HDMI out to HDTV.


FixIt's Teardown to examine the unit for repairability and component quality
Fix-it just released a "Teardown" of both the Kindle Fire HD and the upgraded version of the first Kindle Fire, showing what's inside and commenting on what they find, explaining some of the workings, and they're impressed with the innards of the KFHD 7 and its relatively high repairability (a '7' to iPad3's '2', others have pointed out).

PC Magazine summarizes the findings in straight-text format.


Amazon's Cloud Player goes live in UK today

This finally allows Kindle Fire owners in the UK, France, and Germany to store and play music over the web or via dedicated apps.  Details by CNET-UK's Harry Theobald for the UK.


The Kindle Fire HD has been rooted already
This won't be of much interest to the vast majority of readers but it's news, so here it is, with the caveat that anyone trying it and unsuccessful at it could easily brick their Kindle Fires.
  Except for the pure challenge, I don't know why people wouldn't just pay $50 more to get the 16 GB Google Nexus if they just want a pure Android tablet with GPS and an overall faster processor (but with limited audio playback w/o add-ons and no HDMI-out) to an HDTV.

---

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

Tweets of note 9/16/12 - Links to news you might want to read

From Ed Renehan:
"American Library Association (ALA) decries Hachette's 220% library ebook price increase" - by Book World, Sept. 14

"The American Library Association (ALA) denounces Hachette Book Group’s reported decision to raise the price of ebooks to the library market starting October 1...
“After these tentative steps forward, we were stunned to learn that Hachette plans to more than triple its prices for ebook sales to libraries starting October 1. Now we must ask, ‘With friends like these…?’"


From TweetSmarter:
"Twitter Has Lost the Fight to Keep Your Private Tweets Private" - by Gizmodo's Kyle Wagner, Sept. 14

"Welp, looks like your tweets really aren't protected by law. After months of haggling with the courts, Twitter has finally turned over the protected tweets of Occupy Wall Street protestor Malcolm Harris after his arrest in October...
for future cases like this, investigators can just knock on Twitter's door and ask for protected tweets, with the precedent already set that the information will probably be turned over."

---

Just saw those and thought I should include them in a quick blogging for any who might be interested.

Read More

First Kindle Fire HD owner reports and many tips + software update 7.1.5. Also, magazine layout. UPDATE3

First user reports from Kindle forum are extremely positive and I'll quote and link you to some.  There is 24/7 help there user-to-user.   Where there have been odd stalls or WiFi connectivity issues at first, the recommended "reboot" done once has fixed the problems (in my case too, when I had error messages when accessing Amazon Prime video).   I'm putting this at the top in hopes it'll help any who see problems at first, but a high percentage of people did not experience them.

A 'reboot' is done when you hold the power button in for about 20-25 seconds and then let it go (ignoring any "Power Off?" messages).  It'll reboot after that and almost always clear up any problems. A difference could be in the Kindle Fire HD 7" software update, v7.1.5, that may not be on all devices after production until it is powered on and Wireless is on.  The instructions are to swipe down from the top to get your settings options, choose "More" and then "Device" to see if your software version is earlier than that.   Directions are on the v7.1.5 update page if you need them.  But if your Wireless is On and you're connected to your WiFi network, you'll tend to just get the update "over the air" and the new KFire will then reboot (maybe twice).   The unit comes with about a 60% charge on it, enough to start the setups without waiting the 3-4 hrs needed to charge the unit.  But general advice is to charge it for a few hours anyway until you see "100%" (this battery remaining info is also found under the 'Device' setting mentioned above).

Some tablets were shipped Sept 13, so the first arrivals tended to be on the 14th, for those ordering 1-day shipping.


IMPORTANT TIPs for ad-adverse users -- the first one was mentioned yesterday.
  . If you do your web browsing in landscape mode, Recommended buys seldom rear their heads.
  . You don't see the ones at the bottom of the Home Screen then. Even my Home screen is in Landscape mode so I had a very nice first day.
  . At BOTTOM RIGHT is a big star. That's "favorites" -- press it and some useful stuff comes up obliteraging any Recommendations in that area.
    It also serves as a kind of task-switching.


What are those images at the top of this blog article?
  The images at the top are of the KFire HD's magazine layout, with page turns nicely shown followed by the seamless joining of any two page-photos from the printed magazine.

  Now you can double tap the article to see the text in a special view-text format when you just want to read it more easily, without needing to pinch-zoom to enlarge, and it's beautiful.
  Earlier, I had kept my NookColor and magazine subscriptions because I felt it handled magazines better than the Kindle Fire 1 did.

  But the new magazine layout is extremely readable and the navigation very smooth.
  I screen-shot these images from a video by two reporters, Mobile Nation's Kevin Michaluk and Ashley Esqueda, at the after-press-conference demo stations showing very clearly the functioning of the new feature, but I've lost the link and I just found the URL to the duo's entertaining video, which covers several features of the Kindle Fire HD.

  Here's another good demo of this feature.

Finally, some Kindle Fire HD owners report in
(Next blog article will have some unusual reactions from news-site reviews, of functioning not oft mentioned.)

From Amazon's Kindle Forum,

' ...
I have to chime in! I received mine earlier today and have been playing with it for a few hours. I love it!  I had the original Fire and this new one is so much better. The screen and sound are fantastic. I t's much easier for me to type on.  I love the Amazon Kindle case as well. I give it a big thumbs up!

+++
The device is indeed very sleek and feels good in the hand.  The screen can't be complimented enough.  I, like other posters, love how crisp it is.

The speed is fantastic...it responds to everything I throw at it without hesitation...it's very fluid.

I have sideloaded a bunch of stuff which I hope to be able to clean up in the future when devs update their apps for Amazon, but I can tell you the GSam Battery is not working properly...

And speaking of battery...I was impatient and only charged mine up to 94% before I had to unplug and sit down and start playing.  I started around 6 and two hours later I was at 72%, but I literally had not stopped doing stuff.  I have been downloading, emailing, internet, adding pictures, etc. So wifi has also been on.  I would say this kind of activity is close to "streaming" with all the downloading I've been doing.  And I would say that I can live with a 10% loss per hour of streaming.  I expect this is indeed going to have a decent battery life.  I am perfectly happy having to plug in every night when I got to bed so long as it can get me through a day no matter what I throw at it.

I really think Amazon has a winner here and with some updates to apps from the devs and perhaps some fine tuning by Amazon (though right now other than the keyboard I have no major complaints)...this will be a joy to use.

+++
Well, lo and behold -- the KF HD is streaming perfectly now. Not sure why, not asking at this point -- maybe it just needed to "warm up".  LOL.  verything else that I've tested is absolutely wonderful. T he sound is great; the picture of course, is amazing.  Other than the little streaming issue -- which appears to be just fine now -- a big thumbs up!!!

+++
[Long posting of impressions by jsh1120 so am providing a posting name.]
...I have to say that it's a huge step beyond the original device.  Not to say that the original is obsolete but the new version is in another league.

Yes, the screen is magnificent (and I had no real complaints about the original.)  Sitting side by side in my study I'd say that the light reflection is reduced by at least 50%.  YMMV, of course, but I had no difficulty reading outside in the kind of wimpy sunshine we have in Seattle today...

Sound? Yeah, excellent

Wifi. ...completely satisfactory throughout a three story house with the router on the middle floor.

Memory management.  Too soon to tell if the frequent problems users report with "freezing," failing to charge, etc. have been addressed.  I have noted, however, that the Nexus 7 users report identical problems and the "fix" is identical.  Reboot it.
  I've long used Android Assistant to keep my RAM cleaned out and I immediately put it on the KFHD.  It has cleared the memory several times on its own

Sideloading.  Works well.  Same procedure as the original KF.  Downloaded the Chrome browser and it seems to perform flawlessly with very limited testing...

I was willing to put up with some of the weaknesses of the KF a year ago for the price of the device.  Almost all of those weaknesses have been addressed and remedied in a device that sells for the same price as the original.

When I commented on the original KF I almost always made the point that it was a value proposition and that if I had to choose between the KF and iPad, I'd have to go with the latter.  The KFHD almost (but not quite) eliminates having to justify it in terms of price.  It's simply a very good device. Period.

+++
  [Good advice from Old Rocker for when there are problems]
Old Rocker says:
Turn off all of your wifi devices, reboot your router, then turn on the new Fire first.  See what happens.

+++
It doesn't cut out and has a great picture! I love it over my old Kindle Fire!!

+++
Just got it and the wifi is great.  On iphones, ipod touches, android phones, and ps vita the wifi in my room is never full bars and for the ps vita and android phones sometimes it is a struggle to maintain a connection.  With the kindle fire hd the wifi strength has been excellent and the downloads have been quick.

+++
'you can buy the Square Trade warranty any time before, or I believe within 30 days after, shipment.  You may need the serial number to register it with Square Trade - if so, just wait until the Kindle is about to ship and the serial number appears in your device list.'  [By [Bruce Boyle]

+++
I understand Purchase Recommendations don't go away but don't show up under landscape.

I don't have mine yet but I've read this in another post.

+++
sideloading works fine.  In settings, under Device, choose "Allow Installation of Applications from Unknown Sources"  Then I use 1mobile.com to find apps not available from Amazon. I just installed the Nook app. Works great.   [by M Phelps]

+++
Hi Jeffery download an app called evernote  it is free and it has a camera app in it.  Only front screen picture taking but i took a great pic of my puppies I'll stick to my nikon and download to my kindle for really good pics Enjoy   [by C. Cole]
'

Update
Two pieces I meant to include in there from the forums but are worth adding in now

' From MobileRead Forum
  [Dave89rr posted:
...just wanted to say you CAN take pics with the KFHD 7".
I opened up Evernote and I was able to take a picture, as well as with QuickOffice Pro while editing a word document.
  The picture was portrait 768 by 1024 pixels.  72 dpi.  Bit Depth 24.  And for those curious, that's exactly a .75 Megapix cam.  Nothing compared with our phone and actual cameras, but kinda decent for a webcam.

+++
[From Mobileread forum]

...the current show will buffer pretty much in total.  As long as you don't shut down or whatever it won't lose that buffering.

+++
 [and a couple of points from one Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7" review, by the popular Michael Gallagher]
  When I went to the slowest / worst reception location of my house, the speed did have a noticeable difference in the other devices as this one was faster which I would attribute to the dual antennas, except it did lose connection on CNN but all of the devices lost connection to CNN.   On the signal strength bar, I always got one additional bar - meaning more strength - than all of the other devices.

BLUETOOTH!
Finally, there is a Bluetooth connection, which is the #1 thing I wanted on the $159 Fire and last year's Fire! I tested this by taking it out to my car, and having the Fire stream music through my car stereo. There were no delays or skips with the connection, and it paired up in about 30 seconds. Just make sure you give it a device name so you can recognize it and be recognized. '

UPDATE
Besides Evernote, QuickOffice making it possible to take (not high-res) photos with the front-facing camera, it turns out that imo (instant messenger) and Facebook apps can also do this. (9/17/12)


That's it for now. Some interesting and unusual news reviews will come later.

If you have anything pro or con to share on a newly delivered Kindle Fire HD, please feel free to add that in the comments area.

---

  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard(U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle News: Judge Cote approves anti-trust settlement, and some Kindle book prices drop.

Judge Cote approved the settlement between DOJ and three publishers, and some Kindle book prices have already dropped.

This all happened while the Amazon new Kindles were being announced, and I concentrated on the many new-Kindle details.  A bit earlier, the Dept of Justice had prepared more papers asking Judge Cote to approve the antitrust settlement, and the information to justify that was similar to what went before..

  Many had thought that it would be some time before the judge made a decision, as there was so much opposition to the settlement by the usual groups, but she approved the settlement quickly, within days.

Agency Agreements and final judgment
  The Agency Agreements were made when the Big5 settling publishers were communicating among themselves in early 2010 (leaving quite a paper and e-document trail in what's been deemed a quite open colluding to fix selling-prices).   In the past, traditional agreements consisted of the publisher setting recommended list-prices, and Amazon had used these amounts as a basis for payments they made to publishers, guaranteeing them payment even on e-books sold as loss-leaders).

  Peers writes that the final judgment entered in court on Sept. 7 gave the publishers "10 days to take steps to let e-book retailers out of agreements that prevented discounting" (from that day, I guess).

  PaidContent's Jeff John Roberts writes, "the publishers must abandon so-called "agency pricing" contracts within seven days of the settlement’s approval."

E-book price reductions discussed in Kindle Forums
A few days ago, members of the Kindle Forum Community traded info on e-book prices they saw already coming down, on books published by the companies who settled with the DOJ, and the consensus was that the price drops were averaging about 27% at the time but that not many of the prices had been modified to show $9.99.

WSJ mentions a bestseller sold at $9.99
  The Wall Street Journal's Martin Peers points to a new release sold for $9.99 at Amazon and at Apple's iBook store.  However, there have always been a few that were sold at that lower price, the difference being that two years before, most NYT e-bestsellers were sold at $9.99, and I'm not sure this was a price-drop rather than an agreed price.

  "Under terms of the settlement," Roberts reports, "Amazon can sell titles below cost so long as all their e-book sales together do not add up to a loss."

The two publishers who haven't settled
  The two publishing houses that chose not to settle were Penguin Group (USA) and Macmillan, as they are among those who find the too-comfortable ("not enough friction") public library borrowing of e-books unattractive, even at only one borrower at a time per paid e-book)

The three who have settled
  Harper Collins confirmed it has reached a new agreement with Amazon and other retailers.

  Peers adds that it's not clear when Simon & Schuster Inc and Hachette Book Group will reach new deals.

Apple matches Amazon's new lower price on a an e-book WSJ was watching
  The Wall St. Journal's closing paragraph is especially interesting.

' Apple, however, appears to be intent on remaining competitive with Amazon. While “Telegraph Avenue” was initially listed at $17.99 on iBooks on Tuesday, that quickly dropped to $9.99. '

Full articles and some words from Judge Cote, who doesn't mince them
You can read the full article at the WSJ blog.

There are some nuggets from a very straightforward but colorful Judge reported by what seems a somewhat dubious Roberts, who writes, "Her latest ruling suggests she is more convinced than ever:"

' Although the Government did not submit any economic studies to support its allegations, such studies are unnecessary… In this straightforward price-fixing case, no further showing is required. '

  Although upcoming hearings on the settlement were expected, giving Apple and others another opportunity to voice their objections, 'Judge Cote wrote that a hearing was unnecessary given the voluminous facts submitted by the government: "A hearing would serve only to delay the proceedings unnecessarily."'

  Although, Roberts writes, "the vast majority of public comments in response to the settlement were negative", Judge Cote adds, he says,

' that some of those comments were "extreme" and sought to blame "every evil to befall publishing on Amazon’s $9.99 price for newly released and bestselling e-books, and crediting every positive event — including entry of new competitors in the market for e-readers — on the advent of agency pricing."

And (I have to love this just for the poem) he reports that she also "adds a paean to books and reading, and posts a Dickinson poem in the middle of the judgment:

' There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away,
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears a Human soul '

Next steps:
1.   U.S. Court of Appeals

2.   Apple and the two other publishers who haven't settled with the DOJ have chosen to go forward with the trial, next summer, provided they don't decide to settle.

While the three settling publishers agreed to pay "millions of dollars" in a deal with state governments, Roberts shows that individual consumers won't see that much from it.  From what I read in earlier articles on the settlement, they will be able to enter into agency agreements (which were not the problem), on an individual basis this time, a couple of years down the road

Here's the Opinion.  The document was filed Sept 6, 2012 (a red letter day for Amazon)


Here's more info on it all from the other side of the story (Publishers Weekly)


Ongoing Discounted-book alerts message thread is now more active as a result
  I'll link you to a Sept 11 page starting with the first meaningful discount, as many are only a dollar or so before that.  You can go backwards and forwards in the thread of course.


Earlier e-book pricing-war articles in the area here
History of the e-book pricing wars with sourcing
TIMELINE - articles written at the time, w/ sources and factors included in the lawsuit

---

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

Kindle Keyboard (Kindle 3) Software Update v3.4 here! Crisper fonts w/ more contrast; KF8 layout support; Comic + picture books; Whispersync for Voice

SOFTWARE VERSION v3.4 IS HERE for delivery to all Kindle Keyboard / Kindle 3 models.

  This is for the physical-keyboard model (Kindle 3 U.S.  [UK: K3]) first released August 2010 and NOT for the later Kindle touch devices nor for the Kindle Basic NO-Touch/No-Keyboard (which gets its own updates)

  This update for older Kindle Keyboard models includes the following changes, which I'll just plop here from the Amazon page (Italics for emphasis, mine).

  Amazon's info page for the v3.4 software update. (Link: bit.ly/kv3-4 )
  (Update page in UK (Link: bit.ly/kv3-4-uk )

Software Update Version 3.4

Version 3.4 is a brand new, free software update for Kindle Keyboard that includes:

• Improved Font:  We've improved the reading font to have more contrast and be more crisp.
• Parental Controls:  With the latest software update for Kindle Keyboard, parents can restrict access to the Experimental Web Browser, the Kindle Store, and Archived Items.  While the Kindle Store and Archived Items are locked with Parental Controls, you can continue to buy books from a computer and send them to the Kindle wirelessly for a child to read.
  
• Kindle Format 8:  KF8 makes books look even better with support for author specified fonts and more book styling options.
• Comic Books: Kindle Keyboard now supports comic books with Kindle Panel View.  Supported titles can be purchased from the Kindle Store.  Books open in Kindle Panel View by default  (a view that allows you to read a comic book panel by panel).
  
• Children's Picture Books: Kindle Keyboard supports children's picture books with Kindle Text Pop-Up. Supported titles can be purchased from the Kindle Store.
  
• Whispersync for Voice: Now you can switch back and forth between reading and listening without losing your place.  Whispersync for Voice will synchronize what you read on any Kindle platform device with Audible playback on Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Fire, or on Audible apps for iPhone and Android. 

The Kindle Forum version states that "The software update will be delivered automatically via wireless to your Kindle in the coming weeks" if you haven't already downloaded it this way.

More from the Kindle Keyboard software update page - Downloading Version 3.4
You can download the latest version at the update page.  ( Update page in UK

The page shows you how to tell what version you have and then what to do based on that version, if you want to download the update and install it rather than wait for it to be delivered 'over the air.'

Please feel free to ask or give your own personal experiences or info learned that will help (as usual - and thanks for the valuable input).

BIG thanks to Tom Semple for the heads-up

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

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