Amazon and its continually-changing Kindle Product displays - UPDATED often

Two minutes ago, while I was taking screen captures to show what Amazon was displaying for both Kindle Touch devices, I confirmed they were both showing NO selling-box, only 3rd party ones.

Here's the WiFi only KTouch, at 9:41 AM PDT


At their Amazon pages will be whatever they're showing at the moment (as they keep changing these, which is of course not how it's usually done)

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WHILE I was taking the 3G Touch's screen capture after doing the Kindle Touch's WiFi Only one, Amazon changed the display again (after showing no selling-box last night and early morning except for 3rd party sellers).

  Here's their new display of the Kindle Touch 3G after an overnight display of no Amazon selling box.


  So, NOW it shows the Kindle Touch 3G back again, this time "In stock on August 24, 2012" - which is two days from now.  They also more aggressively draw notice to a box stating "Certified Refurbished" ones with a savings of $20.

More later ...

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Back again ...
  Well, yes. What kind of chaos is going on at the Kindle Touch pages?  NOW it's back to no sales box, at 10:04am.



  Who knows what it'll show when you see the product page next?

One thing we know for sure -- Amazon is very busy trying to fix those pages to show the right status, whatever it might be at any time.


  Addendum - later checks, text-only results
    .  11:33 AM - The KTouch 3G page now says: "Expected to ship in 1 to 2 weeks."
    .  11:33 AM - The KTouch WiFi-only page still shows no sales box.

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Kindle Tip: Small text on web page when using Kindle Fire or Kindle e-Ink readers - How to read it

Browsing web pages on a Kindle Fire or Kindle Touch or Kindle Keyboard e-reader

Recently, a family member recently told me he was frustrated by trying to read webpages with tiny fonts, and I saw a Kindle news blog saying not much had been done to improve the Kindle Fire.

I replied that the new Kindle Fire feature, Reading View for web-article reading that isolates the article, is done VERY well, and it’s brought me back to Amazon's Silk browser from Dolphin HD (Android) web browers which I had far preferred until Amazon’s Reading View feature was added to its Silk browser.

  The new feature makes a huge difference for most who use the web browser on a 7" tablet if they know about it (and that’s the key, or at least one of them).  For those who don’t know about the "Reading View" feature, look for the reading glasses icon in the bottom status bar when at a web page article.

  Lightly press the eyeglasses icon and you'll get a specially formatted page for the web article you're on, far more readable with no ads or surrounding link and info boxes.

  I really enjoy this new feature despite the fact that in normal web-browsing on the Kindle Fire, a double tap on an article will usually raise the font size considerably and wrap the web article text within the width of the Kindle Fire, depending on your web settings and it's usually at a good size.

  But the instant Reading View is much easier and very effective.  No other eReader-based Android tablet web-browser or non-Kindle e-Ink eReader [I edited to correct the subject device type here] has this for browsing the web in full desktop mode (not limited mobile mode).  It’s like Instapaper or Readability, getting rid of ads and side boxes while displaying just the article in normal-sized text and supporting any article links.  But you also have access to the normal full webpage.

  And ANOTHER way to do this (on the Kindle Fire):
  Resize the column you want to read and then pinch zoom the display to enlarge the words until you have only what you want in the window (no side boxes or ads).
  Then double-tap, and that will keep the font size you are seeing while wrapping the rest of the article to the width of the window.
  My web browser settings are something like "auto-overview" and zoom in='Close'...

Remember that if you rotate the Kindle Fire 90 degrees, web browsing will be like reading on a 10" screen but only a half page at a time and the text on the page is easiest to read this way, with more room for it.  I do most of my web-browsing in landscape mode.

  The Kindle Touch ALSO has the pinch-zoom feature to enlarge the displayed text to the font size you want but it's hard to control the width of that as it doesn't wrap at the width so I don't consider it worthwhile except to raise the font size in an area you want to read, knowing it won't wrap.

  The Kindle Touch and Kindle Keyboard e-Ink readers offer ARTICLE Mode, which converts the layout of the web article you're reading to a simple isolated article-view with very readable text.  When finished with the article, press Menu--Web Mode to return to normal web browsing.

  The Kindle Touch otherwise allows, in normal web-browsing, only two auto-sizes -- the normal tiny, unreadable font when you're on a full webpage and a MEDIUM sized font if you double-tap the screen in the article box.  This isn't large enough for most though.  If you double tap it again, it reverts to smallest font and the double-tap acts as a toggle between the two sizes.

 (An oddness: If you double-click on an info box on the right, the Kindle Touch will sometimes raise the article font to a large size and then show you the article that way, but it's not worth doing because the KTouch gets confused and can crash the browser.)

Hope that helps.  I find that although I've written about this a couple of times, most people don't seem to know about the enhanced web-text reading features.

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US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 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 news: Amazon's contract with US State Dept for $16.5 million for Kindles, and why.

"Why is the U.S. State Department paying Amazon $16.5 million for Kindles?"

paidContent's Laura Hazard Owen reports that the U.S. State Dept signed a no-bid $16.5 million contract (anticipated value over the life of the contract -- one base year + 4 option years) with Amazon for Amazon Touches, starting with 2,500 of them, which will be preloaded with 50 titles each for the Department's overseas language-education programs.

Reasoning for the no-bid contract:

' In a document justifying the no-bid contract, the State Department says it’s identified “the Amazon Kindle as the only e-Reader on the market that meets the Government’s needs, and Amazon as the only company possessing the essential capabilities required by the Government.”  It has international 3G, text-to-speech features and a long battery life, which “other e-readers such as the Barnes and Noble Nook, the Sony Reader Daily and Kobe [sic] e-Reader cannot provide.” '

Well, the Nook can provide a long battery life, but it doesn't sell books internationally nor does it supply international 3G.  But then it doesn't supply domestic 3G either, anymore.  3G delivery of books was what initially made the Kindle E-Ink device so popular -- think about a book and then have it within 60 seconds.  B&N gave up on the 3G idea after trying it for awhile.

The overseas use made the international 3G "a firm requirement."  The Apple iPad wasn't chosen due to the additional features being unnecessary for educational use and bringing "unacceptable security and usability risks for the government's needs in this particular project."

  I can see why the iPad wouldn't be used for this when length of session battery life is so important.  They also mentioned that the iPad also falls short on "the centrally managed platform for registration and content delivery..."

See Owen's article for her puzzlement over why it would come to $16.5 million even over 5 years and her own thoughts as to other costs that would need to be paid beyond the cost of the Kindle Touch 3G and Kindle books for each one.  She cites operating and support costs (and Kindle owners know the relative merits of customer service among the e-reader companies).

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

US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 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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Nook GlowLight reviews and the Contrast question. Microsoft invests in new Nook books subsidiary.

When I've been quiet for awhile, some will brace themselves for another wordy piece on the way.

Oldtimers to this blog may remember that I did a few blog articles about the lack of sufficient contrast in the Kindle 2 screen display for many, and although my own Kindle 2 was okay, the Kindle 1 and the Kindle 3 were quite superior to it in darkness of font and contrast perceived.  At one point, I talked about Kindle 2 screen contrast in connection with a Wired.com article, so I'm sensitive to a relative lack of contrast and had a problem with the original Nook Touch for that reason although I had bought the NookColor on sight and enjoyed that mode.

All reviews on the new GlowLight are very positive.  More than a few mention, though, that some will see less contrast in the screen display relative to the older Nook Touch and the current Kindle.  But you never need to add a light attachment and many have been looking for that feature with E-Ink.

(I use the Beam N Read 3-Led light, as that works well with everything and not just e-readers.)

FROM REVIEWS
A fairly detailed review posted by Gotta Be Mobile's K. T. Bradford include many photos plus a video also
The positives presented include:
  Lights up screen evenly, doesn't drain battery too much, responsive touchscreen,
  speedy performance
The negatives include:
  eInk display contrast not as good as original Nook, doesn’t support documents other than PDF.

  [Note that the Kindle supports WORD docs, HTML, txt, Mobi, and Prc, as well.]
  Bradford writes:

' If you place them side by side, you can tell that the GlowLight version is a shade or two lighter.  Same with the Kindle Touch.  Even without the comparison, I noticed that the new Nook’s text isn’t as dark as I’m used to.  The lighter contrast isn’t as noticeable with the GlowLight on.

 It looks like Barnes and Noble made a choice to sacrifice the level of contrast in order for the best performance with GlowLight.  They also claim that the anti-glare screen protector is a best-selling accessory, so many Nook users already experience this.  The resulting quality isn’t a dealbreaker, but will be a consideration for buyers.
. . .
  Conclusion:
 It comes down to which is more important: the darkest text or the lighted screen?  If the latter is a bigger deal, then the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight is for you. '

Some reviewers consider the Nook GlowLight the best e-reader, for the one feature, the built-in front lighting, as well as its being easy to hold.

  I've noticed that those who do this omit from the article the many other features that have become important to Kindle Touch owners such as audio, music, a very decent web browser, annotations kept for for each book on the owner's personal Amazon web page, very effective sync'g of reading between devices, and the ability to send Word Doc, Text, Mobi, Prc books or documents AND web pages direct to the Kindle for reading offline, while none of the above is doable with the Nook.  With the Nook, attempted sync'g between devices is notably weaker, per reviews.

  So, the oddly one-feature reviews concentrate only on the Nook light, although a few also mention the Nook never having ads (even though the Nook home page has 'recommended for you' books (which I personally consider ads and I often don't want to see those on my personal e-reader home screen).

  I haven't included a couple of those when they ignore (for the person reading) other important features in favor of just one feature while not informing readers of differences.

  I also saw that a CNN reviewer compared the current Nook to his Kindle 2 (from 2009!, from fully 3 years ago, and wished the old Kindle 2 were a Touch device ! and then said the Nook is definitely better than that.  That stood out.

TIME Techland's Harry McCracken at least mentions that Kindle has other features even if he minimizes them and he finds the Nook GlowLight the most useful for him.

  In their comments area, Adam Ritchie commenting via his Twitter ID, writes:

'just purchased a nook with glowlight, and am really hoping they do a firmware update that addresses the loss of text contrast.  it’s substantial.  it doesn’t have that “ink on a page” look you had with the basic nook, that made you forget you weren’t reading a real book.  i asked @NOOK_Care about this a few days ago and didn’t get a response. '

MacWorld/PCWorld's Melissa Perenson loves the new Nook, and it's definitely 'the one' she recommends alhough she doesn't compare features at all otherwise.  Many do just want an e-reader to read a book and don't want to have to deal with a night light, especially one that annoys a bed partner.  Features like audio (for podcasts or audiobooks or music) don't matter to many nor does fairly easy web access to news and email.

  Even then, Perenson does mention the following also:

' One other nitpick: The contrast is not as good on the GlowLight version as on the plain Nook Simple Touch.  This problem appears to result from the antiglare protector on the GlowLight model; the background of the display is a darker gray than on the plain Nook, and that in turn causes black text on the GlowLight version to lack the same omph as on the ordinary Nook.

  I hold out hope that the contrast might be adjustable via a future firmware update.'

Digital Trends's Jeffrey Van Camp roots for the Nook ("Keep it up, B&N") while going for balance in his review although, like many, he believes the B&N marketing which claims that access to the scanned Google Books makes B&N richer in number of books, but the latter is available in multiple ways for Kindle too as are now, literally, millions of other free books.

  He points out that both e-readers have their advantages and includes this about the contrast concern that some have:

' There are a few tiny downsides to having the light. The tablet appears to have ever so slightly less contrast and E Ink consistency than the last Nook, though only geeks like us are likely to notice.  However, a new anti-glare screen should help its readability ever so slightly outdoors.'

The Verge's David Pierce also really likes the new Nook and writes what commenters say is one of the more thorough reviews they've seen, with one commenter saying, "Reviews on the Verge are amazing.  Love the quality and detail of video reviews."

  So check out the video review there as well as the written one.  His 'bottom line' is that the GlowLight is "incredibly comfortable to hold and use, even in one hand, and even after hours of reading my arm didn't get tired."

  He also mentions, that the glowlight is "a wonderful addition to the device" and prefers the Nook's hardware to the Kindle's.

  On the contrast issue (which is not an issue for most who much prefer the convenience of an always-readable e-Ink reader), he has this to say:

' The GlowLight Nook has a screen protector on top of the display, though, which makes text appear slightly softer and lower-contrast than on last year's model.  I didn't notice until I held the GlowLight Nook next to last year's Nook and a Kindle, and even though all three use the same display technology the GlowLight Nook's text didn't look quite as sharp.  It's a fine screen, but it's nothing remarkable anymore, and I'm starting to wish for a slightly higher-res display that renders text a little more sharply.

  I wouldn't describe the light as uniform, though.  It's really bright at the top, right next to the LEDs, then there's a dark stripe right below.  It evens out considerably by the time it's illuminating any text, but it's still inconsistent enough to make certain lines of text look slighty darker or lighter than others.  None of it really impedes the reading experience, but it's not as nice-looking as a cool, even glow would be.

  Still, all things considered, the light works really well.  Rather than a backlit screen that seems to glare out at you, the Nook's screen really does glow a bluish white, which is both easier on your eyes and just generally a nice effect.  The light's intensity is customizable, and will go from just-barely-on to blind-you-immediately levels of brightness.  Reading in bed, I was able to use the Nook with the light only slightly above the minimum level, and still read comfortably. '

He also does point out out something which isn't mentioned by the other writers who are reviewing primarily one feature rather than looking at the feature-set of each -- and that's the ability of the Kindle to work with personal documents and information from websites:

' The really frustrating omission, though, was something I didn't even consider until I started using the GlowLight Nook and not my Kindle.  My Kindle has a dedicated email address, and services like Instapaper and Readability make it easy to send an article (or your whole queue) to your Kindle for reading.

  It's also easy to send PDFs, ebooks from other sources, and just about any other document you can think of.  You can sideload content onto your Nook, too, but it's a much harder and kludgier process involving a lot of ePub files and card readers.  My Kindle is basically my Instapaper reader, and the Nook's not nearly as good a device for that kind of use.'

  His wrap up:
"The Kindle does better with outside content and syncing, but if you're buying an ebook reader to replace your huge paperback collection, the Nook does a great job.  The Nook Simple Touch plus a good, useful light is a pretty great combination — but we've heard Amazon's working on something similar, if Bezos and company already have their hooks into your collection."

My own take:
One thing The Verge's Pierce didn't mention was that the Kindle, with WiFi AND a web browser, can directly download non-Amazon books - and again, we're talking more than a 2.5 million available.  Also, the refresh only every 6 page turns has been a Kindle feature also, for awhile.

Amazon tends to be behind B&N Nook when it comes to hardware features, but its effective work on the many complex and very useful software features and special server-assisted connectivity of these e-readers is what has kept Kindlers enthusiastic about their e-reader, including trading info with other owners on their more unique or creative uses of the Kindle.

And, as you've seen, I've had one particular bias, and that's the relative clarity of e-Ink screens.  If there's a trade-off with clarity as has been expressed even by the enthused quoted above who are hopeful, in the reviews, for a future fix for less sharpness of display, I'm still more likely, as I said on April 8 about the probably-coming Kindle 'lit' screen, to continue to use my Beam N Read light, which I just wear around my neck at night for convenience.  It's also helped me when out at night, during outside walks, where light isn't great.

For those still wondering about differences in connection with other features
I list the long-time differences between Nook and Kindle touch e-readers.

  Since that last features-comparison in late March, Amazon has released Kindle Touch software update v 5.1 with new features that:

• allow web pages to be read on the Kindle with no website Ads or side-columns, showing instead just the article in readable fonts and with working hyperlinks
• provide language translation of words in a book or a personal doc
• added support for reading books or personal docs in landscape mode
    (especially good for PDFs on a small device)

and these new capabilities are gravy.

 Reviews don't mention (because almost all reviewers don't know) that

• Amazon Kindle customers have 5 free gigs for their personal docs (the space is for NON-Amazon media not rights-protected)
• have sync'g, between various devices, of even one's personal docs, and
• are provided another 5 free gigs for other non-Amazon data files.

  However, if you don't care about the other features mentioned and just want to read e-books and read them comfortably at night without having to worry about getting a light, you'll definitely want to look at the Nook GlowLight.  Many have delayed getting an e-reader at all until there was some kind of built-in lighting that would work with an E-Ink device, and the new Nook has it.

  If the other features attract, then you can weigh the differences and decide.


Microsoft invests in new Nook subsdiary and doubles B&N stock as a result.
Microsoft just invested in B&N's new Nook digital book subsidiary (not named yet), to the tune of $300 million and will own 17.6 percent of the subsidiary, valued currently at $1.7 billion, says Venture Beat's Devindra Hardawar.  This subsidiary includes the company's college book business.  Also, Microsoft and B&N resolved an ongoing patent dispute between them.

  It's also interesting that while B&N stocks just about doubled, the new Nook subsidiary is valued "significantly higher than B&N itself"
  One focus will be the B&N's "Nook Study software to deliver digital education goods — which could potentially remove the need for expensive textbooks."

  As Phil Wahba, REUTERS put it (from the Toronto Star),
"Some on Wall Street see the Nook as a fast-growing technology asset trapped within a slower retail stock. They have theorized that Barnes & Noble would spin off the Nook business to give it a chance to trade at a higher valuation.

  The company did not say on Monday if it would take the new company public...
  ...
  Microsoft and Barnes & Noble will introduce an application for the Nook on Windows 8, the upcoming version of Microsoft's operating system."

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

US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 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 Touch Software Update Version 5.1 - BIG update

Kindle Touch Software receives big update

Nate Hoffelder, of The Digital Reader just sent notice that the Amazon Touch software update 5.1 is here.  Thanks, Nate.

Huge.  A few long requested features:
The update includes Landscape mode, Text to Speech (newspapers & magazines added), instant language translations by Bing, and onscreen keyboard suggestions as well as other features.

Kindle Touch Software Update, V5.1 is available online, and downloadable at the link, in case the update isn't already on your Kindle Touch when you read this and you decide you want it right away.

  So I'll be updating tonight when I get back instead of waiting, although the latter will be easier for most. From their page:

From the Amazon update page
We have a new, free software update available for your Kindle Touch that you can manually download. We will be delivering this update over Wi-Fi in the coming weeks.
New features in this update include:

• Language Support: Customize your Kindle Touch with the language you prefer: English (US and UK), German, French, Spanish, Italian, or Brazilian Portuguese.
• Landscape Mode: Switch between portrait and landscape orientation in books and PDFs to read maps, graphs, and tables more easily.
• Instant Translations: Tap any word or highlight a section to instantly translate into other languages, including Spanish, Japanese, and more. Translations by Bing Translator.
• Kindle Format 8: Formatting and layout improvements make Kindle books look even better.
• Wi-Fi Enhancements: Connect your Kindle Touch to Wi-Fi with WPS and select WPA2 Enterprise networks.
• Read-to-Me With Text-to-Speech: Have your Kindle Touch read English-language content out loud to you, now including summaries of newspaper and magazine articles when available from the publisher.
• More Sharing Options: Tell others what you're reading on Facebook or Twitter from anywhere within a book — just tap to share a link along with your comments.
• Onscreen Keyboard Suggestions: Search and shop faster with automatic word suggestions as you type.

Instructions for downloading if you don't want to wait are at the Kindle touch v5.1 upgrade page.



Kindle Touch 3G, US-only   Kindle Touch WiFi (US)   Kindle Touch WiFi-Only, outside US    Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published ones
  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: Quell: free Android App today. Kindle Touch 3G rave, Your Annotations web page

Another free Android App?  Yes, because this is a Quality One

As you know, I don't blog about 99% of the free Android apps for the Kindle Fire, but Quell is a strangely calming and beautiful game which is more a set of zen-like puzzles.  Sound and Music are controlled separately.

This is normally only 99c anyway, and is it a new thing that there are sponsors for the free App of the Day?  Today, at the Appstore for Android, the ad for it says, "Presented by the Toyota prius C"... This doesn't show up on the product page, just on the store page.

  The Amazon intro there: "...an atmospheric puzzler.  This critically acclaimed game includes more than 80 levels of ingenious puzzles, gorgeous graphics, and a stunning [not booming] soundtrack.  Play as a raindrop and collect pearls in as few moves as possible.  Completing a puzzle unlocks the next."
  It has 1,810 customer reviews and averages 4.8 stars out of 5


Kindle Touch 3G eBook reader "might just be the most compelling global eBook reader..."
  The Calgary Herald story is somewhat short on details as to why that might be.  Many Kindle Touch owners would agree for many reasons we've mentioned, but the article gives two good reasons (besides listing the usual features), and those are:
  .  the added cellular network 3G access so that people don't have to depend on WiFi in the home or wherever they are, to download a book or to access Wikipedia (the latter I do think would be compelling for students or the ever curious) and
  .  "the Kindle Touch is now available in seven languages - German, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and American or British English - so customers can read, take notes, and navigate their Kindle in any of these languages."

Your personal book annotations web page at Amazon
Some may not know about http://kindle.amazon.com, the personal web page Amazon makes for the web version of your book annotations and the organization that's there.
  It's also a burgeoning social network area now too, with people able to follow the notes and highlights of those who want to share theirs.

For detailed information on what the annotations area of that page is about, see
Web Kindle Tool for Books Purchased from Amazon.



Kindle Touch 3G, US-only   Kindle Touch WiFi (US)   Kindle Touch WiFi-Only, outside US    Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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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

Read More

Kindle News: Kindle Touch now GLOBAL.-No 3G models. U S WiFi-only Kindle Touch Now Special Offers only, at first. DETAILS on ordering + Situation on Special Order models and power adapters

  This is the new but not yet announced page by Amazon for Kindle Touch International, now buyable by customers in countries outside the U.S. finally - for $139 U.S. from Amazon U.S.

  This is for the Kindle Touch WiFi only, but on that page there is an international table that tells you whether your country is on the list for delivery of this model.

  The internationaal page was discovered by the Canadian "Nathan" who is able to see the non-U.S. page(s).
g
  Amazon has stores in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK and Kindle Touches can now be ordered there but ONLY from THEIR Amazon stores, which makes sense.

  The main Kindle Touch page for international orders has adapters shown for other countries.


U.S. CUSTOMERS AND SPECIAL OFFERS MODELS
  It seems U.S. customers CAN buy the normally-sold NON-Special-Order Kindle Touch WiFi-Only models this way, BUT if they want the specially-priced U.S. power adapter packed/shipped WITH the Kindle touch order, they need to buy the Kindle Touch from the U.S. Kindle store.  The US adapter, bought WITH the U.S. Kindle model carries a $5 savings, shown at checkout -- $9.99 instead of $14.99.

    BEAR IN MIND that if you do buy the U.S. Kindle Special Offers model (which is the only way the U.S. WiFi-only model is sold now on the U.S. page), you have the option to UNSUBSCRIBE from the Special Offers option at any time by paying the DIFFERENCE between the cost of the Special Offer model ($99) and the NON-Special Orders Model now available directly only to non-U.S. countries -- that's a $40 difference.

    U.S. customers can still buy the NON-Special Offers Kindle that includes 3G with WiFi.

  Here is info and help on what Special-Offers models ARE as well as how to UNsubscribe from OR Subscribe to the Special Offers.

    Of course, U.S. customers can also still just buy the U.S. power adapter separately, but it will cost an additional $5 when bought separately from the Kindle Touch.


THERE IS NO 3G KINDLE TOUCH PAGE SHOWING CURRENTLY FOR THOSE OUTSIDE THE U.S
Nathan in Canada could see this offer for Kindle Touch WiFi-only and as of this time, there is no page showing in Canada for the 3G/WiFi model.

  Again, U.S. Customer pages now offer ONLY the Special Orders model
This was touched on above, but I want to make it clear, as it is a big change and indicative of a trend for the future.  One can directly buy the NON-Special Order models using the international page identified but the U.S. power adapter won't come with it, as explained above.

You *CAN UNSUBSCRIBE from the Special Orders though, probably before you get it, by going to the Manage Your Devices area where you'll see the column for that option.  Again here is info and help on unsubscribing or subscribing to the Special Offers feature.

  Many actually like the special offers though, to their surprise. I'm one of them.  They're not only well done (I like the quality of the photography) but there are some quite good offers I've decided I'd rather not miss.  I was initially very resistant to this because I don't want to see even the small bottom line used for an ad, but it's very unobtrusive and doesn't move.
  If they ever start animating them I would unsubscribe. Otherwise, they show only on the sleep-screen and never when you're reading.

Right now I've been using my Kindle Fire color tablet/reader more than my Touch, so I haven't been seeing them as much because the Kindle Fire doesn't have special offers.


3G OUTSIDE U.S.
The Kindle Touch WiFi-only now being offered to those outside the U.S. has NO 3G even for book downloads and Wikipedia, as the Kindle Touch model with 3G is currently U.S. ONLY.

  Kindle Keyboard or Kindle 3G model
  However, at this time, the older Kindle Keyboard (Kindle 3 with 3G) (UK: K3) still comes with FREE (but VERY SLOW) 3G web browsing where that is enabled.  The product page mentions that this older KEYBOARD and NON-TOUCH model is still buyable outside the U.S. -- and it has been sold in the U.K. for the last year also.

SUMMARY
This is fairly complicated as to exactly what kind of models and features are purchasable both in the U.S. and outside.
  While the Special Offers models are the only ones directly buyable as of today on the U.S. pages, you can UNSUBSCRIBE from the Special Offers as explained and linked above, or you can buy directly from the International Kindle page(s) and get the U.S. power adapter for $5 more than you'd pay if ordering the Special Offers model from the U.S. page.

This may change somewhat, as no announcements have been made while we are seeing changed U.S. pages and Canadian Nathan has led us to the International page he sees outside the U.S. which contains a table of where the Kindle Touch can now be bought outside the U.S. finally.



Kindle Touch 3G, US-only   Kindle Touch WiFi (US)   Kindle Touch WiFi-Only, outside US    Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

---

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published ones
  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 Tip for all Kindles (Images) + San Francisco Bay Area dark again

I realize this is all getting pretty old, and I agree. Sitting here in complete darkness for hours again is no fun.

Power came back about 5 times but not Comcast ... then Comcast said it would be back in a few hours and then all the electricity went out yet again.

Normally I'm here briefly with the Kindle 3 or what's known as the Kindle Keyboard (UK: KK), but my new Samsung Galaxy 3G now provides tethering and acts as a WiFi router for my Kindle Fire, so I'm coming in that way and it's faster.

However, all my notes for the blog are on the main computer so I'll need to start backing that kind of thing up from now on to a dropbox so I can pull them down as needed, as this happens too much in this area lately.

It IS amazing to me that a little phone can provide WiFi to the Kindle Fire though.

A SMALL KINDLE TIP FOR NOW:
Images -- on the various Kindles, when reading Kindle Books
One thing that the Kindles can do that most other e-readers can't, when you're reading an e-book, is to allow you to use a small picture in the book so that it fills the screen--very good if a photo was published in higher resolution as many are today.


Kindle 1 - Put your silver column-cursor next to the area that would be the center of the image and click on the scroll wheel.  It'll show you a pointing hand image in the center if it acts as a link to an Internet web site, and it will also display the magnifier/zoom-in icon that you can click on to enlarge the image to fill the screen.

  If it has text it'll be much easier to read and if the photo is in high enough resolution, you'll see more detail in general.  The feature was added some time after the Kindle 2's had it.  When you've finished viewing the image, pressing any key will exit the full-screen image.

Kindle 2 and 3 - With the direct screen access that came to Kindles with the release of Kindle 2, you can just move the screen cursor into the center of the image, which will then display what the Kindle 1 does. Click down on the 5-way navigation button when the cursor is on the magnifier icon.  Even the smallest picture will then fill the screen.  Then click any key to end the full-screen viewing.

Kindle 4 Basic - I don't have the Kindle 4 Basic but it probably works the way the Kindle 2 and 3 do. Let me know.

Kindle Touch
TOUCH procedures are quite different.  With the Kindle Touch, touching any area of the screen except the top edge -- which brings up options at top and bottom -- will merely take you to the next or previous page.

  As mentioned last week, touching the left side of the screen brings up the previous page, and touching from the the center area to the right edge takes you to the next page.  This segmenting of the screen surface favors those who use mainly the left hand for single-handed reading.

To enlarge a picture or illustration, you do a very light long-press (instead of the page-turning short press) until you see a reverse image (white info on dark, like a photo negative) and a magnifying glass appears.  Lightly tap the magnifying glass icon, and the picture will fill the screen.  To end it, tap anywhere on the screen.

Kindle Fire
With the Kindle Fire, while reading a book,  you can just double-tap an image and the KFire will put it into landscape mode if needed and center the image if it's too small to fill the screen.
  At that point, you can then pinch zoom the image [using two fingers on one point  on the surface and  spreading them apart to cause an expansion of the screen contents] to zoom in to see more detail.  When done, tap the 'X' at the top right corner.

Life in the Dark
WELL, as I was typing the Kindle Touch portion, my lights finally came on again.  Comcast was still down, and my computer screen said that the Cooling Fan was not responding, and it was hung up.  What a great night.

   Needing some kind of reward, I grabbed an ice cream, took a break and reset the computer, which apparently restarted the fan, and now Comcast is up.  So I'm finishing this on a nice computer keyboard, which I don't appreciate enough until I have to use a virtual keyboard on a tablet or a laggy physical keyboard attached to a tablet.

Sorry for all the delays.   Will definitely catch up on the free-books log of forum alerts and will get that back on a more regular basis.  But I also have more interesting tips coming up on slightly more esoteric matters.



Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

---

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published ones
  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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A set of Kindleworld's articles on the new Kindle models

ARTICLES ON NEW KINDLE, SO FAR

I've reorganized the Kindleworld website's "Articles on New Kindles" set found near the top of the Reference section in the right column of the article pages.

This blog entry is especially for those on Kindle Edition blog subscriptions, who wouldn't see this set in the Kindle-edition, which brings only the daily articles.  But it should also be helpful to those who don't have time to browse the Reference column at the website.

  On the Kindle editions of the blog, the new Kindles (and sometimes even the Kindle 3's) can click through most article links to access the linked articles without waiting an impossible time for page loads.

 With Kindle 2's or earlier, the load-times are pretty difficult.  All can of course also access articles, reference sets, and external links at the website ( kindleworld.blogspot.com ).

  Each time I draw attention to the free website, the blog loses Kindle-edition-blog subscribers who didn't know it exists :-) -- and it'd be helpful to blog subscribers if Amazon would add a link to the external website on all the Kindle editions.

  Thanks to all who support the site this way, and I'm hoping most subscribers will still see value in having the most-recent 25 blog articles at hand and searchable offline via the Kindle edition of the blog each day.

  Those with Kindle Touch's will find them several times faster for accessing the web than the keyboard models (faster processor and direct-access to links), which would be a big reason for Amazon's not offering free 3G web browsing on the new Kindles.   The speedup should be especially useful for those following links on the Kindle editions of blogs in general.

The list of Kindleworld articles on the new Kindle models
This listing is up to date as of today, and it'll be updated as it goes.  Am working on more tips on the still newish Kindles, as I've seen a lot of confusion in connection with what is offered on each, etc.

General
. Set of Kindleworld articles
    on new Kindles

. Prime's Lending Library:
    Rules; Borrowing;
    How to Browse List
. Prime gets current PBS
. Personal docs: Imprvmts
. Convert ePub to Kindle
. Edgerly on Kindle Event
. Intro Day, 9/28

Kindle Fire
. Tips: KFire and KTouch
. KFire cases/cvrs
. KFire rooted (Not needed)
. Non-Amzn apps: Sideload'g
. Software update v6.2
. Software update v6.1
   Kindle Fire
. Kindle Fire 1st reviews
. Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
. Amazon Q&A: Kindlefire
. Video demo: Kindle Fire
. Kindle Fire/Cloud facts
. Kindle Fire "on fire"
. More info on Kindle Fire

Kindle Touch
. Tips: KTouch and KFire
. Notes re Kindle Touch
. What is X-ray?
. Kindle Team re Kindle Touch
   3G web browsing
. KTouch 3G-Web'g or not?
. Notes: KTouch's 3G Web'g

Kindle Basic (NoTouch/NoKeybd)
. Video demo: $79 Kindle
. Software update v4.0.1
   Kindle Basic (NoTouch)
. User's Guide: $79 Kindle Basic


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, 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 Touch (3G) - Unexpected aspects and a few changes noted (Updated)

While I had wanted to quick-blog first impressions after 12 hours with the Kindle Fire Wednesday (which I more than enjoyed despite minor reservations), I've been doing the forums and trading information.  There's always so much there that people find and relay.

  BUT -- my Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi arrived today, so I looked into that.

  And now I want to report on that first, due to a couple of unexpected items that impressed me.

   And there are several changes I want to highlight.

The known loss of the Free 3G Web-lookup feature
  Some, including me, have been disappointed that, unlike the 3G/WiFi Kindle 3 ("Kindle Keyboard") model and its much-appreciated free 3G webbing that's so useful when traveling -- locally even, but especially in countries where roaming charges for smartphones are sky-high --  the Touch models don't offer free 3G web lookups internationally as the older 3G Kindles did.  But I can see  now why Amazon decided not to offer it on the new Kindles.  I wouldn't either if I were paying for it.

Web browsing speed  (Web lookups are on WiFi-only, on the new models, except for accessing the  KindleStore and Wikipedia, the latter a really worthwhile feature when reading a book)

  The WiFi web-browsing, via my Comcast host and Netgear router, is actually usually quite fast with the 3G/WiFi SO (Special Offers) model.
  I don't mean just fastER than the often-slow but free Kindle 3 web lookups, which could be slow with WiFi also.   The new Touch model really can be very quick for an e-Ink device.  I was startled by it.

  When accessing web sites with the KTouch, you're often wisely taken to mobile versions of the web pages, but my over-long, over-imaged, site came up in normal desktop format 10x faster than it would before. 

  This is especially good for Kindle-Edition subscribers who are needing to follow a Kindle subscription blog link to information on another site. 

When I went to the simple, text-focused drudgereport.com, it of course came up fairly quickly, but I was surprised to see, when I clicked on a Telegraph (UK) story, that the whole thing came up suddenly -- it must have been pre-fetched by the webkit browser.

  New York Times web page as an example
   Accessing Amazon's bookmark'd NY Times site, in its print-newspaper layout, it comes up pretty fast!, but with the full page seen in portrait mode on a little screen, so it's not readable.  The zoom-box that used to be there to bring up sections so that we can read them is gone.

   Instead, we can pinch-zoom on an area and it brings up a much more readable version of that, and we can then click a link to a story that is readable while showing the whole width of a column or columns as appropriate plus side stories.   If that's not good enough, you can pinch-zoom THAT and it can look really good!  But if that's still not good enough, then choose Menu to select "Article Mode" which puts it in a highly readable layout that's very pleasant to read but which, as said elsewhere here, doesn't offer the links from the article.
   The Article Mode reformats a story into single-report form, usually with a small photo at the top. 

The processor used in the Touch models is a faster one, and the Touch method's advantage for webbing is that it gives direct access to clickable links, so there's no added time involved in moving the older 5-way controller up, down, and sideways to active hyperlinks (and each cursor movement meant a slowing-down refresh of part of the screen).   Much as I appreciate the free 3G web-lookups of the previous model when I'm outside the home, these changes are very nice.  (But it's still my Kindle 3 I'll be carrying with me outside since I can almost never find unprotected WiFi anymore, outside.)


Pressing or tapping on a screen area
  TIP:   The lightest possible keypress to bring up a menu or dialog box will work best -- even when lightly tapping for a page turn or on a link.  That doesn't seem intuitive but I found this works more reliably than using more pressure.  That's true even when doing a long-press that is used to to bring up an option box.  And it's true for the Kindle Fire also.

  On the other hand, the e-Ink keyboard input is more resistant than it is on LCD, which means less errors from a light touch.  My Kindle Fire keyboard, though, is so non-resistant that I can just hover over a key and it registers (dangerous, so I turned off 1-click buying).   That's been true of my 7" NookColor tablet too.

The 3G web browser's "New Window" link problems on previous Kindles
  The one thing that frustrated many of us 3G web users in the past was that Amazon had decided NOT to have the keyboard Kindles open links that used "New Window" processes.

  This has meant that Facebook and Twitter links recommended by people could not be used, although we could see messages to us and reply to them.  The recommended links, however, were lifeless.

  I always felt Amazon did not want to encourage our exploring all those links and staying on Facebook and Twitter through the day, as that could really cost them, with free 3G program (for us) paid by them.

  They had decided at some point to let Kindle Edition Blog-subscribers click through links requiring 'New Window' from a Kindle'd blog -- customers pay for subscriptions and I think they felt it was a service they should give, since blogs tend to have many links in them and can be worthless if people can't use them.

  But that was the only circumstance, that I know of, under which they allowed "New-Window"-links to be clicked through and the user taken to the new site.  Facebook and Twitter remained still-lifes for links.

With the new Kindle Touch, the Facebook and Twitter webpages are now useable for the links people are busily recommending at those popular sites.

Complex website-pages
   However, the Kindle Touch web browser can't handle a ridiculously heavy page like Huffington Post.
  It never loads.   I tried Overdrive (for public libraries), and it now lets me through the 'New Window' problems I used to have but that is a super-slow site for some reason. They should have a mobile version available for it.  It's too slow even for the new Touch Kindle.

NO Landscape mode on this
This mode has been crucial for web pages and for PDFs with the previous Kindles, giving the ability to expand the width and size of content.
  The default for the new Kindle Touch  is to show you the full web page and fit it to the width of the small 6" screen.  So, the words are unreadable that way, but putting the device into Landscape mode on the older models has helped with those.

  The earlier models with keyboards have Zoom boxes that let you zoom into areas to read the type (awkward but doable) and then you can choose 'Article Mode' from the Menu to read the article as very-readable text although that deactivates links in that mode, so  the zoom-in and pinch-zoom versions can be better to use if you want to follow article links.

  For more details on how to handle this, see the paragraph above on accessing a New York Times article and how that's changed from the Kindle 3.  It'll work for this.


Image zoom-ins - on web pages
Kindles 2 and 3 allow zooms to full-page by clicking in the center.  Kindle 1 allows it by moving the sliding silver column cursor to the line and choosing to enlarge the image to full screen.

  On the new Touch Kindles, this is now done, when WEB-browsing,  by pinch-zooms -- 2 fingers are used to expand the material seen or shrink it back.  I hadn't expected this on e-Ink e-readers but it works.

   It's choppy and difficult to control but when it's done for a full webpage  it does expand the material so that you can read sections of it enlarged. 

Image zoom-ins - in normal e-books
For normal e-books, a pinch-zoom actually enlarges the font size!  And any photos.
  This is normally done with the Aa -choice (for 'Aa keys on earlier Kindles) that is now found at the bottom of a book's footer if you press the area at the top line, which brings up options such as the old GoTo, which is now missing from the regular book Menu and I'd wondered where it was.

  So, at the bottom, you can get  Aa (fonts),  Go To,  and  Sync by pressing an area near the top.
  Also at the bottom are the Location #, the Page #,  and the percentage of the book that's still unread.

  At the top line, there's  1) a Back-arrow that corresponds to the old "Back" button,  2) a shopping cart,  3) a search box for searching the book, and  4) the Menu of options.
  There's also a line up there for  1) the activity-indicator (spins),  2) the title of the book that's open,  3) a wireless-activity indicator (including what type of wireless is being used) and  4) the current time.

    I really like that you can enlarge the font size by just doing a pinch-zoom.

PDFs
  I haven't found much in the User's Guide about PDFs, but trying it out I see that these are treated the way books are.  You don't scroll down the page if there's more, you page left and right.

  Pinch Zooms are used to enlarge a page, including both the fonts and images on the page.
I saw this on a PDF I made from taking images and text from the web and saving it in Word Doc to read later, on the Kindle.   But I saved it as a PDF.  So, this is a text-based PDF.

  I wondered where Adjustment of Contrast is now chosen, as the Aa font menu is no longer findable.  The Contrast Adjustment is selectable from pressing the top line area and pressing Menu at the top right.  It's called, simply, 'Contrast.'

  'Turn on Speech'
  That's also found under the top-right Menu.

   Go to...   for PDFs, this is also found under the Menu.

  This is all easier than selecting zoom-box areas or "150%  200%  300%" sizes as was done before.  It's a gradual zoom controlled by the fingers now.

Overall Speed + choosing Kindle books from my other Kindles
I quickly chose, from my Archived Items folder, about 100 titles to use for exploring the new system, and they included a couple of very large encyclopedias to test how the device would handle having to download them from Amazon and index them for keywords.  I then used Menu to "Import Collections"

  With this unit, I was able to tap one item after another, lickety split, without needing to use 'back' button and it kept up with me.   There's no slowness felt and I was able to do things on the unit while it downloaded the many items I chose for the new Kindle

Kindle Model Designations.
Kindle 1's have 1.x.x software versions; Kindle 2's have 2.x.x versions, and Kindle 3's use version 3.x.x.
They were also called first, second, and third generations.

  It seems the Kindle BASIC (NoTouch/NoKeyboard - $79) uses software version 4.x.x and
  Kindle Touch uses software version 5.x.x

  So, we are sort of looking at the 5th generation Kindle with these Touch models.

  Identifying software versions is now done under Menu/Settings/Device Info (which is scarily right next to the Reset to Factory Default option -- so touch-press carefull when in that Menu, even if they have a safety "Are you sure?" which I did not try  :-).

Kindle Touch Special Offers - Or Without Special Offers
It's hard to know how we will react to any kind of ad.  I've resisted them because I don't want to see them near my personal time with books.  I want to be away from the madding ad crowd.

  Nevertheless, I also don't throw my money away and have read that many actually like the Special Offers and the screensleeper  ads were not bothering them.  I have to say that they are designed very well, all have a classy look so far, and have not bothered me, not even in the lowest slot of the Home page. 

  BUT if they ever do, I've found that at the ManageYourKindle pages, there is an option to "Unsubscribe" from Special Offers by paying the $40 difference between the cost of the two models (the choices of With and Without Special Offers).

Anyway, this was a very nice surprise.  I ordered it only because I should report on it :-) and be able to answer questions, etc.  It's light but we knew that.  However, its small size seemed to make my left hand less comfortable with it, almost cramped, and I felt I'd have to get a case for it pronto, as it would be easier to hold that way.

  I got used to it though.  As for the ads/special offers, whoever directs that does a good job.

Going from one chapter to another, if the publisher used that feature
In the past, if the progress bar (which no longer exists that I can find) showed markers indicating new chapter, we could navigate to each one with a press-right on the 5-way button.
Now we can't see markers like this, that I can find (let me know if you find these), but you can swipe up or swipe down to get to next or previous chapters, respectively.  I saw this work in 'Cleopatra' by Stacy Schiff.

Collections
They've finally alphabetized Collections -- we no longer have to do workarounds, although, as of now, unless a future update fixes it, the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3 Collections remain unalphabetized, a decision I'll never understand, so if we're still using earlier models, the workaround has to stay.

Text contrast against screen background
The Kindle 3 is wonderful in this regard, and I had been puzzled to see how greyish the Nook Simple Touch fonts seemed when I visited BN and tried every font face, type and size.

  It was a disappointment for some on the BN forums too but they have just done an update to the Nook Simple Touch that is said to change this so that fonts, text, foreground images are darker when appropriate and the contrast is good now.

  I'd been worried about the screen contrast, after reading a NY Times article that said the Kindle screen programmers had been having some difficulty getting the screen contrast the way they wanted, a few months ago.  But what I see in my Kindle Touch is what I've seen on the Kindle 3, so those getting either company's e-reader will be very happy with that aspect.



Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

---

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published ones
  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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