Kindle News: Kindle for Android Update v4.1 has been released

Amazon updates the free Kindle for Android app again. this time to version 4.1.0.66, or v4.1.0 for short.

Two months ago, Amazon had a large Kindle for Android Update (v4.0.1.3), which was fully described and discussed here, with the help of knowledgeable contributor Tom Semple, who always goes beyond what's described in the product description after examining thoroughly the updates himself.

 

Speaking of that, since you're likely to have seen his helpful additions all around the Net, don't miss the interview with Tom, by The Kindle Chronicles' Len Edgerly.

Re the update. (Two pages for downloads and info: Amazon product page and info, with Google Play link, the info not fully updated yet.)

This update to both the phone and tablet versions of Kindle for Android includes (from the Amazon Kindle forums -- emphases mine):

' For the phone app
- Enjoy your favorite magazines with glossy, full-color layouts.
- Easier PDF navigation, tap the screen for visual previews of each page.
- Bug fixes and performance improvements

For the tablet app:
- Find what you're looking for fast with visual previews. Just tap the screen and go.
- Enjoy your favorite magazines with glossy, full-color layouts, photographs and illustrations.
- Highlights, bookmarks and notes are organized into a notebook for your textbook.
- Textbooks now support highlighting pictures.
- Bug fixes and performance improvements.

If you have questions with this release, please drop by the Kindle Help Community '

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Current Kindle Models for reference.  Note the current KindleFire HD 7" sale.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$229 * Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $269/$299 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $399/$499 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $99 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 (Yes)

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - ~£89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 Canada - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $79 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $129 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G - $199 Kindle Fire HD 7" - 214.00 KFire HD 7" $214,  8.9" $284

*OTHER Int'l pages* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $199 KFire HD 7" $214,  8.9" $284 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China [?] Japan - Amazon Japan

* $30 off, 6/30/13, for a limited time.

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

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Kindle News: Large Kindle for Android Update - new features, customer reactions. Tom Semple adds what he's found.

New update for the free Kindle for Android app - v4.0.1.3

The Amazon Kindle for Android updates:
· New design and user interface: Apparently many customers have told Amazon that they really like the User Interface (UI) of the Kindle Fire, as find it easy to access and navigate the content on the tablet.

  Amazon has extended that design to Kindle for Android by
  1. optimizing the Kindle Store for tablets
  2. improving the library interface
  3. redesigning the home screen, which includes the Carousel option for recent items), and
  4. simplifying navigation through the app.

· Easy access to samples: To help customers new to Kindle or Kindle apps get started, Amazon is making samples of many of the best sellers very easy to find; the samples will be on the home screen of their Kindle app.

More info is at the Kindle for Android details page.

From Google Play store's What's New page

What's in this version:
4.0.1.3
• Redesigned library experience.
• Carousel displays recent items on the Kindle app home screen.
• Navigation panel organizes content for quick access to your Books, Documents, and Newsstand periodicals.
• Browse all your items in the Cloud or just the content downloaded on your Android device.
• Explore and download popular samples in the Kindle Store.
• Fixed a crash some customers reported.

Contributor Tom Semple weighed in early
This guy is the Kindle world's intrepid explorer and is everywhere.
Tom has given permission to quote what he's found so far (I'm just late getting to it, and I saw reports that some are finding that the Table of Contents can be balky under the new update and that customer service has said they are aware of that and are working on it).

  Here's Tom: (Bracketed entries are mine.)

' Kindle for Android finally has a version of the 'Cloud/Device' pattern found on Kindles and Kindle apps, with Recent added to Sort options.  Very welcome.  [Yay!]

  As usual, there's also an experiment: an item called 'Popular Samples' brings up a list of 25 samples that we are to believe are popular (and hopefully not some manipulation on the part of Amazon to direct us to certain books).
    [They say they're from the already "best sellers.]

The Kindle Store experience has been greatly improved as well.  There's also a Carousel view, which thankfully one does not need to use. [ ]  Now, if only they'd add TTS [Text-to-Speech], I would use the app a little more (which I try to do anyway on the assumption that Amazon updates the apps that are used the most).

By my count there are at least 3 features unique to Kindle for Android:
- Voice search
- Send To Kindle (shows up as a Sharing option with a number of other Android apps)
- Popular Samples'

Thanks, Tom.  I use Google Voice search a lot on my Samsung S2 phone and on my 10" Galaxy tablet which I hardly use anymore since I am spoiled by the HD display of the KFires.

  Off topic
  Although we're talking about Kindle for Android and NOT Kindle Fire apps, I just tested my Google Voice app on my Kindle Fire anyway (I downloaded the app from 1mobile.com long ago) and it works really well.  This is just my usual, confusing side note.

  I use Dolphin browser (for its Flash support) on the KFire and when I brought up google search, I touched the side "||" mark to get the Menu on the side and tapped the Star to get Favorites while still using Dolphin browser  Then I tapped 'Voice' and once I did that, the mic icon showed and asked me to say what I wanted and I said, "a kindle world" and it gave me a short list of what I might have said to the mic.  I tapped the correct item and then Dolphin browser took over, and the Google links to the blog showed up.  Can we say 'insular' ? But Google Voice is so smooth -- both on pure Android devices (the topic of this blog article) and even on the Kindle Fire.

BACK to the topic of Kindle for Android devices
The user reviews for the Kindle for Android app at Google play store are an interesting read.  Excerpts from the first few on the top (the most recent):

. Wow, great app to read book - Also, the dictionary is very good as some people mentioned. Great work, Amazon!

. BETTER NOW...The app's interface is much cleaner and modern now.

[He mentions it has List View and that you don't have to use the Carousel.  You can just open the slider on the left, tap books and at the top right, toggle list view or grid view.]

. Best of the DRM readers [Loves the new Recent reads and the Carousel, as well as "the whole new layout. Good job!"]

That was just the first three showing right now, and you have to click on 'more' to read the rest.
  The 2nd page notes some things people want it to do (like TTS].

  Also, it's evident that the phone users are less ecstatic about how the layout fits on the smaller screens -- some of it is optimized for tablets.  Table of Contents links are too close to the edge on some devices, so you might turn back a page instead of going to the chapter selected.  Amazon is working on fixes for any glitches with the table of contents.

  Things to watch for:
  Reading progress was reset in a few cases.
  Some don't realize the Carousel is an option and that you can choose between List and Grid views.

  A mix of really happy and really unhappy reactions :-) depending on the devices.

  AND, at the Amazon app store, here are the reviews sorted by most recent date so that you can see what people are finding - positive and negative - about the update.

  5-star ratings are most evident, but with a few who experienced problems.  You should view these to see what experiences are for the pure-Android device(s) you own.  Again, customer support says they ARE working on an update for the glitches that occur in the Table of Contents for some.

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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.

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

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Kindle News: Kindle Fire HD 8.9" gets s/w update v8.1.4. Kindle for Android app updated to v3.8.1 v3.8.2.4. Blog update.

2-page Kindle book layout on Kindle Fire HD 8.9"

Comparing Kindle and iPad limited data-plan costs.

Software Update for Kindle Fire HD 8.9" tablet
As usual, this update-alert blog entry also includes links to earlier articles with tips on the updated device.

The v8.1.4 update is, for most, being received over-the-air without much notice by Amazon.  I've seen no discussion of this update in the Kindle Community Forums

The new update -- v8.1.4 for Kindle Fire HD 8.9" -- will automatically download and install for most Kindle Fire customers.  My Kindle Fire HD 8.9" did receive this update (I also happened to "Sync" my device (by swiping from the top and tapping "Sync"), which will synchronize it with the server, for last-page read, annotations, items purchased or subscribed to, or if Amazon has readied an update for your device during a roll-out.  Rollouts like this can be slow, with some getting an update after others have.  Normally, it takes a while to deliver these huge files and they're installed when the Kindle is idle and the Kindle is on.

Amazon notes that the update includes the following changes.

' This software update will add the option to subscribe to Kindle FreeTime Unlimited on your Kindle Fire HD 8.9".  For more information about Kindle Freetime Unlimited, see www.amazon.com/kindlefreetimeunlimited.

This software update also includes performance and feature improvements for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9". '

Checking which software version you have.
I checked by swiping down my Top Menu, then clicking on "More" and then "Settings," where I looked at "Device," then "About" and saw that I now have System Version 8.1.4.
  If you're not experiencing problems with it, you might want to wait for it to be delivered automatically rather than get the file and manually install it.

  For those who prefer to do the updates via USB cable because you don't have WiFi, the update files are at the Amazon server locations linked above.

If Downloading Version 8.1.4

Reminder: This update automatically downloads and installs for most Kindle Fire customers; however, you can initiate the software update from your Kindle or manually download the software update via USB (some use the excellent WiFi File Explorer PRO app rather than the USB cable hookup).

Again -- before you begin, confirm your current software version:

1. Swipe down from the top of the screen and tap More.
2. Tap Device, and then tap About.

The instructions for manually downloading, if needed, the update via USB are at the software update page for the 8.9" Kindle Fire HD.  Most will find it more convenient to have it arrive via the automated download.

NOTE that when it does update, your Kindle Fire will reboot and sometimes it does that twice, so don't be alarmed when it happens while it's idle and you're nearby.

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Kindle for Android app software update v3.8.1
UPDATE Dec. 23 - Software version now at v3.8.2.4

In an earlier blog article, I cautioned against jumping on update v3.8.0, as I saw some unhappy reactions to it (Dec. 7).

Our heavy-info commenter, Tom Semple updated us the other day on this, as Amazon updated the Kindle for Android app.  Tom wrote the following addition (comment) to that blog entry:

' Kindle for Android 3.8.1:
- tuned line spacing options to be more compact
- bug fixes for Galaxy Note 10.1 and Japanese Nexus 7 customers
- customers in Hong Kong and Taiwan returned to an English experience '

An added update from contributor Tom Semple came in late Saturday.
  Kindle for Android is now up to version v3.8.2.4.  Tom explains:

'The latest fixes a crash on ASUS TF201.

Also, I missed something that showed up in 3.7.0: "Send PDF, DOC, DOCX, and image files to your Kindle using the share buttons in popular Android apps like Adobe Reader, Documents To Go, ES File Explorer, and many others."

So they've actually built SendToKindle into the Kindle app for Android.  It shows up as one of the choices when you 'share'.  Neat.  Just tried sending a PDF to K4Android, and it worked. '

Thanks much to Tom and the several other contributors who help keep us up to date.

Changes for the earlier update for Kindle for Android v3.8.0 included:
  . Support of Simplified Chinese, including dictionaries
  . Font sizes up to Kindle scale '11'
  . Reading of print replica textbooks on Android tablets.
  . Several bug fixes at the time.

---

EARLIER posts on Kindle Fire HD 7" which relate also to the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" (reviews of Kindle 7" features will apply to the HD 8.9" model also).

  . Getting non-Amazon apps on Kindle Fires (non-HD Kindle Fires have storage space limitations)
  . More comparisons on iPad mini and Kindle Fire HD
  . Basic Features Comparison Table for iPad mini, Google Nexus 7", Kindle Fire HD 7"
  . Comparison reviews of the Kindle Fire HD 7" and Google Nexus 7" tablets
  . Step-by-step guide for installing a working Adobe Flash player when needed.
  . Google Maps, Street View and other apps on my Kindle Fire, via enabling one device setting
  . Downloading and playing YouTube videos on Kindle Fire HD
  . Using the camera and Video, Panorama mode, Time Lapses
  . Add Wi-Drive pocketable disk/stream'g for Kindle models and for other tablet or phone devices,
      or, Portable wireless 320G Patriot Gauntlet drive/stream'g for 7" & 8.9" devices.
  . App for WiFi file transfers w/o cable.

---

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 - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle

---

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 app for Android updated to v3.8.0 BUT you should *WAIT* for a fix. Brazil Kindle store up. Kindle apps grow 500%.

Amazon has added another update - this time for the Kindle app for Android
  But you should probably WAIT for the next update (see below) to save some frustration.

Kindle Fire tablets come with the Kindle-books feature built in, so there are no Kindle apps for those, of course.  However, many Kindle owners also have Android phones and tablets.


ConnectedDigitalWorld's Andrew Edney reports the update, but when I went to Google Play store to see the description, I saw a lot of unhappiness over the font sizing and general line layout, and people are finding it very difficult to read.

  I suspect the new font and layout problems are affecting phone-users more, as I saw someone with a Samsung Galaxy Tab who's happy with it while a Samsung Galaxy S2 phone user is not at all happy.

  Another user, with a phone and a tablet says "Works great" but others report being unable to resize their fonts (either w/ the option or with pinch zoom).

  Amazon Mobile LLC responded to the reviews with this:

' Hi Diane, we are currently working on an update to resolve this. Please stay tuned!
Thanks, Kindle for Android Team '

Amazon highlighting of new Kindle for Android's new features otherwise:
  What's New
• Kindle for Android now supports Simplified Chinese, including dictionaries.
• Turn it up to 11! New font sizes now available.
• Read print replica textbooks on Android tablets. Print Replica Kindle books maintain the rich formatting and layout of their related print editions and provide features to highlight passages, add margin notes, and search for keywords.
• Several bug fixes.

We just saw support for the Japanese Language dictionaries the other day, and now we have Simplified Chinese books, including dictionaries, supported as well.

So, Asia, it won't be long! I did read that Amazon had to delay SOMEthing in China recently, as there was a problem over there with server Cloud issues to be worked out.


Welcome, Brazil
TNW's Anna Heim reports on the launching of the Kindle Store in Brazil where a $150 (R$299) Kindle will be available in the "coming weeks."

 Heim links to the The Brazilian blog announcement.
  See more details at Heim's story on the the "long legal battle" in Brazil with the Internet Domain's previous owner "Amazon Corporation" and she links to what she describes as a bit of a "soap opera."
  Amazon has officially announced the store, at www.amazon.com.br.

  And here are the full details of what will be available at the store.

Amazon's Appstore downloads grew 500% this year
What it grew from is a question, but most tech writers find it impressive regardless.

  For app developers (or customers interested in investing in tablets that may get more support from developers), Ars Technica's Florence Ion relays some interesting details on new features for Amazon developers.

  She adds that "A/B testing will also help developers understand what users of the Amazon Appstore and Kindle ecosystem like and need from their applications, as their scope may be increasingly different from that of regular Android users."

  Re the free A/B testing service to lure new developers, TNW's Harrison Weber quotes Mike Frazzini, Director of Amazon Games, on this:
  "A/B Testing service is essential for developers because it will help offload the overhead costs of building, maintaining and running scalable tests.”

  Amazon also noted other developer offerings, including its GameCircle + a new, more interactive Maps API, and localization support for options for different regions, and its Kindle Fire Emulator.

While we're on the topic, check out Amazon's Top-rated Android apps.


Kindle Daily Deal today, Dec. 7
The Kindle Daily Deal for today, Dec. 7, is a book on "The Ascent of George Washington", by John Ferling, which Amazon describes this way:
  "Perhaps the most revered American of all, George Washington has long been considered a stoic leader who held himself above the fray of political infighting. What's gone unnoticed about Washington's life is that he was a consummate politician, as historian John Ferling shows in this revealing and provocative new book."
  It's $1.99 at "83% off"

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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 - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle

---

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 for Android gets upgrade to v3.5.0.83 . Adds support for richer layout and personal docs to Kindle app

The Kindle App for Android updatea v3.5.0.83 is quite a big update that offers added access to a much larger assortment of richly illustrated Kindle books and allows you to email personal documents to your Send-to-Kindle e-mail address -- Amazon delivers them to your device and automatically archives the documents.

Thanks for Twitter alerts sent by Elias Zuniga and Corneliu Dascalu.

Supported formats for personal documents, including non-Amazon books:
  PDF, MOBI, HTML, DOC, TXT and PRC

The free Kindle for Android now supports the new Kindle Format 8 (KF8) - HTML5, with access to popular comics like Batman, Superman and many more, plus over 1000 illustrated children's titles, including Brown Bear and Curious George.  It brings richer formatting capabilities to thousands of other Kindle titles, and now Android device users can select from multiple dictionary languages when looking up definitions in Kindle books.

Access to over 100 newspapers and magazines is included with no Kindle required, but if you have a Kindle, the Whispersync technology syncs last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across various devices.

The update can be downloaded from the Amazon Android Appstore or from Google Play (formerly Android Market).


NOTE RE DOCUMENT EMAIL FEES IF USING 3G/4G instead of WiFi
If sending by cell phone networks as with smart phones or tablets with data plans:
  There is a 15c per MB charge unless you use WiFi.

To see how and where to change your settings to avoid accruing 3G/4G charges when sending personal docs to your Kindle device, see these earlier posts:
  GENERAL
  . How to send documents to your Kindle

  WORD docs
  . How to send WORD docs to your Kindle



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 for Android app v3.40.156 gets Real Page Numbers now. Also, info on how Page Numbers and Skip-to-Next/Prev Chapter features work, for each Kindle model

Kindle for Android App Software Update Version 3.40.156 now has real page numbers.

So, can the Android-based Kindle Fire app update to add real page numbers be far behind?

Other benefits of the Kindle for Android app update include greatly reduced size of the app and some bug fixes.  The photo comes from the Android Market site.  Here's Amazon's own page for the download and for additional information on the update.

 Interestingly (sort of), the Android Market customers have a much more favorable view on the app, with 51,733 giving it 5 stars and 14,691 giving it 4 stars. 6,115 aren't keen on it.  Amazon customers reviewing this Android app give it 195 5-star ratings, 52 4-star ones, and 102 give it 1 star.  That's a huge difference and I'm wondering why.  Please chime in if you have any ideas.

  I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 Android phone and a Samsung 10.1 Galaxy Tab, and the update works fine on both.  Yet I've seen comments from many at Android-focused websites who of course have very varying Android devices, who've posted that their phones or tablets, including the new Samsung Nexus phones using 'Ice Cream Sandwich" (ICS) operating system, have had some odd results.


Which KINDLE BOOKS have Page numbers rather than just Location numbers?
  Real page numbers are included in Kindle books for which the publisher and Amazon have processed page numbers to match those of a given print version (release date, edition, hardcover, or paperback, etc.)

  Amazon has been adding these, since February 2011, to "tens of thousands of Kindle books, including the top 100 bestselling books in the Kindle Store that have matching print editions and to thousands more of the most popular books"

  So far, Amazon does this only if there are matching print versions so that these can be aligned for classwork (which can be cited) or for bookclubs with mixed types of books and ebooks for easier matching-page access.  Other e-reader sometimes include page numbers that are not for the purpose of matching any other books but just to give a "#1 of #123 pages" for an e-book.


How do you find page number information on the various Kindle devices?
  1.  A light press of the top center edge of the screen for an open book on a Kindle Touch will show, at the bottom of the screen, any included Real Page number and Percentage of the book read, at that point.

  2.  On Kindle Keyboard models (UK: K3) and Kindle 2 and the $79 Kindle Basic NoTouch/NoKeyboard model, you press Menu button to get Page number information (if the Kindle book includes that) shown at the bottom of the screen as well as a progress bar.

  3.  On the Kindle Fire, there is no Page Number feature yet.


Little-known chapter-markings feature
  1.  On Kindle Keyboard models, you will usually also see the Percentage-read progress bar at the bottom of the screen, with the percentage indicated at the left.

  If the publisher HAS used the option to add chapter-markers, you'll see vertical markings on the reading-progress bar and a small downward-pointing arrowhead which shows where you were when you started that session and, in addition, the solid line which shows completion so far will show you how much further you need to read, relatively speaking, to get TO the next chapter or to the end of the book.

  From the User's Guide for Kindles with Keyboard:

' To go to the next or previous chapter, press the right (>) or left (<) button on the 5-way controller. '

  And when you want to retrace your steps (but not go to previous page), the "Back" button is the way to go.

  2.  On Kindle Touch models, the bottom of the screen of any open book will show the Location number at the left and Percentage-read at the right.

  Lightly press the top center at the edge of the screen and you'll get the Menu button as well as several other options shown.
  At the very bottom, you'll see "Page [x] of [xxx]" added.

  There is no progress bar shown on the bottom row of the Touch models because if there IS direct access to each chapter, you get them by just "swiping" UP to get the next chapter and swiping DOWN to get the previous chapter.

  Unfortunately, publishers don't use the Chapter-Access feature as often as they should.

  3.  On the Kindle Fire, you lightly press the top center at the edge of the screen and the orange Progress bar plus Location numbers and Percentage read will display.

  Again, there are NO Page numbers for the Kindle Fire book app yet, and NO way to get directly to the beginning of the next or previous chapters.

  Amazon's KFire is getting TWICE the amount* of downloads at USA Today over ALL other Android devices.  You'd think Kindle Fire customers would get this feature before the general Android app users.  But, juggling software development scheduling for various models and apps is never an easy thing.   Still ... hmmm.

  * Business Insider's headline: "A Leak From The USA TODAY shows
    How The Kindle Fire Is Blowing Away Other Android Tablets"


So Many Vays
Have you noticed that blog entries to explain how a feature or a related feature works on a Kindle is now a quite complicated task when there are so many different models co-existing?  Choice is good, but it takes longer to do a blog entry these days when going into detail on how to do things on the various models.

  If that sounds as if I'm explaining lag time between entries, that's true :-)  because researching news and news-comment areas, user guides, doing tests, and getting other forum-customer experiences in addition to trading info on the forums really does take a lot of time not shown on the blog.  Am hoping Kindle-Edition subscribers understand.



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

Read More