Kindle News: The Kindle e-reader among "best tech when going off the grid"

Ars Technica highlights the author's cousin's use of the Kindle Keyboard 3G for keeping in touch while away with the Peace Corps in a remote area of the world

  The article by Ars Technica's Cyrus Farivar, about his cousin Martin do Nascimento's use of a Kindle to keep in touch, doesn't make clear that it's the Keyboard version (UK: KK-3G) rather than the Touch version of the Kindle.  The old keyboard version's 3G can be used in about 60 countries for things like very slow web browsing and e-mail.

  So, I did want to clear that up while also linking to the story, as it's a good example of what Amazon has kept available in the slower keyboard Kindle3 e-reader (and 9.7" DX) since 2009 when they first allowed Kindles to access 3G in the rest of the world (where it is available with Amazon's carrier agreements) for more than downloading Kindle books or accessing Wikipedia at no add'l cost.

  Besides the usual (for Amazon) free cellular network usable for 3G Kindle books downloading that is so convenient when you don't have to go look for WiFi (something Penguin Group found too convenient for public library borrowing), the free Wikipedia access is still part of the newer Kindle Touch models as well -- and 24/7 free 3G access to Wikipedia can be very useful for students and other curious people.
  However, 'Touch'  can definitely be more 'cool' than a not-easily-used physical flat-keyed keyboard and a 5-way button for up/down/sideways.

 But the special 3G e-mail and web capability featured in the story is available only on the old Kindle 3G keyboard model.  It's clunky but it works.

'...this little, relatively cheap device has been a godsend for him in 2012, with its worldwide 3G Internet. Even though Martin lives in a remote area, I hear from him nearly every day by e-mail.

"Most of my e-mails I write on my Kindle," he told me recently (by cell phone this time). "I use it to stay in touch with friends, even [through] Facebook. The Kindle’s not fantastic by any means, but I can read my e-mail reliably... '

Farivar mentions he can't gift his cousin in Nicaragua a Kindle book because e-mail attachments are not possible, and I think that the Kindle book-gifting feature isn't available for people currently located outside the U.S. (due to world-wide digital rights problems).

  He does mention the battery life being excellent and we've seen this in events such as earthquakes or other disasters when smartphones had short lives and some were able to get through with their longer-battery-lived Kindle keyboards instead.

The article is about how to keep in touch when away, generally, so there are tips for iPhone user and Android handset users too, with software recommendations and a unique website for paid text-to-email service recommended if necessary.  The image they use for the article is of someone using an iPhone but I linked to their article and included a smaller version of the image they are using.  It's so much nicer than seeing yet another image of a gadget!  ;-)

I have an ongoing article about the countries in which this feature works for the Kindle Keyboard (K3) model, and the countries-table highlighted is used by Amazon UK on their website to make it more clear for their own customers (the table applies to Amazon in general).

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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 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: Kindle Fire's fast rise in actual use noted ... Amzn appstore app updated yesterday...Kindle Blogger on 'Best Reads of 2011' list - UPDATE

Amazon Appstore app updated to version 2.2.0

UPDATE - Commenter Jenni pointed out today that the Kindle Fire's built-in app for the Amazon Android Appstore is Version 2.38.6 while this update for the Amazon store is Version 2.2.0.

  The Update Tuesday, also reported in detail at Android App Central is about the Amazon app store for Android used on devices that are not the Kindle Fire.

  In fact, I don't see the option to show/not show notifications on the Kindle Fire's own built-in store app, but a clue was that no "compatability testing" app would be needed or improved for the Kindle Fire version!

  So, the v2.2.0 Amazon app store app is only for OTHER devices using Amazon's Android Appstore, and is used as an alternative to Google's Android Market and of course so that people can go get Amazon's "Free Android App of the Day"

In fact, part of the annoyance for me was seeing so many notifications from Amazon's apps that are seen

I'm linking to the details in AndroidCentral report and the even more detailed at AndroidPolice (with screen shots of notification options), for those whom this update affects (many of us have Android smartphones and other Android tablets -- in my case the Samsung Galaxy S2 phone and the Samsung 10.1" Galaxy Tab tablet.

On the Kindle Fire, there are no notification options (I'd assumed they were on the manageyourkindle page but they're not), so the notification changes are apparently only for the Amazon Android AppStore app that is used by all other devices, which CAN go to Google's Android Market for app files.

Sidenote - Android Market is now Google Play.
  Android Market's name and URL have just been changed by Google from market.android.com to Google Play, with the URL https://play.google.com/store, which is where you're taken if you type the old Android Market address.

---

Earlier today, for the Amazon Android AppStore app used by other devices:
  The Verge's Andrew Webster lists the changes.

We no longer have to see the notifications every day or several times a day, as there's now an option to be notified or not about app downloads, installations, and updates -- and we can now tweak the settings.

  Since I don't install every app I download (the free ones are just kept at Amazon until I want to use them), I really don't like being notified constantly that they are ready to be installed.  So, this is a very welcome change for me.

There are also app compatability checks and messaging in connection with payment options.
Photo credit: hothardware.com

KINDLE FIRE AND USAGE STATS
Tuesday, a day before the iPad 3 (or iPad HD) announcement today, Gigaom.com and several other online 'zines carried stories on Mobile ad provider Jumptap's MobileSTAT report, that

• the Kindle Fire's traffic ('in-use' stats) jumped, from 4 percent at launch in November, to 20% in December and to 33% in January.
  
  The iPad's mobile traffic dropped from 65 percent in November to 48 percent in January.
• helped increase overall tablet traffic by an average of 50% through January.

Gigaom's Ryan Kim Ryan Kim adds:

' But the Kindle Fire is showing that it is not just a cheap plaything.  According to the data, people are actually using it despite its rougher edges compared to the iPad.  In January, Flurry noted that the Kindle Fire had just barely eclipsed the Galaxy Tab as the most used Android tablet.  Based on Jumptap’s figures, it looks like the Fire has outpaced the rest of the Android pack. '

In the graph above,
  .  the Apple iPad market share is in light blue.
  .  the Kindle Fire market share is shown in blue-green, and
  .  the All others market share is shown in dark blue.

You can see the relative changes for each.  Click the graph to get the larger, more readable graph at Gigaom.

Jumptap tracks the advertising on its network of 95 million U.S. users, involving 21,000 apps and websites.  They also found that "Android and [Apple] iOS represent 91 percent of the mobile OS market, with Android enjoying 58.8 percent of mobile market share while iOS follows with 32.2 percent.  More detail and another graph are at the gigaom site.  Of course, the new iPad will have an effect on relative growth shown for the next few months.


KINDLE BLOGGER JOHN COG FINDS THAT ONE OF HIS BLOG ARTICLES MADE THE READER'S DIGEST BEST READS of 2011

From Me and My Kindle (Website: www.beyond-black-friday.com), here's Cog's introduction about his discovery:

' A funny thing happened when I found Reader’s Digest‘s list of the “Best Reads of 2011.”  A post from my blog was #4 on the list!

  Woody Allen wrote the #3 article on the list, and Roseanne Barr wrote the #13 article.  (And I also recognized the names Christopher Hitchens and David Brooks).  The editors of Reader’s Digest had selected “the most unforgettable articles” for the entire year from newspapers, magazines, and from the internet, but it still took me a while to fully accept what had happened.  The “best reads” of the year came from The New York Times, Vanity Fair magazine, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and — from this blog! '

Heady stuff, but he's always been an engaging, creative blogger.  To see which of his stories made the Best Reads list for the last year, read the full story on his blog.

I use Cog's name here despite his using a pseudonym on the blog, since his postings are often available at Teleread under his everyday name, and he's been interviewed about his blog at Len Edgerly's The Kindle Chronicles podcast, and is this week's featured interview, focusing on his co-authoring of the new Kindle word game for Kindle Keyboards (non-Touch models) AND the $79 Kindle Basic (no Keyboard/No Touch) Throw in the Vowel



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

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

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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 Active Content for $0.99 for January 2012

KINDLE ACTIVE CONTENT FOR 99 CENTS FOR JANUARY

These are 23 "active content" items (productivity & educational tools in this case) for the non-Touch Kindles and are all at 99c during the rest of January.

  Some are usually higher-priced while some are always 99c  but are among the most popular in customer reviews.  This is a collection that Amazon decided to highlight for those who aren't aware they're available.

I haven't been able to find wording by Amazon today on availability of these outside the U.S.  Let me know if you can't download these in your country or if you can.  I don't know why that information is not on the product page header.

  They work with "the Kindle" (which is the NON-Touch/Non-Keyboard {also UK}, the Kindle Keyboard {also UK} -- formerly known as Kindle 3 -- and most of these work with the older Kindle 2 also, and Kindle DX devices.



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

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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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Amazon quietly acquires Charlotte voice-to-text startup Yap ? Why? Update

The Atlantic reports that "I See Your Siri and Raise You a Yap: Amazon Quietly Snaps up Speech-Recognition Startup"

Information digger Edward Boyhan sent a heads-up on stories about Amazon's apparent acquisition of the Charlotte voice-to-text startup, Yap, as shown by an SEC filing which seems to have been completed in September,  although The Alantic's senior editor Alexis Madrigal reports that no public announcement has been made by either Amazon or Yap.  Igor and Victor, the Jablokov brothers, founded Yap in 2006.

  The Washington Post article, by The Verge, cites Charlotte's CLTBlog, as does the earlier Atlantic story Wednesday morning (10 a.m.).

CLTBlog is the original source, and many subsequent stories are referencing The Atlantic story because that's where the story was first noticed.

As Madrigal points out that although Amazon isn't mentioned by name, "Yap merged with a company called "Dion Acquisition Sub" (Yarmuth Dion Inc.), that "just so happens to be headquartered at 410 Terry Avenue in Seattle, Washington, an Amazon.com building."  This would be Amazon's first small step, Madrigal adds, into voice control, a feature missing from Amazon products.

  Also missing is a microphone in any of the new Kindle devices.  The only microphone available in a Kindle currently lies dormant in the Kindle 3 (Wired.com story by Tim Carmody), which is the August 2010 Kindle now sold under the name Kindle Keyboard  (UK: Kindle Keyboard also)  to differentiate it from the Kindle Touch models.

  CLT Blog's Justin Ruckman explains that Yap Voicemail "was a Google-Voice-like transcription app available for iOS and Android" which he used for over a year when it was in private beta -- so he was surprised to receive a notice that the service would be discontinued in a matter of days.  Considering the scope of its intellectual property and the lack of voice-recognition technology in Amazon's Kindles, it seems a smart move for both companies.

  The Washington Post, using The Verge story by Sam Byford adds that Microsoft had previously used the Yap technology for its Talk to Text BlackBerry app.  Is Dion Acquisition Sub Inc a "shell company"?

  There are more details about Yap, the company, in the stories linked above.

The most interesting article is, once again, by Tim Carmody for Wired's Epicenter.  He points out that it's unlikely that Amazon has its eye on competing with Apple's Siri (the much-discussed voice-driven interface for iPhone).

  Reason? Yap isn't very much like Siri -- Yap's specialty is transcriptions while Siri's is artificial intelligence, Carmody notes.

' Apple packages Siri’s core software with third-party search and transcription services to extend its functionality, which leads to some overlap (like voice-based text messaging).
  The heart of Siri, however, is the AI that strips human language for meaningful phrases and transforms them into actionable commands.
  Unless Yap is hiding something deep within its labs that they’ve never shown to anyone, the company doesn’t have anything quite like that. '

  What Yap DOES do though, and "very well," Carmody says, is cloud-based voice transcription:

' i.e., literal, word-for-word rendering of speech into text, at very high volume with very high accuracy but at very low cost.

  It can do this with direct dictation or recorded speech, with something as short as a text message or voicemail or as long as an entire keynote address.  Transcribed speech can then be used for search, commands, or output directly into a document.

  The closer analog to Yap then, isn’t Siri, but Nuance, the company behind Dragon’s collection of voice applications for desktop and mobile, and whose engine powers the speech-to-text component of — you guessed it — Siri. '

See Carmody's full article for his detailed, explained listing of what he sees as Amazon's possible reasons for its interest in Yap technology, arranged from most to least likely.

  These include 1) "licensable patents and other IP";  2) added user interface to aid search in its mobile applications, etc.;  3) a cloud company with matching robust cloud services, high-quality automated voice-to-text transcription;  4) commodity transcription services at competitive pricing for a cloud-computing, supercharged Yap; and  5. An Amazon Android-based smartphone "secretly" in the works  (I don't find this at all unlikely - the Lab126 job ads seem to point to that

I don't find #4 unlikely either.  Anyway, do see Carmody's full article at Wired.

  Update: @tcarmody replied at Twitter that
  'FWIW, I don't think 4) is "unlikely," exactly, just that the Yap acquisition isn't very good evidence for it.' 
   Notice that a Twitter status tweet now also shows the tweet that prompted a Twitter reply.



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

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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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Amazon Kindle Team ANSWERS on the Kindle Touch 3G web-browsing in 3G Question - Update

Kindle Team responds at the Amazon Kindle forum thread. At the link, you'll see the now clear answer to the questions asked over the last 3 days:

'Posted on Oct 2, 2011 4:42:59 PM PDT

The Amazon Kindle team says:
(AMAZON OFFICIAL)

We apologize for the confusion. Our new Kindle Touch 3G enables you to connect to the Kindle Store, download books and periodicals, and access Wikipedia - all over 3G or Wi-Fi.

Experimental web browsing (outside of Wikipedia) on Kindle Touch 3G is only available over Wi-Fi.

Our Kindle Keyboard 3G will continue to offer experimental web browsing over 3G or Wi-Fi. '

All bolding mine, of course, to emphasize the most salient points.


  Finally! Thanks, KTeam.  I do appreciate the confirmation, too, that the Kindle Keyboard 3G model (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G) will continue to allow the experimental free web browsing.

Update - To see which countries or areas have the experimental free 3G web browsing enabled on the Kindle Keyboard 3G (Kindle 3 3G-model), see the Listing of Countries with free 3G web-browsing enabled, which references an always-updated table put online at Amazon. UK.

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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 3G 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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A look at what the new Kindle Touch 3G offers - some differences

KINDLE TOUCH 3G
Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display, 3G Works Globally

Notes about the new Kindle Touch 3G
The product page presentation begins with the feature that differentiates this device from the Kindle Touch (WiFi only):

  "Free 3G wireless, no annual contracts or monthly fees."

  "Kindle Touch 3G uses the same wireless signals as cell phones, so you don't need to worry about Wi-Fi connections, passwords or internet charges.  Unlike cell phones, with Kindle Touch 3G there are no monthly fees or commitments — Amazon pays for Kindle Touch 3G's wireless connectivity."

This model also comes with WiFi, local network access.

As with the older Kindle 3 with 3G (now called the Kindle Keyboard 3G),  it has Text-to-speech (TTS) , can read audio books and play mp3's, including podcasts

All Kindles can borrow from public libraries now.

I'll be pointing out only differences between the older and new model offering 3G, as it's easy enough to see what Amazon offers by just going to the Product page for the Kindle Touch 3G.  I very much recommend readers take the time to slowly go over that page.



UPDATE - Amazon Kindle Team has made an official response to this question.  The Kindle Touch 3G has a more limited use of its 3G connectivity in that the 3G has been enabled for connection only to the Kindle Store, to download books and periodicals, and to access Wikipedia.  The experimental web-browsing feature isn't enabled for 3G but can be used via WiFi.  The Kindle Keyboard 3G   (UK: Kindle Keyboard 3G), will still have its 3G enabled for the experimental web browser.

  Click on the link above to read the statement by Kindle Team.

Points to keep in mind, on this touchscreen Kindle:
You can tap  ("no need to swipe") to turn pages, so Amazon points out you can hold the Kindle in either hand.

   Speed. Even the Kindle Basic ($79 to $109) has been praised (it's already shipping) for its noticeably faster page turns and speedier processes in general, over the older keyboard models.

  A new feature named "X-Ray" is available on the new Touch models and Amazon explains it this way:
  "Explore the 'bones of a book.' With a single tap, see all the passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics of interest, as well as more detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari."

  They reiterate that Amazon is providing "free cloud storage for all Amazon content" (meaning content you purchase from them -- music, video, as well as books).

  Battery Life:  Amazon used to base battery life on a rational 1 hour per day usage, but ever since
Barnes and Noble decided to base theirs on only 1/2 hour per day usage, and columnists picked up BN's results without looking at what daily usage it was based on,  Amazon has now changed its basis for
calculations, to match the 1/2 hour per day that Barnes and Noble apparently feels its users spend on books.
  So now, 2 months between charges  (with Wireless Off)  is claimed rather than 1 month.

  Also see Kindle Customer Service advisories on best battery maintenance practices.

  (I'm a Barnes and Noble card-carrying paid-member and am enjoying a NookColor, but this battery usage thing is for the birds, and I don't mean Angry ones, just BN's idea of disinterested ones.

  Content formats supported:  This isn't different from before, but it's often been said by people who don't know much about the Kindle, that the Kindle supports only Amazon's one format.  Here is the actual list of formats supported (this hasn't changed) :
  Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion

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I'm really glad that Amazon is keeping the Kindle Keyboard models active, as there are many who still prefer even a clunky physical keyboard to a touchscreen one. The Kindle 3 (Kindle Keyboard) has been known for its beautiful screen contrast, moreover.

Amazon has more to say on the special features in the lower portion of their page, which may receive less views, so I'll add some of it here

New Touch Experience - EasyReach
"Amazon invented a new type of touch experience that eliminates the fatigue caused by continuously swiping to turn the page, and that allows readers to hold Kindle with either hand while still turning pages comfortably  

  Page turns and other navigation with this model:

    Tapping on most of the screen area will page forward,
        the most common action done when reading;
    tapping in a narrow area near the left edge of the device turns to the previous page; and
    tapping on the top part of the screen brings up the toolbars for further options."

Customer Fonts - as with Kindle 3 model:
  "... hand-built, custom fonts and font-hinting to make words and letters more crisp, clear, and natural-looking  ...  improving legibility at small font sizes where few pixels are available..."

Support for Non-Latin Characters
This hasn't changed since Kindle, but it bears repeating here:
  ... Kindle Touch displays Cyrillic (such as Russian), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean characters, in addition to Latin and Greek scripts.

Full Image Zoom
(I miss this feature in reading normal books on my NookColor and it's said that the Adobe DRM format
for ePub has something to do with the limitation on that unit, which is otherwise very capable.)
"Images and photos display crisply on Kindle Touch 3G and can be zoomed to the full size of the screen."

Real Page Numbers
Again, many still don't know about this newer feature, which is on Kindle 3's as well.
  "Easily reference and cite passages or read alongside others in a book club or class with real page numbers.  ... we've created algorithms that match specific text in a Kindle book to the corresponding text in a print book, to identify the correct, "real" page number to display.

  Available on tens of thousands of our most popular Kindle books, including the top 100 bestselling books in the Kindle Store that have matching print editions.
  Page numbers are displayed when you touch the top of the screen.  (On the Kindle 3, it's done by pressing the Menu button.)

Carry and Read Your Personal Documents
Few know about this feature, which is getting even more support now.
  "You and your approved contacts can e-mail documents – including Word, PDF and more - directly to your Kindle and read them in Kindle format.  Delivery via Wi-Fi is free; there is a small fee for delivery via 3G - see details.

NEW TO KINDLE 3 AND NEW E-INK KINDLES
  "Your personal documents will be stored in your Kindle library on Amazon and ready to download conveniently anywhere at any time. You can add notes, highlights and bookmarks, which are automatically synchronized across devices along with the last page you read using our Whispersync technology."
  (Nate Hoffelder (and Felix Torres) had first noticed this by viewing the ManageYourKindle webpage source code and noting variables for pdocs and archiving.)

  ALSO, as has been true for well over a year, "You can read your PDFs in their native format AND convert them to the Kindle format so that it reflows like a regular Kindle book"

Personal Kindle Book Lending
  Besides public-library lending, already mentioned, "each eligible book (eligibility determined by the publisher] can be lent once for a period of 14 days."  [Publishers have held B&N to the same personal-lending rules]

Special Offers and Sponsored Screensavers
  This applies onlly to the "Special Offers" Kindle models, in this particular case the $149 Kindle Touch 3G.
Special offers are received on the unit, which also has sponsored screensavers seen only when not reading.
  Examples:
• $10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
• Save up to $500 off Amazon's already low prices on select HDTVs
• $1 for a Kindle book, choose from thousands of books

Audible Audiobooks
As with previous models, you can listen to Audible books with the Kindle Touch 3G (as well as play mp3's).

DECISIONS
For those who are having a difficult time deciding on which of the many Kindles to get, be sure to see the "Compare Kindles" table on that product page, which comes with images of each model.  I haven't had time to give the WiFi-Only version of the Kindle Touch a thorough look yet, but the two devices should be the same except for the 3G module

   If you have any questions on what you see in that table, please feel free to ask here, and you can also visit the Kindle Community forums where there is always help from other customers 24/7.

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