Just released in the Kindle Store: The Complete User's Guide To the Amazing Amazon Kindle 2
(The Complete User's Guide To the Amazing Amazon Kindle 2: A Kindle Owner’s Toolkit Of Over 500 Tips, Tricks, and Links To Help You Get the Most Out of Amazon’s Revolutionary e-Book Reader & Free Wireless Web Browser has been live in Amazon's Kindle Store since Sunday afternoon and has already cracked the top 25 bestsellers there, although the book's bibliographic metadata, product description, and sort categories are not yet live on the Amazon site. So, just to make it a little easier for you to get a sense of what the book provides while it is still being offered at a very low promotional price, I am posting the content of the Amazon product description here).
Here's the beta version of the definitive new guide to the vastly improved Kindle 2, by the author of the 2008 Kindle 1 guide that outsold all other first-generation Kindle guides combined. Find out why the Kindle is still king among e-book readers with an astonishing array of new hardware and software features that make it a delightful snap to read anything from bestsellers to classics to your daily papers or a memo from a colleague. And with a treasure trove of more than 500 tips, tricks, resources and links Windwalker's Kindle 2 guide will make you wonder if Amazon has evolved the e-reader that does not need a computer (Kindle 1) into the e-reader that *is* a remarkably versatile mobile computer (Kindle 2) with totally free "anywhere" wireless service paid for by Amazon.
In addition to scores of hacks and resources to help you make the most of the Kindle 2 reading experience and easily acquire fully-formatted free content for your Kindle, Windwalker also goes far beyond the user's manual w tells you what you need to know, with updated links, so that you can use the Kindle 2's surprisingly powerful and user-friendly free wireless web to check email, news, scores, stocks, bank accounts, favorite blogs, movie listings, book reviews, shopping choices, travel information, and even the local weather!
Written for serious readers as well as early adopters and "gadget heads," Windwalker's book-length guide -- 40,000 words in this inexpensive beta edition -- comes elegantly formatted for the Kindle with a fully interactive table of contents that make for user-friendly navigation and hundreds of links through which you can access resources directly with your Kindle browser or, if you take advantage of Windwalker's free offer, download to your desktop or notebook computer. If you own the first-generation Kindle and you are trying to decide whether to upgrade to the Kindle 2, this book will help you with the due diligence necessary to make an informed decision, and even provides helpful information on how to help harvest some of the funds for an upgrade from the process of disposing of your Kindle 1.
Chapter Headings also include:
Great Websites for Free Content - What’s New with the Kindle 2 - Up and Running: Getting Started with Your Amazon Kindle 2 - Getting and Reading Books With Your Kindle - Sampling Books - Saving Items for Later - Getting and Reading Periodicals and Blogs with Your Kindle - Using Google Reader to Read Your Favorite Blogs on the Kindle - Using the Kindle’s Audio Features - Connecting with the World With Your Kindle - Read and Answer Email Anywhere*, Anytime on the Kindle, Without Monthly Charges - Troubleshooting if You Have Difficulty Accessing Gmail or Other Web Pages - Traveling with Your Kindle - Using the Kindle to Translate Foreign or Technical Words and Phrases - Making the Most of Your Kindle Connections Overseas - Using the Kindle as a Travel Guide - The Kindle and GPS - Checking Sprint Wireless Coverage for the Kindle 2 - Downloading Kindle Editions via USB Cable - Other Tips and Tricks to Help You Get the Most out of Your Kindle 2 - Optimizing the Powers of Kindle Search - Returning a Kindle Store Purchase - Using Gift Cards, Gift Certificates, and Promotional Certificates to Give or Purchase Kindle Content - Recover Deleted Content at No Charge - Sign Up for an HTML File of the Links Contained in This Book - Writing and Publishing Kindle Content: 20 Steps to Publishing a Kindle Edition of Your Book or Document - How to Use Kindle, Amazon and the Web to Market Your Book and Connect with Readers - Improved Content Management and Sorting - Opening, Deleting, and Restoring Kindle Content - Let Your Kindle Read to You with a New “Read-to-Me” Feature - Hands-Free Reading Options - Improved Periodical Navigation - Improved Reading and Web Navigation with the Joystick and the Back Button - and much, much more!
Great Websites for Free Content - What’s New with the Kindle 2 - Up and Running: Getting Started with Your Amazon Kindle 2 - Getting and Reading Books With Your Kindle - Sampling Books - Saving Items for Later - Getting and Reading Periodicals and Blogs with Your Kindle - Using Google Reader to Read Your Favorite Blogs on the Kindle - Using the Kindle’s Audio Features - Connecting with the World With Your Kindle - Read and Answer Email Anywhere*, Anytime on the Kindle, Without Monthly Charges - Troubleshooting if You Have Difficulty Accessing Gmail or Other Web Pages - Traveling with Your Kindle - Using the Kindle to Translate Foreign or Technical Words and Phrases - Making the Most of Your Kindle Connections Overseas - Using the Kindle as a Travel Guide - The Kindle and GPS - Checking Sprint Wireless Coverage for the Kindle 2 - Downloading Kindle Editions via USB Cable - Other Tips and Tricks to Help You Get the Most out of Your Kindle 2 - Optimizing the Powers of Kindle Search - Returning a Kindle Store Purchase - Using Gift Cards, Gift Certificates, and Promotional Certificates to Give or Purchase Kindle Content - Recover Deleted Content at No Charge - Sign Up for an HTML File of the Links Contained in This Book - Writing and Publishing Kindle Content: 20 Steps to Publishing a Kindle Edition of Your Book or Document - How to Use Kindle, Amazon and the Web to Market Your Book and Connect with Readers - Improved Content Management and Sorting - Opening, Deleting, and Restoring Kindle Content - Let Your Kindle Read to You with a New “Read-to-Me” Feature - Hands-Free Reading Options - Improved Periodical Navigation - Improved Reading and Web Navigation with the Joystick and the Back Button - and much, much more!
Kindle commentary: How Many, How Many I Wonder, But They Really Don’t Want to Tell
Originally posted at TeleRead.com on February 20, 2009By Stephen Windwalker, with apologies to songwriters Don Robertson and Howard Barnes and artists Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Les Paul and Mary Ford for the title of this post
Even if I had never been a guest on the show, I’m sure I would make a regular weekly routine of listening to Len Edgerly’s Friday Kindle Chronicles podcast. Today Len deserves kudos for landing and conducting an interview with Ian Freed, Amazon’s vice-president for Kindle, and for utilizing the wisdom of crowds (in this case his growing subscriber list) in developing his questions for the dialogue. The postcast ordinarily runs about 40 minutes, give or take, and I recommend it.
Len draws out Freed on a variety of topics that will in some cases be more interesting to actual Kindle owners than to those of us who seem to be called to an avocation of thinking and writing about all things Kindle and the wider world of e-readers and gadgetry, including:
* the possibility of a larger display for greater textbook compatibility;
* the reasons why Amazon has yet to respond directly to customer demands for user-defined content folders;
* Amazon’s commitment to continuing support for Kindle 1 owners;
* the Kindle Store’s effort to hold the line at a $9.99 price point for bestseller hardcover editions and new releases; and
* Freed’s favorite thing about the Kindle 2, which is that it is thinner, more comfortable to use, and appeals to his 13-year-old son.
But Freed also provides interesting tealeaves for us to read on three other topics that may help to frame our thoughts and speculation about the future of the Kindle and the world’s growing federation force of putative Kindle Killers. Two of these topics involve the Kindle’s free 3G web browser (made more user-friendly by hardware enhancements and wider connectivity areas) and another statement that Kindle compatibility with smart phones and other mobile devices is something that “we’re working on pretty aggressively. We are excited about offering it and it’s coming soon.”
But let me focus here for a moment or two on those elusive Kindle sales numbers.
On speculation about the possibility that Amazon might run out of the new Kindles on or soon after its February 24 release date, Freed sought to allay fears: “We’re in good shape. Orders are terrific. We’re really pleased with them, but we also are, I think, in a better position to understand what demand would be like, so we feel like things are going well.”
What interests me about these comments is that I think they make it possible to divine something about Kindle sales. Amazon’s ability to “understand what demand would be like” would be based, one would think, on past benchmarks. The company’s best period ever for Kindle sales came in the 10 days following Oprah’s October 24 endorsement, during which I believe that Amazon shipped about 100,000 Kindles. Now the company is approaching a release date on which it will ship all the Kindle 2 orders stirred up by the high-profile launch of the revamped device, as well as Kindle 2 shipments converted from the Kindle 1 backorders placed by well over 100,000 customers between mid-November and February 8.
So what do we think it means about the number of Kindle 2 units that will be shipped in a single day on February 24, if Freed “[understood] what demand would be like,” and feels that “orders are terrific?” The most conservative figure I can force myself to extrapolate from this limited data and other research I have conducted is in the ballpark of a quarter million Kindles shipped on a single day. More likely, I think, is a figure roughly twice that high.
We’ll never find out, of course. Or will we?
We’ve all seen that Amazon is as loathe to divulge quarterly or annual Kindle sales figures as it is to release internal benchmark figures from any sector of its business. However, the company does seem to enjoy teasing us from time to time with very specific numbers that are more of a snapshot nature and cannot be used to glean much in the way of bottom-line performance analysis. Information that the company has provided in the past about its raw numbers of holiday orders or the number of release-date Harry Potter books shipped falls into that category.
So wouldn’t it be fitting for Freed, Jeff Bezos, or the company’s press office to share a snippet of information about Kindle 2 release-date shipments, sometime between February 25 and the company’s first-quarter conference call in late April? They could tell us that X number of units had been shipped that day, or that more units had been shipped than in the entire history of Kindle 1, or that the total top-line revenue from the release-date shipments made it the single biggest day, in dollars, in Amazon history. They could tell us any or all of these things, or anything else that they wanted to tell us, or nothing.
For pros like Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney, any such information would be fodder for some further serious spreadsheet engagement. For you and me, it might be fun, or not. For some on-the-fence prospective Kindle 2 buyers, it would be one more nudge to avoid being too, too late to the party. For book and periodical publishers and authors, it would be like placing a large and powerful magnet at the center of the Kindle Store catalogue. And for the manufacturers and sellers of all those putative Kindle Killers — who, I am convinced, are seen by Amazon more as prospective partners than as competitors — it might be an impetus to make deals that could, in the long run, be beneficial for Kindle owners and publishers.
We’ll see. And, of course, I have spread the window of time during which I speculate that Amazon could make such a pronouncement over a long enough period that I can hope, if nothing happens, that you will forget I said it.
About Stephen: He’s been writing about Amazon’s strategic innovations since his niche bestseller on online bookselling in 2002, and his Complete Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle was the top-selling title in the Kindle store for 17 weeks in 2008, but on advice from Amazon's attorneys Windwalker refuses to divulge how many books have been sold. Stephen is also publisher of A Kindle Home Page and the weekly Kindle Nation email newsletter, and his latest book, on the Kindle 2, is now available in the Kindle Store .
How Many, How Many I Wonder, But They Really Don’t Want to Tell
(Weekly blog post at TeleRead.com)
By Stephen Windwalker, with apologies to songwriters Don Robertson and Howard Barnes and artists Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Les Paul and Mary Ford for the title of this post
Even if I had never been a guest on the show, I’m sure I would make a regular weekly routine of listening to Len Edgerly’s Friday Kindle Chronicles podcast. Today Len deserves kudos for landing and conducting an interview with Ian Freed, Amazon’s vice-president for Kindle, and for utilizing the wisdom of crowds....
Read more....
By Stephen Windwalker, with apologies to songwriters Don Robertson and Howard Barnes and artists Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Les Paul and Mary Ford for the title of this post
Even if I had never been a guest on the show, I’m sure I would make a regular weekly routine of listening to Len Edgerly’s Friday Kindle Chronicles podcast. Today Len deserves kudos for landing and conducting an interview with Ian Freed, Amazon’s vice-president for Kindle, and for utilizing the wisdom of crowds....
Read more....
Order these free books for your Kindle 2 before they disappear
Here's a money-saving tip for new Kindlers who are awaiting for the arrival of their Kindle 2. Amazon, publishers, and authors often get together to offer temporary "zero-price promotions" on popular books in the Kindle Store, in addition to the thousands of free public-domain titles that are now available.
Naturally, these books do not remain free forever, but you do not have to wait for the arrival of your Kindle 2 to place your order. You can order these free books today and they will be delivered wirelessly to your Kindle 2 when you power it up for the first time. Just make sure that you place the order through the Amazon account that will be linked to your Kindle.
Eight of these books are being offered free by Random House through the end of February, and many are by authors who are publishing new work in 2009.
The ninth is a real treat, a major new Kindle exclusive cookbook from Cook's Illustrated, and it alone may help you to expand the ways you have considered using your Kindle. The promotion allows Amazon to show off how the Kindle 2's new, crisper display, zoom feature, and better hands-free functionality are more cookbook-compatible than its predecessor.
Finally, the tenth link here isn't free, but it's for an accessory that I highly recommend, especially if you think you might use the Kindle 2 either as cookbook repository or as a read-aloud companion while you are in the kitchen. M-Edge, which has emerged as a leading supplier of attractive Kindle covers for the original Kindle, has come out with a great selection of Kindle 2 covers that double as stand-up hands-free Kindle platforms. They range in price from faux-leather models at the same $29.99 price that Amazon is now charging for its branded cover to $54.99 (currently discounted to $44.99) for very attractive genuine leather models in several colors. Just visit the Kindle 2 Accessories page and scroll down (if you can!) past those dreamy three-figure designer covers from Cole-Haan.
Naturally, these books do not remain free forever, but you do not have to wait for the arrival of your Kindle 2 to place your order. You can order these free books today and they will be delivered wirelessly to your Kindle 2 when you power it up for the first time. Just make sure that you place the order through the Amazon account that will be linked to your Kindle.
Eight of these books are being offered free by Random House through the end of February, and many are by authors who are publishing new work in 2009.
The ninth is a real treat, a major new Kindle exclusive cookbook from Cook's Illustrated, and it alone may help you to expand the ways you have considered using your Kindle. The promotion allows Amazon to show off how the Kindle 2's new, crisper display, zoom feature, and better hands-free functionality are more cookbook-compatible than its predecessor.
Finally, the tenth link here isn't free, but it's for an accessory that I highly recommend, especially if you think you might use the Kindle 2 either as cookbook repository or as a read-aloud companion while you are in the kitchen. M-Edge, which has emerged as a leading supplier of attractive Kindle covers for the original Kindle, has come out with a great selection of Kindle 2 covers that double as stand-up hands-free Kindle platforms. They range in price from faux-leather models at the same $29.99 price that Amazon is now charging for its branded cover to $54.99 (currently discounted to $44.99) for very attractive genuine leather models in several colors. Just visit the Kindle 2 Accessories page and scroll down (if you can!) past those dreamy three-figure designer covers from Cole-Haan.
Murder List by Julie Garwood
The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst
The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie NotaroPrague by Arthur Phillips
Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston
Free-Range Chickens by Simon Rich
Looking beyond the “Text-to-Speech” Kindle Kerfuffle
(My weekly post for TeleRead.com for Friday, 2.13.09)
By Stephen Windwalker, founder and publisher of the weekly Kindle Nation newsletter
This week we shall speak of robots and pirates and a kerfuffle without a cause. Or not.
Among the more intriguing innovations new to Amazon's just-launched but still unshipped Kindle 2 is a “Text-to-Speech” Read-to-Me feature wherein a somewhat creepy and robotic "voice" will read aloud to you from any text file that you purchase or otherwise acquire and download to the device. Whether it's the latest New Yorker, a memo your boss sent you, or The Brothers Karamazov, the Kindle 2 will read it aloud while you are cooking, driving, or dozing off (hopefully not in that order), turn its own pages for you, and mark your place in case you wish to return to more active reading later. I fully expect that a future volume of DSM-IV will have a name for at least one syndrome originating from its victims' childhood experience of having been forced to listen to bedtime stories read by the Kindle 2.
However creepy or psychologically scarring it may be under some circumstances, Read-to-Me scores high enough on the convenient and cool gadgetry scales that Amazon may have a clear winner: a feature that will drive Kindle device and book sales by adding new and special value to the books and other content that people buy from the Kindle store. Amazon and its Kindle already have a huge edge on e-book competitors based on access to publishers, front- and mid-list titles, and readers and their credit card information and practices. Read-to-Me will only magnify that edge, if it survives.
Which, if Author's Guild executive director Paul Aiken has a say, may be in question.
Amazon has labeled the Read-to-Me feature "experimental," which means that it reserves the right to discontinue it at any time. When the original Kindle was launched 15 months ago, its "experimental" features included the free 3G Whispernet wireless web, which was a great selling point and a keeper of an idea, and another idea so goofy that, well, the fact that it made it as far as the Kindle's launch suggests that it may have come right from the top. That idea was called "NowNow" -- think Ask Jeeves meets the Kindle, but just don't ask Jeeves any questions about Amazon or the Kindle! -- and it was neither a keeper nor much of a starter.
So, why is Amazon applying the "experimental" label to its "Text-to-Speech" innovation?
Those of us inclined to put two and two together may divine some connection between the "experimental" hedge and the fact that Aiken has come out swinging against "Text-to-Speech" with the distinct sound of a man who is speaking to copyright attorneys about an authors' rights lawsuit.
"We're studying this matter closely and will report back to you," says the Author's Guild website, and it advises authors to be tenacious with their e-book rights. The website also notes that audiobooks "surpassed $1 billion in sales in 2007," much higher than e-book sales. After principles can be much more compelling when they are backed by 10-figure revenues.
The Author's Guild is not widely known as a particularly democratic, open, or truly author-driven organization -- compared, say, with PEN or the National Writer's Union -- but it has received plenty of ink lately with a reasonably successful legal settlement against Google Book Search and a less effective campaign against the Amazon Marketplace used book portal. At times the Guild has diminished its own gravitas by taking positions such as one which was widely interpreted to question the right of libraries to lend books to their patrons.
Amazon's attorneys are no slouches, and most of the smart money and the smart people are on Amazon's side here. When lawyers parse these issues they may make distinctions between public and private practices and between recordings and the transitory rendering of a purchased text in audio form.
If Paul Aiken should walk into a public performance hall at some point and find a Kindle propped up at a lectern reading aloud to a crowd of rapt listeners, he should by all means make a citizen's arrest. But a copyright case targeting Kindle customers who purchase an electronic book file and then use available software to listen to part or all of it in the privacy of their homes seems as laughable as the one about the library books.
Still and all, as much as I am hoping to enjoying listening to my Kindle 2 read to me, discreetly, for years to come, I wonder if this "Text-to-Speech" kerfuffle may lead us into a further roiling of the waters. After all, this "Text-to-Speech" software is the product of Nuance, the Burlington, MA, software developer behind the popular Dragon Speaking Naturally "Speech-to-Text" programs. To my knowledge, nobody yet has sufficiently hacked Amazon's DRM-laden .AZW Kindle text files to open them up beyond the Kindle Store where untold acts of piracy might be lurking, but if "Text-to-Speech" starts talking to "Speech-to-Text," might there not be hell -- and a lot of lawyers -- to pay?
Stephen Windwalker has been writing about Amazon’s strategic innovations since his niche bestseller on online bookselling in 2002, and his Complete Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle was the top-selling title in the Kindle store for 17 weeks in 2008, but on advice from Amazon’s attorneys Windwalker refuses to divulge how many books have been sold. Stephen is also publisher of A Kindle Home Page and the weekly Kindle Nation email newsletter.
Special Opportunity for Kindle 1 Owners
From Amazon's new Kindle 2 web page:
Even though we’ve increased our manufacturing capacity, we want to be sure our original Kindle owners are first in line to receive Kindle 2. Place your Kindle 2 order by midnight PST on February 10th and you will receive first priority.
Here's something cool just reported by Len Edgerly of the Kindle Chronicles: The New Yorker is now available on the Kindle!
Even though we’ve increased our manufacturing capacity, we want to be sure our original Kindle owners are first in line to receive Kindle 2. Place your Kindle 2 order by midnight PST on February 10th and you will receive first priority.
Here's something cool just reported by Len Edgerly of the Kindle Chronicles: The New Yorker is now available on the Kindle!
Q & A on the Kindle press conference
What follows are my questions. We'll see how many Amazon answers.
What are they calling the new Kindle?
Bezos: "Today I'm excited to introduce the Kindle 2." Here's a link to the new Kindle 2 detail page. "If you have previously placed an order for Kindle 1, and have not yet received it, your order will automatically be upgraded to Kindle 2. You need to do nothing. "
Has Amazon fixed the most glaring problems with the first-generation Kindle? (Gratuitous page turning, poor content management)
The page-turning buttons are much more compact, so that problem should be solved. I've got nothing on content management other than WhisperSynch and the fact that we can now delete content directly from the home screen. But with 1,500-title native storage, there better be folders!
What's new about the Kindle 2 hardware?
It's 0.36" thick (about 3/4 as thick as the iPhone), with 7 times as much storage capacity as the original Kindle so that it holds 1500 books. The new Kindle is half an inch longer and half as thick as the old Kindle (at the widest edge of the Kindle 1's wedge).
It looks just like the pictures that have been showing up on the web recently with improved button/bar placement and a grid keyboard. There's an elegant 5-way controller that allows you to move the cursor through documents, preview stories, etc.
There is a built-in "text-to-speech" feature so that you can automatically listen to any book or document you are reading. Way cool, I think: Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you
The battery life is 25% greater, according to Jeff. A graphic says you can read for two weeks on a single charge. (From my experience, that would be more than a 25% improvement).
The screen refresh is marginally faster: about 20 per cent. Even better, the display now features 16 shades of grayscale for much more elegant graphics.
What's new with the Kindle 2 software?
A new feature called WhisperSynch automatically synchronizes what you are reading (including the "page" you are on) between your various Kindle-enabled electronic devices.
From the Kindle 2 product page: Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.
What's the price for the new Kindle?
$359. Interesting change: the Kindle cover is no longer included in the box, and must be bought separately. This will be a boon to third-party Kindle cover manufacturers and sellers.
When will the new Kindle ship?
"This item will be released on February 24, 2009."
What's the deal with Stephen King and the new Kindle?
The early word is that the Kindle may actually come loaded with a Kindle-exclusive Stephen King story that features a Kindle-like device. Product placement gone wild! The story is called "Ur," and the Kindle in the story can access other worlds, which may be a 3.0 feature.
Has Amazon enhanced the Kindle's audio features?
Yes, the new Kindle comes with 2 built-in stereo speaks on the back of the device. There is also a nifty built-in "text-to-speech" feature so that you can automatically listen to any book or document you are reading. Way cool, I think: Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you
How about USB-recharging and improvements to the Kindle battery?
The battery life is 25% greater, according to Jeff. A graphic says you can read for two weeks on a single charge, and four days with the wireless turned on. (From my experience, that would be more than a 25% improvement).
And, on the Kindle 2 product page, Amazon says: "Fully charges in approximately 4 hours and supports charging from your computer via the included USB 2.0 cable." (emphasis added)
What has Amazon done to keep its production in synch with its orders?
On the Kindle 2 product page, Amazon says: "... we’ve increased our manufacturing capacity."
Questions that will wait for another day:
What is Amazon doing to get the Kindle into schools and public libraries?
How about new features like a Kindle Buffet?
Is Amazon saying anything about specific plans for a larger display or a textbook-friendly Kindle?
Is Amazon showing signs that it will see Google and Apple as partners in the growth of digital reading?
How many Kindles has Amazon shipped, and how many will it ship in February 2009?
Has Amazon provided any specifics about opening the Kindle Store to other devices?
Has Amazon made any moves toward going open source?
What is Amazon doing to support social networking among Kindle owners and other readers?
Is Amazon taking specific steps to empower Kindle owners as Kindle sellers?
When will Kindle owners be able to connect easily with the main Kindle store?
Where and when will the Kindle go global?
What are they calling the new Kindle?
Bezos: "Today I'm excited to introduce the Kindle 2." Here's a link to the new Kindle 2 detail page. "If you have previously placed an order for Kindle 1, and have not yet received it, your order will automatically be upgraded to Kindle 2. You need to do nothing. "
Has Amazon fixed the most glaring problems with the first-generation Kindle? (Gratuitous page turning, poor content management)
The page-turning buttons are much more compact, so that problem should be solved. I've got nothing on content management other than WhisperSynch and the fact that we can now delete content directly from the home screen. But with 1,500-title native storage, there better be folders!
What's new about the Kindle 2 hardware?
It's 0.36" thick (about 3/4 as thick as the iPhone), with 7 times as much storage capacity as the original Kindle so that it holds 1500 books. The new Kindle is half an inch longer and half as thick as the old Kindle (at the widest edge of the Kindle 1's wedge).
It looks just like the pictures that have been showing up on the web recently with improved button/bar placement and a grid keyboard. There's an elegant 5-way controller that allows you to move the cursor through documents, preview stories, etc.
There is a built-in "text-to-speech" feature so that you can automatically listen to any book or document you are reading. Way cool, I think: Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you
The battery life is 25% greater, according to Jeff. A graphic says you can read for two weeks on a single charge. (From my experience, that would be more than a 25% improvement).
The screen refresh is marginally faster: about 20 per cent. Even better, the display now features 16 shades of grayscale for much more elegant graphics.
What's new with the Kindle 2 software?
A new feature called WhisperSynch automatically synchronizes what you are reading (including the "page" you are on) between your various Kindle-enabled electronic devices.
From the Kindle 2 product page: Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.
What's the price for the new Kindle?
$359. Interesting change: the Kindle cover is no longer included in the box, and must be bought separately. This will be a boon to third-party Kindle cover manufacturers and sellers.
When will the new Kindle ship?
"This item will be released on February 24, 2009."
What's the deal with Stephen King and the new Kindle?
The early word is that the Kindle may actually come loaded with a Kindle-exclusive Stephen King story that features a Kindle-like device. Product placement gone wild! The story is called "Ur," and the Kindle in the story can access other worlds, which may be a 3.0 feature.
Has Amazon enhanced the Kindle's audio features?
Yes, the new Kindle comes with 2 built-in stereo speaks on the back of the device. There is also a nifty built-in "text-to-speech" feature so that you can automatically listen to any book or document you are reading. Way cool, I think: Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you
How about USB-recharging and improvements to the Kindle battery?
The battery life is 25% greater, according to Jeff. A graphic says you can read for two weeks on a single charge, and four days with the wireless turned on. (From my experience, that would be more than a 25% improvement).
And, on the Kindle 2 product page, Amazon says: "Fully charges in approximately 4 hours and supports charging from your computer via the included USB 2.0 cable." (emphasis added)
What has Amazon done to keep its production in synch with its orders?
On the Kindle 2 product page, Amazon says: "... we’ve increased our manufacturing capacity."
Questions that will wait for another day:
What is Amazon doing to get the Kindle into schools and public libraries?
How about new features like a Kindle Buffet?
Is Amazon saying anything about specific plans for a larger display or a textbook-friendly Kindle?
Is Amazon showing signs that it will see Google and Apple as partners in the growth of digital reading?
How many Kindles has Amazon shipped, and how many will it ship in February 2009?
Has Amazon provided any specifics about opening the Kindle Store to other devices?
Has Amazon made any moves toward going open source?
What is Amazon doing to support social networking among Kindle owners and other readers?
Is Amazon taking specific steps to empower Kindle owners as Kindle sellers?
When will Kindle owners be able to connect easily with the main Kindle store?
Where and when will the Kindle go global?
Recording a snapshot: from the Kindle detail page, 8:40 am EST 2.9.09
To see the pertinent Kindle detail as it appeared directly on the Kindle detail page in the main Amazon store as of 8:40 a.m. 2.9.09, click here.
Meanwhile, here's a great post by Dana Blankenhorn over at ZDNet: Time for Kindle to go open source
Amazon share price at 10 a.m. - $66.55
Meanwhile, here's a great post by Dana Blankenhorn over at ZDNet: Time for Kindle to go open source
Amazon share price at 10 a.m. - $66.55
A Stephen King exclusive for the Kindle
News is spreading this morning that, among other things, Jeff Bezos will announce today that Amazon has signed Stephen King on for a (temporarily) Kindle exclusive book deal. This is a great idea.And I apologize for being a teensy bit self-referential in pasting in this paragraph from p. 92 of the August 2008 paperback print edition of The Complete User's Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle:
Since I ordinarily come at these things from a bookselling perspective, I've been thinking for a while that the time should come soon when Amazon should arrange with Stephen King or J.D. Salinger to release his or her next book for the Kindle 60 days ahead of print, and then keeping doing this about once a month. Of course Amazon already knows that: nothing sells TVs like must-see TV.After all, this one is not rocket science. But I've had a crush on Sissy Spacek for over 30 years and it is great fun that somebody managed to snap that picture of her holding her Kindle....
Useful new features in the Kindle 1.2 firmware upgrade
With the Kindle 2.0 Jazzed Level at Code Red, it would have been easy to miss important features that are included in the version 1.2 firmware upgrade that Amazon has been zapping in waves to the 713,451 Kindles* that are currently in the field.So the sometimes helpful Amazon Kindle Team posted this announcement on the Kindle's own Amazon discussion forum:
A new software update for Kindle has rolled out. This update (version 1.2) adds the following features:The zoom feature will be important for all of us who have been frustrated by the Kindle's previous inability to show us useful graphics of art, maps, diagrams, tables, etc. Obviously, this feature will greatly enhance the Kindle publishing platform's appeal for publishers of academic texts, other textbooks, and travel guides, among others.
- Zoom any image in Kindle books or periodicals by selecting the image using the scroll wheel.
- Individual items and groups of items can be deleted directly from the Home screen. Simply scroll to the item you wish to delete and push the backspace key.
- Improved character and font support including Greek characters and monospace fonts.
To make this process as effective as possible for all of our customers, not all devices will be sent the update at the same time. When the software update is available and your Kindle is connected wirelessly to Whispernet, the update will download to your Kindle automatically. Then, the next time Kindle is in sleep mode, it will take advantage of the idle time and apply the update.
The upgrade that allows us to clean up our personal Kindle library by deleting titles directly from the home screen is an important convenience, but like many of the features missing from the Kindle 1.0, it deserved to be more remarked "in the breach than in the observance."
Then there is the Greek alphabet thing. H'mm. Maybe it's a signal that the first destination for a global Kindle roll-out will be among American ex-pats on the island of Crete. Or not. Maybe it's all about academic texts. Maybe it ties back to Jeff Bezos' original launch day statement that the Kindle would eventually be able to access "every book ever printed" and illuminates a commitment to go all the way back to those pre-Gutenberg texts that Caesar used as Kindling 2057 years ago. In any case, I'm yet to be convinced that this one will change my life.
____________________________
* I arrived at this scientific quantification of the Kindle's installed base by drawing from two sources: the time showing on my Kindle as I began typing, and the temperature at which paper becomes spontaneously combustible. And no, you can't check my work.
Counting down to Amazon’s Kindle press conference
from TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home:
TeleRead Editor’s Note: We are happy to welcome Stephen Windwalker as a regular contributor to TeleRead. Stephen has been writing about Amazon’s strategic innovations since his niche bestseller on online bookselling in 2002, and his Complete Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle was the top-selling title in the Kindle store for 17 weeks in 2008, but on advice from Amazon’s attorneys Windwalker refuses to divulge how many books have been sold. Stephen is also publisher of the Kindle Home Page blog and the weekly Kindle Nation email newsletter. Paul Biba
TeleRead Editor’s Note: We are happy to welcome Stephen Windwalker as a regular contributor to TeleRead. Stephen has been writing about Amazon’s strategic innovations since his niche bestseller on online bookselling in 2002, and his Complete Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle was the top-selling title in the Kindle store for 17 weeks in 2008, but on advice from Amazon’s attorneys Windwalker refuses to divulge how many books have been sold. Stephen is also publisher of the Kindle Home Page blog and the weekly Kindle Nation email newsletter. Paul Biba
Far be it from me, just hours before the heralded launch of the Kindle 2.0 (or whatever Amazon plans to call it), to pull back the curtain with wild claims about any of the device’s new features. Tomorrow I’ll do my best to base all of that on the actual news, rather than the rumors, and pack it into tomorrow afternoon’s felicitously timed weekly issue of my Kindle Nation email newsletter.
Tonight seems like a better time to look back at the prospective Kindle 2.0 features that I suggested last summer in The Complete Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle. We could all agree on the obvious fixes demanded by thousands of Kindle owners including, most notably, those pesky next- and previous-page bars and a user-friendly system of content management folders or labels. Other hardware enhancements such as quicker refresh, a touch screen, and a color display will happen when the technologies are ready.
But the more significant questions to be answered at Monday’s press conference may tell us how aggressively Amazon is prepared to pursue the still unrealized revolutionary potential of the Kindle. Without making too much of the fact that these suggestions are discussed in much greater detail in my book, let me here provide the briefest of discussions of a few of the high notes Jeff Bezos could hit in between those signature fits of forced laughter. [Read rest of post]
Kindling the Googlezon Future
1.5 million books in your pocket
Most people on the outside of Google, Apple, and Amazon see them as competitors, and of course they are. But their status as partners -- constantly connecting the dots of hardware, content, and network to maximize usefulness as well as revenue -- is far more important, and it is at that nexus that future revolutions in reading and knowledge and publishing will be ignited, or kindled.
Most people on the outside of Google, Apple, and Amazon see them as competitors, and of course they are. But their status as partners -- constantly connecting the dots of hardware, content, and network to maximize usefulness as well as revenue -- is far more important, and it is at that nexus that future revolutions in reading and knowledge and publishing will be ignited, or kindled.
On the Kindle 2.0 - Just to summarize....
Two days before Amazon's big Kindle press conference on Monday in New York, and here is a quick summary to put things in perspective:
* If you have already placed an order for the Kindle, you will be at the head of the line for the updated version that will ship in February. If you select 1-day delivery ($3.99 with Amazon Prime), you will probably receive your Kindle between February 12 and February 25, but a slight further delay is possible for most recent orders because Amazon will probably be shipping over a quarter of a million Kindles this month. (During the past 24 hours Amazon has updated my projected receipt date to February 25, from a window that began on March 4).
* It looks increasingly like the "switch" from the backordered "Kindle 1" to the ready-to-ship "Kindle 2" will be seamless, with no price change, no change in ASIN, and possibly even no designation of model "1" or "2." I had earlier reported my expectation of a 10 per cent price increase, but I will be happy to concede error on that one as Amazon figured out that it could make the entire "switch" more seamless if it did not have to get permission for an additional charge on the hundreds of thousands of Kindle backorders in the pipeline.
* While the primary focus for gadget heads may be form factor enhancements highlighted in the "leaked" pictures of the updated Kindle that have been showing up since October, those of us who actually own the Kindle will be more interested in software enhancements, such as content management folders, which will be rolled out Monday and transmitted wirelessly to all Kindles in the field over the course of this month in the form of a firmware version update.
* The most important Kindle "announcement" of February 2009 will probably turn out to have been a staffer's tip that Amazon is "working on" apps that will allow users of devices such as the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the Blackberry to buy books and other content instantly from the Kindle store.
* Before the end of 2009, the most important known Kindle metric will be the number of Kindle Store app downloads from Apple's Apps Store. Say that three times fast.
Let's plan to be in touch on Monday if you have a minute....
* If you have already placed an order for the Kindle, you will be at the head of the line for the updated version that will ship in February. If you select 1-day delivery ($3.99 with Amazon Prime), you will probably receive your Kindle between February 12 and February 25, but a slight further delay is possible for most recent orders because Amazon will probably be shipping over a quarter of a million Kindles this month. (During the past 24 hours Amazon has updated my projected receipt date to February 25, from a window that began on March 4).
* It looks increasingly like the "switch" from the backordered "Kindle 1" to the ready-to-ship "Kindle 2" will be seamless, with no price change, no change in ASIN, and possibly even no designation of model "1" or "2." I had earlier reported my expectation of a 10 per cent price increase, but I will be happy to concede error on that one as Amazon figured out that it could make the entire "switch" more seamless if it did not have to get permission for an additional charge on the hundreds of thousands of Kindle backorders in the pipeline.
* While the primary focus for gadget heads may be form factor enhancements highlighted in the "leaked" pictures of the updated Kindle that have been showing up since October, those of us who actually own the Kindle will be more interested in software enhancements, such as content management folders, which will be rolled out Monday and transmitted wirelessly to all Kindles in the field over the course of this month in the form of a firmware version update.* The most important Kindle "announcement" of February 2009 will probably turn out to have been a staffer's tip that Amazon is "working on" apps that will allow users of devices such as the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the Blackberry to buy books and other content instantly from the Kindle store.
* Before the end of 2009, the most important known Kindle metric will be the number of Kindle Store app downloads from Apple's Apps Store. Say that three times fast.
Let's plan to be in touch on Monday if you have a minute....
ET, Phone the Kindle Store
Yesterday Amazon let slip news that -- for authors, publishers, and people who like to read on their cellphones -- may potentially be every bit as big as anything the company will announce about the Kindle 2, 3, or 4 on February 9.
As suggested in my book last summer and in this January 30 post here and at my Amazon-hosted blog, the Kindle Store will soon begin selling its content to owners of devices such as the Blackberry, the iPhone, and the iPod Touch:
As I have written before: "the primary importance of the Kindle for Amazon lies in four things: it jumpstarts significant electronic book sales; it positions the books in the Kindle store as the primary source of e-reader content; it sets the bar higher than it had previously been set for form factor, feature set, and delivery mode for electronic books; and it gives Amazon a seat at the head of the table in shaping this area of book commerce going forward." That seat just got placed on risers.
For all the snarky Applephiles and Amazonians who have mistakenly seen this as an either/or battle from the get-go, a word to the wise: we can all just get along. Meanwhile, every ereading device and ebook portal including the Kindle and the Kindle Store will, no doubt, continue to scramble to play nice with the potentially astounding free public domain catalog available through Google Books. Neither Amazon nor Apple has any need to monetize that activity, but it is essential that Google Books access be part of the feature set.
As suggested in my book last summer and in this January 30 post here and at my Amazon-hosted blog, the Kindle Store will soon begin selling its content to owners of devices such as the Blackberry, the iPhone, and the iPod Touch:
Amazon said that it was working on making the titles for its popular e-book reader, the Kindle, available on a variety of mobile phones.So, do we still call a device a potential "Kindle Killer" if millions of its owners can use it to buy books, newspapers, and magazines from the Kindle Store, with Amazon getting a 25 to 35 per cent cut? No, Amazon's Kindle initiative has much less to do with any specific hardware device than with Amazon's need -- and apparent ability -- to stay ahead of changing modalities in book and other content sales.
As I have written before: "the primary importance of the Kindle for Amazon lies in four things: it jumpstarts significant electronic book sales; it positions the books in the Kindle store as the primary source of e-reader content; it sets the bar higher than it had previously been set for form factor, feature set, and delivery mode for electronic books; and it gives Amazon a seat at the head of the table in shaping this area of book commerce going forward." That seat just got placed on risers.
For all the snarky Applephiles and Amazonians who have mistakenly seen this as an either/or battle from the get-go, a word to the wise: we can all just get along. Meanwhile, every ereading device and ebook portal including the Kindle and the Kindle Store will, no doubt, continue to scramble to play nice with the potentially astounding free public domain catalog available through Google Books. Neither Amazon nor Apple has any need to monetize that activity, but it is essential that Google Books access be part of the feature set.
Kindle Nation - Volume 1, Number 1
Good morning Kindlers!
So much has been going in the world of the Amazon Kindle that I have decided to begin trying to condense news and developments that I want to share with you in a weekly "Kindle Nation" email newsletter. You will receive this if you have signed up in the past for my updates or links, or if you have sent me a "subscribe to Kindle Nation" email, but you can opt out easily just by sending an email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line to KindleNation@gmail.com. I can promise that the weekly newsletter will be brief (never more than 1,000 words), simple in format, and aimed at helping Kindle owners to get more out of their Kindles, solve irksome little problems, and keep up to date with new Kindle developments and fresh Kindle content.
I'm going to try to focus on 5 or 6 nuggets a week, and here's the lineup for Kindle Nation - Volume 1, Number 1:
1. Thousands of free books now in the Kindle Store, and an easy way to organize your search
2. Kindle Gift Cards
3. Countdown to the Kindle 2.0: 7 Days
4. Newly Streamlined Kindle Home Page
5. Here's a Fun and Timely Read
So, without further ado:
1. Thousands of free books now in the Kindle Store, and an easy way to organize your search
Last week Amazon added over 7,000 free books to the Kindle Store. Although they are public domain titles previously available through Project Gutenberg and elsewhere, this is an important step and a sign of things to come as Amazon makes content deals along the way toward Jeff Bezos' stated long-term goal of giving Kindle owners access to "every book ever printed." The downside for some Kindle owners is that, temporarily, this made it harder to find Kindle titles that are being offered free due to a zero-price promotion. Not to worry. With a tip of the cap to Karen in the Kindle Korner community, I am happy to be able to provide this link that places the most popular zero-price titles first in a Kindle Store search: Just click on Search Free Promotional Content in the Kindle Store or paste http://tinyurl.com/SearchFreeKindleContent into your browser.
2. Kindle Gift Cards
There's nothing revolutionary here, but it is a nice convenience. Here's the scoop: Something New for Kindle Purchases: The Amazon Kindle Gift Card!
3. Countdown to the Kindle 2.0: 7 Days
By now you have heard from me and elsewhere about the Kindle 2.0. To recap, here's the story on Amazon's planned February 9 press conference, hosted by Jeff Bezos, at New York's Morgan Library. And here's my experience with Amazon Customer Service, which makes me very confident that Amazon will soon begin offering the Kindle 2.0 to customers who are waiting in line with existing Kindle backorders.
If you have read my Kindle Guide, you know that I've already had a lot to say about what I think should be, and will be, the features of the Kindle 2.0. So I am not going to burden the record with more of the same, except to say that it is critical that Amazon provide as many as possible of these features to existing Kindle owners with a firmware update via the Whispernet. And please believe me when I say that, while I understand the interest of many of us, myself included, in upgrading to the new Kindle, I am not recommending or suggesting to anyone that they throw their first Kindles to the curb and buy something new.
But if you do want to place a Kindle order so that you will fix your place in line for the Kindle 2.0, here's a link to place your order.
4. Newly Streamlined Kindle Home Page
If you haven't checked out my Kindle Home Page website lately, a natural consequence of the work I am doing to prepare the next Kindle guide is that the website has been streamlined and spruced up a bit for your covenience.
5. Here's a Fun and Timely Read
Whether you are a boomer who knows all the words to "Peggy Sue" or tweener who would like to learn about the lives of the musicians who came (long) before Green Day or the Jonas Brothers, you may be interested in a new Kindle exclusive from author Staton Rabin: OH BOY! The Life and Music of Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer Buddy Holly. According to my friend Len Edgerly over at the Kindle Chronicles podcast, it reads well for those from 9 to, well, somewhat older.
Okay, that's a wrap. Please feel free to share this with your friends and fellow Kindlers, and encourage them to subscribe by sending an email with "subscribe" in the subject line to KindleNation@gmail.com. If you are already receiving it, you don't need to subscribe unless you want to give me an address change.
Cheers!
Stephen Windwalker
http://tinyurl.com/KGuide
Kindle Home Page website
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/WindwalkerFB
Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/Windwalker-Amazon
617-418-3161
So much has been going in the world of the Amazon Kindle that I have decided to begin trying to condense news and developments that I want to share with you in a weekly "Kindle Nation" email newsletter. You will receive this if you have signed up in the past for my updates or links, or if you have sent me a "subscribe to Kindle Nation" email, but you can opt out easily just by sending an email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line to KindleNation@gmail.com. I can promise that the weekly newsletter will be brief (never more than 1,000 words), simple in format, and aimed at helping Kindle owners to get more out of their Kindles, solve irksome little problems, and keep up to date with new Kindle developments and fresh Kindle content.
I'm going to try to focus on 5 or 6 nuggets a week, and here's the lineup for Kindle Nation - Volume 1, Number 1:
1. Thousands of free books now in the Kindle Store, and an easy way to organize your search
2. Kindle Gift Cards
3. Countdown to the Kindle 2.0: 7 Days
4. Newly Streamlined Kindle Home Page
5. Here's a Fun and Timely Read
So, without further ado:
1. Thousands of free books now in the Kindle Store, and an easy way to organize your search
Last week Amazon added over 7,000 free books to the Kindle Store. Although they are public domain titles previously available through Project Gutenberg and elsewhere, this is an important step and a sign of things to come as Amazon makes content deals along the way toward Jeff Bezos' stated long-term goal of giving Kindle owners access to "every book ever printed." The downside for some Kindle owners is that, temporarily, this made it harder to find Kindle titles that are being offered free due to a zero-price promotion. Not to worry. With a tip of the cap to Karen in the Kindle Korner community, I am happy to be able to provide this link that places the most popular zero-price titles first in a Kindle Store search: Just click on Search Free Promotional Content in the Kindle Store or paste http://tinyurl.com/
2. Kindle Gift Cards
There's nothing revolutionary here, but it is a nice convenience. Here's the scoop: Something New for Kindle Purchases: The Amazon Kindle Gift Card!
3. Countdown to the Kindle 2.0: 7 Days
By now you have heard from me and elsewhere about the Kindle 2.0. To recap, here's the story on Amazon's planned February 9 press conference, hosted by Jeff Bezos, at New York's Morgan Library. And here's my experience with Amazon Customer Service, which makes me very confident that Amazon will soon begin offering the Kindle 2.0 to customers who are waiting in line with existing Kindle backorders.
If you have read my Kindle Guide, you know that I've already had a lot to say about what I think should be, and will be, the features of the Kindle 2.0. So I am not going to burden the record with more of the same, except to say that it is critical that Amazon provide as many as possible of these features to existing Kindle owners with a firmware update via the Whispernet. And please believe me when I say that, while I understand the interest of many of us, myself included, in upgrading to the new Kindle, I am not recommending or suggesting to anyone that they throw their first Kindles to the curb and buy something new.
But if you do want to place a Kindle order so that you will fix your place in line for the Kindle 2.0, here's a link to place your order.
4. Newly Streamlined Kindle Home Page
If you haven't checked out my Kindle Home Page website lately, a natural consequence of the work I am doing to prepare the next Kindle guide is that the website has been streamlined and spruced up a bit for your covenience.
5. Here's a Fun and Timely Read
Whether you are a boomer who knows all the words to "Peggy Sue" or tweener who would like to learn about the lives of the musicians who came (long) before Green Day or the Jonas Brothers, you may be interested in a new Kindle exclusive from author Staton Rabin: OH BOY! The Life and Music of Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer Buddy Holly. According to my friend Len Edgerly over at the Kindle Chronicles podcast, it reads well for those from 9 to, well, somewhat older.
Okay, that's a wrap. Please feel free to share this with your friends and fellow Kindlers, and encourage them to subscribe by sending an email with "subscribe" in the subject line to KindleNation@gmail.com. If you are already receiving it, you don't need to subscribe unless you want to give me an address change.
Cheers!
Stephen Windwalker
http://tinyurl.com/KGuide
Kindle Home Page website
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/
Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/Windwalker-
617-418-3161
New link to make it easy to search for free books in the Kindle Store!
Click on Search Free Promotional Content in the Kindle Store
or paste http://tinyurl.com/SearchFreeKindleContent into your browser
or paste http://tinyurl.com/SearchFreeKindleContent into your browser
Thanks to Karen at Kindle Korner!
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