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Kindle Alternatives – the Sony Prs-505 E-book Reader
Lucy Thatcher asked:
The Sony Prs is one of the strongest rivals of the Amazon Kindle. Launched a few weeks after Kindle, Sony’s e-book reader is quickly catching up in terms of sales and popularity. Both e-book readers basically share the same functions. The biggest difference in the features of the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Prs 505 would be their price, design, user friendliness, and readability.
One of the major differences is the price of these two models. Kindle cost about $100 more that the Sony model. Does the Kindle have any additional features that warrant this hefty premium? The main difference between the Amazon Kindle and any other e-book readers is Amazon’s own wireless connectivity, Whispernet. This uses the mobile phone’s 3G technology, enabling you to access the Amazon E-book store wherever you are. The Sony Prs-505 on the other hand uses normal WI-FI wireless technology. You will only be able to access Sony’s E-book store though internet connection. Does this extra feature warrants the additional $100? You be the judge.
Another great difference between these two e-book readers is its design. The Amazon Kindle has a bright white exterior with a minimalist design. The Sony Prs 505 on the other has a metallic silver exterior, which is more sleek and thin-looking compared to the Kindle. Many reviews sited Sony’s model as having a higher ‘cool-factor’ compared to the other models.
Personally, I think that one of the best features of the Sony Prs-505 is its user friendliness. Its user interface is shockingly simple and easy to use. Once connected to your PC, you can download over a dozen e-books in less than 2 minutes. There are nine buttons on the left side of the screen that allows you to easily access pages that you have book-marked. The only set back is that the page turns of the Sony Prs 505 is a little sluggish compared to Kindle.
Readability would be another highlight of the Sony model. The screen is bigger than the Kindle, which is a big plus. In addition to that, Sony has improved on the screen’s readability under bright light where the words on the screen become more visible under bright lights. The screen contrast is sharp but yet easy on the eyes.
The Sony Prs is one of the strongest rivals of the Amazon Kindle. Launched a few weeks after Kindle, Sony’s e-book reader is quickly catching up in terms of sales and popularity. Both e-book readers basically share the same functions. The biggest difference in the features of the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Prs 505 would be their price, design, user friendliness, and readability.
One of the major differences is the price of these two models. Kindle cost about $100 more that the Sony model. Does the Kindle have any additional features that warrant this hefty premium? The main difference between the Amazon Kindle and any other e-book readers is Amazon’s own wireless connectivity, Whispernet. This uses the mobile phone’s 3G technology, enabling you to access the Amazon E-book store wherever you are. The Sony Prs-505 on the other hand uses normal WI-FI wireless technology. You will only be able to access Sony’s E-book store though internet connection. Does this extra feature warrants the additional $100? You be the judge.
Another great difference between these two e-book readers is its design. The Amazon Kindle has a bright white exterior with a minimalist design. The Sony Prs 505 on the other has a metallic silver exterior, which is more sleek and thin-looking compared to the Kindle. Many reviews sited Sony’s model as having a higher ‘cool-factor’ compared to the other models.
Personally, I think that one of the best features of the Sony Prs-505 is its user friendliness. Its user interface is shockingly simple and easy to use. Once connected to your PC, you can download over a dozen e-books in less than 2 minutes. There are nine buttons on the left side of the screen that allows you to easily access pages that you have book-marked. The only set back is that the page turns of the Sony Prs 505 is a little sluggish compared to Kindle.
Readability would be another highlight of the Sony model. The screen is bigger than the Kindle, which is a big plus. In addition to that, Sony has improved on the screen’s readability under bright light where the words on the screen become more visible under bright lights. The screen contrast is sharp but yet easy on the eyes.
Amazon Kindle How-to Series: Replacing the Battery on Your Amazon Kindle
Michael Piston asked:
Since the Amazon Kindle is a fairly new innovation, most owners have not had their Kindle e-book reader long enough to require a new battery. However, if you use your Kindle frequently and charge it often then you may get to the point where the battery doesn’t seem to last as long as when your Kindle was new. This is not an usual phenomenon - most rechargeable batteries have a “life” measured in number of re-charges.
Another reason that you may wish to replace the battery on your Kindle is that you are going to be using it for a long period of time and can’t charge it. For example let’s say you are planning a trip with a long international airplane flight. In this case you can take two (or more) fully charged Kindle batteries with you and replace them as required.
To save battery life, the Kindle goes into a “sleep” mode if you have not been reading an e-book or listening to an audio book for a long period of time. You’ll recognize when your Kindle has entered “sleep” mode because a screen saver will appear on your screen in-place of the book you were reading. Kindle comes with built-in screen savers, or you can check the site in the resource box below to learn how-to create your own.
Your Amazon Kindle has a built-in battery power meter you will find at the bottom right-side of the screen. The battery power meter is right next to the wireless signal strength meter. It’s sometimes easy to get these meters confused. The wireless signal strength indicator appears as a bar graph with a small antenna in-front of the first bar. When your battery power meter shows nearly all white you know it’s either time to recharge your Kindle or replace your battery. If the power meter goes down quickly after a charge it may be time to replace your battery.
Here’s how you replace the battery on your Amazon Kindle:
1. Turn-off your Kindle
2. Find a soft cloth or other means to protect the face of your Kindle
3. Place your Kindle face down on a flat, secure surface
4. Slide the gray back cover off of your Kindle
5. You will see the gray battery in it’s compartment
6. Note the battery compartment has a rounded “notch” on one end
7. Using your finger (not a screwdriver or any other device that might damage your Kindle)gently push the battery to the back of the compartment then lift it out
8. The battery is attached to your Kindle by a white plastic connector and several wires
9. GENTLY pull the white connector back until the battery is disconnected from your Kindle
10. Attach your new battery by pushing the white wiring connector into the proper location in the battery compartment
11. Seat the battery into the back of the battery compartment - make sure the white wiring connector is attached properly
12. Press the battery down at the front of the battery compartment - note that the battery and the compartment have a small notch and grove to help you line-up the battery
13. Replace the cover
14 Turn on your Kindle and you’re ready to get back to reading your favorite e-book or listening to your favorite audio book
Congratulations! You have just learned how-to replace the battery in your Amazon Kindle.
While this is not a procedure everyone will do regularly it’s helpful to know either when your battery does not hold a charge or if you are traveling with more than one charged battery.
One more important point! The battery in your Amazon Kindle is made from Lithium Polymer. It should be disposed of properly - likely at a battery recycling center located near you.
Since the Amazon Kindle is a fairly new innovation, most owners have not had their Kindle e-book reader long enough to require a new battery. However, if you use your Kindle frequently and charge it often then you may get to the point where the battery doesn’t seem to last as long as when your Kindle was new. This is not an usual phenomenon - most rechargeable batteries have a “life” measured in number of re-charges.
Another reason that you may wish to replace the battery on your Kindle is that you are going to be using it for a long period of time and can’t charge it. For example let’s say you are planning a trip with a long international airplane flight. In this case you can take two (or more) fully charged Kindle batteries with you and replace them as required.
To save battery life, the Kindle goes into a “sleep” mode if you have not been reading an e-book or listening to an audio book for a long period of time. You’ll recognize when your Kindle has entered “sleep” mode because a screen saver will appear on your screen in-place of the book you were reading. Kindle comes with built-in screen savers, or you can check the site in the resource box below to learn how-to create your own.
Your Amazon Kindle has a built-in battery power meter you will find at the bottom right-side of the screen. The battery power meter is right next to the wireless signal strength meter. It’s sometimes easy to get these meters confused. The wireless signal strength indicator appears as a bar graph with a small antenna in-front of the first bar. When your battery power meter shows nearly all white you know it’s either time to recharge your Kindle or replace your battery. If the power meter goes down quickly after a charge it may be time to replace your battery.
Here’s how you replace the battery on your Amazon Kindle:
1. Turn-off your Kindle
2. Find a soft cloth or other means to protect the face of your Kindle
3. Place your Kindle face down on a flat, secure surface
4. Slide the gray back cover off of your Kindle
5. You will see the gray battery in it’s compartment
6. Note the battery compartment has a rounded “notch” on one end
7. Using your finger (not a screwdriver or any other device that might damage your Kindle)gently push the battery to the back of the compartment then lift it out
8. The battery is attached to your Kindle by a white plastic connector and several wires
9. GENTLY pull the white connector back until the battery is disconnected from your Kindle
10. Attach your new battery by pushing the white wiring connector into the proper location in the battery compartment
11. Seat the battery into the back of the battery compartment - make sure the white wiring connector is attached properly
12. Press the battery down at the front of the battery compartment - note that the battery and the compartment have a small notch and grove to help you line-up the battery
13. Replace the cover
14 Turn on your Kindle and you’re ready to get back to reading your favorite e-book or listening to your favorite audio book
Congratulations! You have just learned how-to replace the battery in your Amazon Kindle.
While this is not a procedure everyone will do regularly it’s helpful to know either when your battery does not hold a charge or if you are traveling with more than one charged battery.
One more important point! The battery in your Amazon Kindle is made from Lithium Polymer. It should be disposed of properly - likely at a battery recycling center located near you.
Amazon Kindle How-to Series: Learn to Access the "secret" Functions in Kindle 1
Michael Piston asked:
Amazon has built a number of different features into the Kindle that never made it to the menus you use to access your e-books and audio books. You can do everything from make screen shots of your Kindle screen to find your location on Google Maps using the WhisperNet wireless technology in the Kindle.
NOTE- the features discussed here are for the Amazon Kindle 1 device. The Kindle 2 device available after February 24, 2009 likely will have different keyboard accessible features.
To access these features you will use a combination of keys on your Kindle’s keyboard. Most all of the features begin by pressing the key which is the at the lower left-hand side of your Kindle keyboard. You also may have to press the key which is directly above the key and has an upright arrow symbol. Here are a few of the special features you can access:
1. Play a game of Minesweeper on your Kindle - From the Home Screen press the key and the key and then the key to access a basic Minesweeper game. The Minesweeper menu lets you control the grid size and the number of mines you have to find.
2. Find-out the time - From the Kindle Home Screen press the key and the key. The page number display (i.e. 1 of 3) at the bottom left of your Kindle screen will change to a time display.
3. Find-out the time - From the Kindle Reader Screen (i.e. while reading and e-book) press the key and the key. The “Locations” display at the bottom left of your Kindle screen will change to a time that is in text vs. numeric format. For example 1:31 is “Twenty-nine till two”.
4. Take a “screen shot” of your Kindle screen - From any screen press the and key, then the key. You won’t get any notification that a screen-shot has been taken but you will find the screen shot on your Kindle’s SD card. The Kindle won’t save screen shots to its internal memory.
5. Find your current location - Open the Kindle’s browser - Menu > Experimental > Basic Web then press the key and the <1> key. Google Maps will open with your location shown. Your location is “triangulated” from the WhisperNet wireless access built into the Kindle so it’s not entirely accurate. But you can zoom in and out on the map to get a better idea of where you are - this gets you in the ball park.
6. View your e-book as a slide show - From the Kindle’s e-book reader press the key and <0> key to turn on the slide show capability. Then press the key and <1> key to start the slide show. Press the key and the <2> key to turn the slide show off. Press the key and the <0> key again to disable the slide show capability.
7. Control the Kindle audio player - Press the key and
Amazon has built a number of different features into the Kindle that never made it to the menus you use to access your e-books and audio books. You can do everything from make screen shots of your Kindle screen to find your location on Google Maps using the WhisperNet wireless technology in the Kindle.
NOTE- the features discussed here are for the Amazon Kindle 1 device. The Kindle 2 device available after February 24, 2009 likely will have different keyboard accessible features.
To access these features you will use a combination of keys on your Kindle’s keyboard. Most all of the features begin by pressing the
1. Play a game of Minesweeper on your Kindle - From the Home Screen press the
2. Find-out the time - From the Kindle Home Screen press the
3. Find-out the time - From the Kindle Reader Screen (i.e. while reading and e-book) press the
4. Take a “screen shot” of your Kindle screen - From any screen press the
5. Find your current location - Open the Kindle’s browser - Menu > Experimental > Basic Web then press the
6. View your e-book as a slide show - From the Kindle’s e-book reader press the
7. Control the Kindle audio player - Press the
key to play or stop the audio player. Press the
8. Reboot your Kindle - If you Kindle has been acting a bit “flakey” you can do a soft reboot by pressing the
The eight features listed above should give you an idea of the capabilities that are “hidden away” in your Kindle. Some of them will make your Kindle experience a bit better, and some will help you when you’re trying to trouble shoot problems with your Kindle. Keep this list handy so when you get tired of reading your favorite e-book or listening to your favorite audio book you can give them a try.
Kindle Reader – is it a Good Buy?
Alan Cruz asked:
World over there are a number of books - fiction as well as non fiction. For most people it is often difficult to even look at the number of titles that are available, let alone reading them. Books dealing with incisive details of a variety of subjects like Economics, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Religion, Culture, Philosophy, Parenting, Fashion from across the world hold a treasure house of knowledge in them. We are unable to search the physical copies of these books or do not get them where we want.
Reading and Modern technology
With digitalization of texts, the world of books has changed dramatically. You can be anywhere in the world, and yet access books of your choice from any author, language, subject, or market. The Internet makes that possible. Some of the books are available as free downloads, while for others you may have to pay small sums of money. But, opposed to the cumbersome process of ordering the physical edition of a valuable book from a foreign country, you can preview the book on your computer monitor within minutes and then decide to buy or preview another in the same class. You can access multiple book stores or libraries within a few minutes.
Yet Another bold initiative
Taking technology to even greater heights, Amazon has introduced a device called Kindle which facilitates reading of any book through the device. It is aptly called book reader. Kindle works independent of wires and allows you to browse and read a variety of books even when you are on the move. You can even download these books when necessary subject to certain conditions. Travelers, particularly on long haul routes will find the Kindle an extremely useful and friendly device. When you love reading books, Kindle is an indispensable accessory for you.
World over there are a number of books - fiction as well as non fiction. For most people it is often difficult to even look at the number of titles that are available, let alone reading them. Books dealing with incisive details of a variety of subjects like Economics, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Religion, Culture, Philosophy, Parenting, Fashion from across the world hold a treasure house of knowledge in them. We are unable to search the physical copies of these books or do not get them where we want.
Reading and Modern technology
With digitalization of texts, the world of books has changed dramatically. You can be anywhere in the world, and yet access books of your choice from any author, language, subject, or market. The Internet makes that possible. Some of the books are available as free downloads, while for others you may have to pay small sums of money. But, opposed to the cumbersome process of ordering the physical edition of a valuable book from a foreign country, you can preview the book on your computer monitor within minutes and then decide to buy or preview another in the same class. You can access multiple book stores or libraries within a few minutes.
Yet Another bold initiative
Taking technology to even greater heights, Amazon has introduced a device called Kindle which facilitates reading of any book through the device. It is aptly called book reader. Kindle works independent of wires and allows you to browse and read a variety of books even when you are on the move. You can even download these books when necessary subject to certain conditions. Travelers, particularly on long haul routes will find the Kindle an extremely useful and friendly device. When you love reading books, Kindle is an indispensable accessory for you.
The Amazon Kindle 2 Review
Andrew Mullins asked:
The electronic book reader should be considered the wave of the future and the Kindle 2 is no exception. The basic features include an e-Ink screen with 16 shades of grey, 6 different type sizes (good-bye reading glasses!) and a 10oz light weight. (no more hand cramping for arthritic hands, fingers and wrists!).
The Kindle 2 electronic book reader can hold up to 1500 average sized books and uses wireless technology when connecting to the internet for book downloading and access to Wikipedia. There is no monthly fee for the wireless access or any fee other than the cost of the Kindle 2 and each book. As a matter of fact, most of the Kindle books are priced at about $9.99, which is about $4/book cheaper than the Sony DRM versions on average.
The Kindle 2 also includes text to speech capability for those times when you need for hands for something. I can see this feature as a great help in the kitchen when you’re preparing ingredients while the Kindle 2 reads the recipe to you!
In addition to books, you can also download newspapers, magazines and some 1000 blogs. An average book, they say, takes about 60 seconds to download at their fastest speed. There are currently 230,000 titles available for download at Amazon’s Kindle Store with more being added everyday.
While Sony offers a very similar product, the Kindle 2 electronic book reader offers more options at a much better price. The advantage of being able to download books without a computer, included chargers (USB and wall charger) access to Wikipedia and newspaper and magazine downloads and the price of individual books is just to much of an advantage over the Sony version.
The one and only downfall of the Kindle 2 electronic book reader is it’s lack of an LED light for night reading. However, this omission on the part of Amazon can easily be overcome by purchasing a $15 clip light.
Overall, The Kindle 2 is a clear leader in the electronic book reader genre. Expect it to sell out quickly!
The electronic book reader should be considered the wave of the future and the Kindle 2 is no exception. The basic features include an e-Ink screen with 16 shades of grey, 6 different type sizes (good-bye reading glasses!) and a 10oz light weight. (no more hand cramping for arthritic hands, fingers and wrists!).
The Kindle 2 electronic book reader can hold up to 1500 average sized books and uses wireless technology when connecting to the internet for book downloading and access to Wikipedia. There is no monthly fee for the wireless access or any fee other than the cost of the Kindle 2 and each book. As a matter of fact, most of the Kindle books are priced at about $9.99, which is about $4/book cheaper than the Sony DRM versions on average.
The Kindle 2 also includes text to speech capability for those times when you need for hands for something. I can see this feature as a great help in the kitchen when you’re preparing ingredients while the Kindle 2 reads the recipe to you!
In addition to books, you can also download newspapers, magazines and some 1000 blogs. An average book, they say, takes about 60 seconds to download at their fastest speed. There are currently 230,000 titles available for download at Amazon’s Kindle Store with more being added everyday.
While Sony offers a very similar product, the Kindle 2 electronic book reader offers more options at a much better price. The advantage of being able to download books without a computer, included chargers (USB and wall charger) access to Wikipedia and newspaper and magazine downloads and the price of individual books is just to much of an advantage over the Sony version.
The one and only downfall of the Kindle 2 electronic book reader is it’s lack of an LED light for night reading. However, this omission on the part of Amazon can easily be overcome by purchasing a $15 clip light.
Overall, The Kindle 2 is a clear leader in the electronic book reader genre. Expect it to sell out quickly!
Amazon Kindle How-to: Help! My Kindle’s Frozen!
Michael Piston asked:
You just got your new Kindle and have loaded it up with e-books and audio books. After playing a while you decide to make a few phone calls. When you come back, you find your Kindle screen is frozen! Unresponsive. The Next Page and Previous Page buttons don’t work. The (Aaa) doesn’t “wake it up.” Nothing seems to bring your Kindle back to life. That old-school screen saver just stares back at you.
First of all - don’t panic. As with any other electronic device, the Kindle occasionally has a few hiccups. There are a few things you can do to get your Kindle running again good as new.
1. Plug-in your charger. Sometimes the Kindle battery can get run-down enough so that it will “freeze.” Plugging the charger in and giving your Kindle battery some much needed power often will un-freeze the screen.
2. If that doesn’t work, try what is called a “soft reset.” To do a soft reset on your Kindle press the, , and keys simultaneously. Your Kindle screen should go blank or dark and then slowly come back to life.
3. When doing a soft reset doesn’t work, you will occasionally have to do a “hard reset.” To do a hard reset -
- Make sure your Kindle’s battery is charged (about an hour of charging time should do it)
- Remove the charger cord from your Kindle
- Open the back of your Kindle
- Locate the small hole under the word “Reset”
- Open a small paper clip
- Insert the paper clip end into the hole and press GENTLY for about 10 seconds
- Your Kindle screen should go blank (or black) and then the Kindle should re-start
4. When a hard reset doesn’t work you can try to remove and replace the battery in your Kindle. This is a bit more complex but not too difficult -
- Turn your Kindle off
- Remove the charger cord from your Kindle
- Open the back of your Kindle
- Locate the gray battery, and the finger-notch for removing the battery
- Gently press the battery toward the back of its compartment, then lift the battery out
- Locate the connector that attaches the battery to the Kindle
- GENTLY pull the battery connector out of the Kindle
- With the battery out of the Kindle turn it on for about 5 seconds
- Replace the battery and close the back cover of your Kindle
- Turn the Kindle on
If your Kindle is still “frozen” after completing the steps above, your next move is to contact the Amazon Kindle support team. Go to your Amazon account page - select “Manage my Kindle” and contact the support team from there. You can find the link at the top of the “Manage my Kindle” page on the far right side.
There is a good chance, however, that the steps above will get your Kindle un-frozen and by now you’ll be back enjoying your favorite e-book or audio book.
Congratulations! You’ve now learned how to do a soft and hard reset on your Amazon Kindle wireless reading device.
You just got your new Kindle and have loaded it up with e-books and audio books. After playing a while you decide to make a few phone calls. When you come back, you find your Kindle screen is frozen! Unresponsive. The Next Page and Previous Page buttons don’t work. The
First of all - don’t panic. As with any other electronic device, the Kindle occasionally has a few hiccups. There are a few things you can do to get your Kindle running again good as new.
1. Plug-in your charger. Sometimes the Kindle battery can get run-down enough so that it will “freeze.” Plugging the charger in and giving your Kindle battery some much needed power often will un-freeze the screen.
2. If that doesn’t work, try what is called a “soft reset.” To do a soft reset on your Kindle press the
3. When doing a soft reset doesn’t work, you will occasionally have to do a “hard reset.” To do a hard reset -
- Make sure your Kindle’s battery is charged (about an hour of charging time should do it)
- Remove the charger cord from your Kindle
- Open the back of your Kindle
- Locate the small hole under the word “Reset”
- Open a small paper clip
- Insert the paper clip end into the hole and press GENTLY for about 10 seconds
- Your Kindle screen should go blank (or black) and then the Kindle should re-start
4. When a hard reset doesn’t work you can try to remove and replace the battery in your Kindle. This is a bit more complex but not too difficult -
- Turn your Kindle off
- Remove the charger cord from your Kindle
- Open the back of your Kindle
- Locate the gray battery, and the finger-notch for removing the battery
- Gently press the battery toward the back of its compartment, then lift the battery out
- Locate the connector that attaches the battery to the Kindle
- GENTLY pull the battery connector out of the Kindle
- With the battery out of the Kindle turn it on for about 5 seconds
- Replace the battery and close the back cover of your Kindle
- Turn the Kindle on
If your Kindle is still “frozen” after completing the steps above, your next move is to contact the Amazon Kindle support team. Go to your Amazon account page - select “Manage my Kindle” and contact the support team from there. You can find the link at the top of the “Manage my Kindle” page on the far right side.
There is a good chance, however, that the steps above will get your Kindle un-frozen and by now you’ll be back enjoying your favorite e-book or audio book.
Congratulations! You’ve now learned how to do a soft and hard reset on your Amazon Kindle wireless reading device.
Amazon Kindle How-to Series: Convert Free E-books to Kindle Books
Michael Piston asked:
While the Kindle wireless reading device lets you carry literally hundreds of e-books, newspapers, and magazines anywhere you go, your Kindle is actually pretty picky about the types of documents it will let you read. Free e-books, articles, white papers, and other documents you might wish to read on your Kindle are everywhere on the Internet. The problem is that they are not in a format that is “Kindle-friendly.”
The Kindle “natively” supports the following document formats -
Kindle documents (.azw)
Text documents (.txt)
Mobi Reader documents (.mobi or .prc)
But, if you have a document you wish to read on your Kindle that is in another format - for example = a free e-book that is an Adobe Reader (.pdf) file or a Microsoft Word (.doc) file then you have to convert it to the proper format for use on your Kindle. Fortunately this is not something that is hard to do.
Amazon has a service for which they charge a nominal amount allowing you to convert documents such as .pdf (Adobe Acrobat Reader) files to Kindle files. To do this you must first have an active Kindle e-mail address. You can make sure you are set-up with a Kindle e-mail address by visiting the “Manage Your Kindle” section of the Amazon web site. Typically, your Kindle e-mail address will be “yourusername@kindle.com”.
1. Make sure the document you want to convert is in one of the following formats
Microsoft Word (.doc)
HTML (.html)
Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf)
2. Check to be sure the file is not “protected.” This can occur with e-books you have purchased with DRM (digital rights management) restrictions. You also might have documents that include passwords or other means to restrict access. You will not be able to convert these files.
3. Create an e-mail to your Kindle e-mail address and attach the file you wish to read on your Kindle.
4. Send the e-mail - Amazon will convert the document and send it to your Kindle via the wireless connection.
5. The cost for this service is $.10 (ten cents) per document.
If you want to convert your document at no charge, or are in an area where you cannot access the Kindle’s wireless service you can do so with a slight change in the steps above.
Rather than send the e-mail with the attached document to your Kindle e-mail address send it to “yourusername@free.kindle.com”. Amazon will convert the document and send it back to the originating e-mail address. When you get the e-mail back from Amazon you can transfer the document to your Kindle using the USB cable connected to your computer.
It’s as simple as that!
A few important things to remember. First, as stated above, if the files you wish to convert have any sort of DRM (digital rights management) restrictions then the file won’t be converted. Also - this is an “experimental” service for Amazon. Documents with complex formatting, or certain .pdf files, may not convert as expected. While this may not prevent you from reading the document, it will make it a bit more difficult to navigate through and around your e-book.
Congratulations! Now you know how you can quickly convert e-books in Microsoft Word, HTML, and Adobe Acrobat Reader format to “Kindle-friendly” e-books. This process can help you add a lot of great content to your Kindle wireless reading device.
While the Kindle wireless reading device lets you carry literally hundreds of e-books, newspapers, and magazines anywhere you go, your Kindle is actually pretty picky about the types of documents it will let you read. Free e-books, articles, white papers, and other documents you might wish to read on your Kindle are everywhere on the Internet. The problem is that they are not in a format that is “Kindle-friendly.”
The Kindle “natively” supports the following document formats -
Kindle documents (.azw)
Text documents (.txt)
Mobi Reader documents (.mobi or .prc)
But, if you have a document you wish to read on your Kindle that is in another format - for example = a free e-book that is an Adobe Reader (.pdf) file or a Microsoft Word (.doc) file then you have to convert it to the proper format for use on your Kindle. Fortunately this is not something that is hard to do.
Amazon has a service for which they charge a nominal amount allowing you to convert documents such as .pdf (Adobe Acrobat Reader) files to Kindle files. To do this you must first have an active Kindle e-mail address. You can make sure you are set-up with a Kindle e-mail address by visiting the “Manage Your Kindle” section of the Amazon web site. Typically, your Kindle e-mail address will be “yourusername@kindle.com”.
1. Make sure the document you want to convert is in one of the following formats
Microsoft Word (.doc)
HTML (.html)
Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf)
2. Check to be sure the file is not “protected.” This can occur with e-books you have purchased with DRM (digital rights management) restrictions. You also might have documents that include passwords or other means to restrict access. You will not be able to convert these files.
3. Create an e-mail to your Kindle e-mail address and attach the file you wish to read on your Kindle.
4. Send the e-mail - Amazon will convert the document and send it to your Kindle via the wireless connection.
5. The cost for this service is $.10 (ten cents) per document.
If you want to convert your document at no charge, or are in an area where you cannot access the Kindle’s wireless service you can do so with a slight change in the steps above.
Rather than send the e-mail with the attached document to your Kindle e-mail address send it to “yourusername@free.kindle.com”. Amazon will convert the document and send it back to the originating e-mail address. When you get the e-mail back from Amazon you can transfer the document to your Kindle using the USB cable connected to your computer.
It’s as simple as that!
A few important things to remember. First, as stated above, if the files you wish to convert have any sort of DRM (digital rights management) restrictions then the file won’t be converted. Also - this is an “experimental” service for Amazon. Documents with complex formatting, or certain .pdf files, may not convert as expected. While this may not prevent you from reading the document, it will make it a bit more difficult to navigate through and around your e-book.
Congratulations! Now you know how you can quickly convert e-books in Microsoft Word, HTML, and Adobe Acrobat Reader format to “Kindle-friendly” e-books. This process can help you add a lot of great content to your Kindle wireless reading device.
Amazon Kindle How-to Series - Loading and Viewing Pictures on Your Kindle E-book Reader
Michael Piston asked:
Your new Kindle wireless reading device is great for holding e-books and audio books but did you also know you can display your pictures on your Kindle? Keep in mind that the Kindle has a gray scale display, not color, so the quality of your pictures won’t be great. But, despite that it might be nice to have a few of your favorite pictures for quick viewing on your Kindle.
The process for loading and viewing pictures on your Kindle is not entirely intuitive, but it’s not difficult for you to master. Follow the steps below and you’ll have more than just books on your Kindle.
1. Get a collection of pictures you want to load on your Kindle. These can be color images but remember that your Kindle will display them as gray scale images.
2. Use a photo editing program to reduce the size of your images before loading them into your Kindle. The Kindle screen can display a picture at a maximum size of 550 pixels high x 450 pixels wide. There is no sense loading large images - which will take-up a large amount of your Kindle’s memory - if the image size is limited.
3. Attach the Kindle’s USB cable to both your Kindle and your computer.
4. Once the screen letting you know your Kindle is attached to your computer via USB appears you can double-click on your computer’s “My Computer” icon.
5. Your Kindle should appear as one of the disk drives attached to your computer.
6. Double-click on your Kindle drive. You will see several folders. One for Audible books, one for documents, and one for music.
7. Add a new folder to your Kindle called “pictures”.
8. Open the new “pictures” folder and create one sub-folder for each of the groups of pictures you wish to load onto your Kindle. For example “Moms Birthday” might be one folder and “Summer Vacation 2009″ might be another. These folder names will appear on your Kindle’s Home Screen so make them descriptive.
9. Open each new sub-folder then copy the pictures you’ve collected into their appropriate folder.
10. When you are done take a look at your Kindle’s screen. If the USB activity indicator at the bottom right side of the screen is not showing any activity you can remove the USB cable from your Kindle.
11. Go to the Home Screen of your Kindle. Press the “ALT” key and the “Z” key at the same time to refresh your Kindle’s list of e-books. The screen will blink a few time - when it stops use your “Next Page”, “Prev Page” buttons to locate the new picture folders you created in Step 8.
12. Scroll to the picture folder you want to open then press the scroll wheel to select it. The folder will open and in a moment or two your first picture will appear. You can move through your pictures by pressing the “Next” or “Prev” page buttons.
Congratulations! You now know how to make using your Kindle even more enjoyable by being able to carry special pictures with you in your Kindle wireless reading device.
For more complete How-To information, including screen shots of the process described above visit the web address in the resource box below.
Happy reading!
Your new Kindle wireless reading device is great for holding e-books and audio books but did you also know you can display your pictures on your Kindle? Keep in mind that the Kindle has a gray scale display, not color, so the quality of your pictures won’t be great. But, despite that it might be nice to have a few of your favorite pictures for quick viewing on your Kindle.
The process for loading and viewing pictures on your Kindle is not entirely intuitive, but it’s not difficult for you to master. Follow the steps below and you’ll have more than just books on your Kindle.
1. Get a collection of pictures you want to load on your Kindle. These can be color images but remember that your Kindle will display them as gray scale images.
2. Use a photo editing program to reduce the size of your images before loading them into your Kindle. The Kindle screen can display a picture at a maximum size of 550 pixels high x 450 pixels wide. There is no sense loading large images - which will take-up a large amount of your Kindle’s memory - if the image size is limited.
3. Attach the Kindle’s USB cable to both your Kindle and your computer.
4. Once the screen letting you know your Kindle is attached to your computer via USB appears you can double-click on your computer’s “My Computer” icon.
5. Your Kindle should appear as one of the disk drives attached to your computer.
6. Double-click on your Kindle drive. You will see several folders. One for Audible books, one for documents, and one for music.
7. Add a new folder to your Kindle called “pictures”.
8. Open the new “pictures” folder and create one sub-folder for each of the groups of pictures you wish to load onto your Kindle. For example “Moms Birthday” might be one folder and “Summer Vacation 2009″ might be another. These folder names will appear on your Kindle’s Home Screen so make them descriptive.
9. Open each new sub-folder then copy the pictures you’ve collected into their appropriate folder.
10. When you are done take a look at your Kindle’s screen. If the USB activity indicator at the bottom right side of the screen is not showing any activity you can remove the USB cable from your Kindle.
11. Go to the Home Screen of your Kindle. Press the “ALT” key and the “Z” key at the same time to refresh your Kindle’s list of e-books. The screen will blink a few time - when it stops use your “Next Page”, “Prev Page” buttons to locate the new picture folders you created in Step 8.
12. Scroll to the picture folder you want to open then press the scroll wheel to select it. The folder will open and in a moment or two your first picture will appear. You can move through your pictures by pressing the “Next” or “Prev” page buttons.
Congratulations! You now know how to make using your Kindle even more enjoyable by being able to carry special pictures with you in your Kindle wireless reading device.
For more complete How-To information, including screen shots of the process described above visit the web address in the resource box below.
Happy reading!
Amazon Kindle How-to Series: Adding Extra Memory to Your Kindle
Michael Piston asked:
The Amazon Kindle is one of the high points of the 2008 holiday selling season for retailers. The Kindle wireless reading device for reading e-books sold-out before the holidays and at this writing is on a 8 to 10 week backorder. There are some great reasons for the popularity of this device:
It holds a LOT of e-books:
The internal memory of the Kindle can hold up-to 200 text-based books so you can take a virtual library with you wherever you go. Whether you are on an airplane, in the train on your way to work, or at home your favorite books are available to read at the flick of a switch.
The quality of the text is great:
Amazon has designed the reader and the “e-ink” used in the Kindle’s display to handle books. While this does mean that images display less than optimally, text is crisp and easily read. You also can adjust the size of the text on the display letting those of us with less than great vision keep reading without our glasses or contacts.
Amazon offers a “try before you buy” feature:
Like browsing at a bookstore, Amazon will instantly deliver a sample of any book you might be interested in purchasing to your Kindle so you can see if you’d like to make a purchase. This is a great feature that makes the whole experience more enjoyable.
Many e-books are available for the Kindle:
At this writing Amazon offered over 215,000 titles for the Kindle
The Kindle is lightweight and easy to carry:
You can carry around 200 books in the same space as a typical paperback book
The Kindle also plays audiobooks:
If you’re a fan of Audible.com or have some .mp3 e-books you can put them on your Kindle and listen as you would on an mp3 player or iPod.
Adding more memory to your Kindle -
As mentioned above, the internal memory of the Kindle holds about 200 e-books that are primarily text-based. Books containing images take more memory so the total number of books your Kindle can hold may be more or less than 200. To increase the number of e-books you can store on your Kindle e-book reader do the following:
1. Choose an SD memory card for your Kindle – typically you’ll want a 4mb or 8mb card
2. Turn your Kindle OFF
3. Disconnect your Kindle from the charger
4. Turn your Kindle face-down on a hard surface – remember to protect your screen!
5. Remove the back cover of the Kindle – this is the dark gray embossed cover
6. Locate the SD card memory slot on the inside edge of the Kindle
7. Insert your SD card into the slot until it “clicks”
8. Replace the cover
For more complete instructions with photos visit www.guidetokindle.com.
The Amazon Kindle is one of the high points of the 2008 holiday selling season for retailers. The Kindle wireless reading device for reading e-books sold-out before the holidays and at this writing is on a 8 to 10 week backorder. There are some great reasons for the popularity of this device:
It holds a LOT of e-books:
The internal memory of the Kindle can hold up-to 200 text-based books so you can take a virtual library with you wherever you go. Whether you are on an airplane, in the train on your way to work, or at home your favorite books are available to read at the flick of a switch.
The quality of the text is great:
Amazon has designed the reader and the “e-ink” used in the Kindle’s display to handle books. While this does mean that images display less than optimally, text is crisp and easily read. You also can adjust the size of the text on the display letting those of us with less than great vision keep reading without our glasses or contacts.
Amazon offers a “try before you buy” feature:
Like browsing at a bookstore, Amazon will instantly deliver a sample of any book you might be interested in purchasing to your Kindle so you can see if you’d like to make a purchase. This is a great feature that makes the whole experience more enjoyable.
Many e-books are available for the Kindle:
At this writing Amazon offered over 215,000 titles for the Kindle
The Kindle is lightweight and easy to carry:
You can carry around 200 books in the same space as a typical paperback book
The Kindle also plays audiobooks:
If you’re a fan of Audible.com or have some .mp3 e-books you can put them on your Kindle and listen as you would on an mp3 player or iPod.
Adding more memory to your Kindle -
As mentioned above, the internal memory of the Kindle holds about 200 e-books that are primarily text-based. Books containing images take more memory so the total number of books your Kindle can hold may be more or less than 200. To increase the number of e-books you can store on your Kindle e-book reader do the following:
1. Choose an SD memory card for your Kindle – typically you’ll want a 4mb or 8mb card
2. Turn your Kindle OFF
3. Disconnect your Kindle from the charger
4. Turn your Kindle face-down on a hard surface – remember to protect your screen!
5. Remove the back cover of the Kindle – this is the dark gray embossed cover
6. Locate the SD card memory slot on the inside edge of the Kindle
7. Insert your SD card into the slot until it “clicks”
8. Replace the cover
For more complete instructions with photos visit www.guidetokindle.com.
Amazon Kindle How-to Series: What Could be New With the Kindle 2?
Michael Piston asked:
Amazon has sent-out press releases for a big announcement on February 9th in New York City hosted by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Since the event is being held in the Morgan Library, the big rumor is that the new Kindle 2 will debut. For Amazon this is big news since the Kindle was one of the big bright spots of the depressing 2008 holiday selling season.
One of the other interesting reasons that the Kindle is great for Amazon is that it appears to be incremental sales for the company. During a recent earnings call, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos claimed that for every physical book Kindle owners purchase from Amazon they also purchase 1.6 to 1.7 e-books for their Kindle. It seems that the Kindle really gets owners even more involved in reading.
So what’s in it for people like you and me that might buy a new Kindle 2? We’ve done a little research on the rumors and some sites like The New York Times and The Boy Genius Report have some interesting details.
1. According to The New York Times the big feature is the improved responsiveness of the display on the new Kindle. One of the key irritants owners of the Kindle 1 have is that when you click the “Next Page” button the Kindle screen goes dark for a second before the next page displays. The new display uses a new microchip and digital ink technology that - reportedly - does away with this issue.
2. In addition to improving responsiveness for reading, the new display also improves responsiveness for doing things OTHER than reading - for example browsing the Web and working with e-mail. The Kindle 1 Web browser was an “experimental” feature that handled text-based sites best. You could use G-Mail for example, but in the “mobile phone mode” which is primarily text vs. graphics based. The new screen technology seems to remove this barrier.
3. Keyboard is larger - based on “leaked” pictures posted on The Boy Genius Report, the new Kindle 2 keyboard is larger making it easier to work with the keys.
4. The scroll wheel is replaced with a track-ball. Again - checking out the “leaked” pictures of the Kindle 2 it appears the scroll wheel is replaced by a track-ball. We expect this means the way you might interact with the new Kindle 2 screen will be significantly different than the Kindle 1. Rather than using the screen in a “linear” fashion, the track ball will allow you to roam the screen and select text more easily for bookmarks, notes, etc. The new Kindle 2 track-ball might also make it easier to interact with web pages vs. the current scroll wheel.
Let’s think about what we’d like to see in the new Kindle 2 as well!
A. Better web browsing - this seems to be covered
B. Built-in Media Player - allow selecting and playing of mp3 files vs. random play
C. Built-in ability to read .pdf files - Adobe .pdf is a universal file format for a lot of e-books. You can now read .pdf files by e-mailing them to your Kindle e-mail address. Google will convert them for a small charge
And the big question - will those people who now have Kindle’s on back order get the new Kindle 2 when it is released?
We can only wait until February 9th to find-out!
Amazon has sent-out press releases for a big announcement on February 9th in New York City hosted by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Since the event is being held in the Morgan Library, the big rumor is that the new Kindle 2 will debut. For Amazon this is big news since the Kindle was one of the big bright spots of the depressing 2008 holiday selling season.
One of the other interesting reasons that the Kindle is great for Amazon is that it appears to be incremental sales for the company. During a recent earnings call, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos claimed that for every physical book Kindle owners purchase from Amazon they also purchase 1.6 to 1.7 e-books for their Kindle. It seems that the Kindle really gets owners even more involved in reading.
So what’s in it for people like you and me that might buy a new Kindle 2? We’ve done a little research on the rumors and some sites like The New York Times and The Boy Genius Report have some interesting details.
1. According to The New York Times the big feature is the improved responsiveness of the display on the new Kindle. One of the key irritants owners of the Kindle 1 have is that when you click the “Next Page” button the Kindle screen goes dark for a second before the next page displays. The new display uses a new microchip and digital ink technology that - reportedly - does away with this issue.
2. In addition to improving responsiveness for reading, the new display also improves responsiveness for doing things OTHER than reading - for example browsing the Web and working with e-mail. The Kindle 1 Web browser was an “experimental” feature that handled text-based sites best. You could use G-Mail for example, but in the “mobile phone mode” which is primarily text vs. graphics based. The new screen technology seems to remove this barrier.
3. Keyboard is larger - based on “leaked” pictures posted on The Boy Genius Report, the new Kindle 2 keyboard is larger making it easier to work with the keys.
4. The scroll wheel is replaced with a track-ball. Again - checking out the “leaked” pictures of the Kindle 2 it appears the scroll wheel is replaced by a track-ball. We expect this means the way you might interact with the new Kindle 2 screen will be significantly different than the Kindle 1. Rather than using the screen in a “linear” fashion, the track ball will allow you to roam the screen and select text more easily for bookmarks, notes, etc. The new Kindle 2 track-ball might also make it easier to interact with web pages vs. the current scroll wheel.
Let’s think about what we’d like to see in the new Kindle 2 as well!
A. Better web browsing - this seems to be covered
B. Built-in Media Player - allow selecting and playing of mp3 files vs. random play
C. Built-in ability to read .pdf files - Adobe .pdf is a universal file format for a lot of e-books. You can now read .pdf files by e-mailing them to your Kindle e-mail address. Google will convert them for a small charge
And the big question - will those people who now have Kindle’s on back order get the new Kindle 2 when it is released?
We can only wait until February 9th to find-out!
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