Using a Google's Chrome browser extension to send a web article to your Kindle with one keypress, more or less.While this blog has an earlier article on using Instapaper to send articles to the Kindle and a revision of Instapaper has made it even easier now, what's described here is a new feature possible via the Chrome browser.
With the new Send to Kindle option, you can specify that the text content of a webpage you're on be sent to your Kindle at [you]@free.kindle.com. This Kindle address avoids the 15 cents per megabyte charge for sending a personal document over 3G Whispernet instead. The [you]@free.kindle.com
(If you don't have the WiFi capability (older models) and don't want to get the article by computer and move it to the Kindle via the USB cable, the 3G cellular network capability of any Kindle can be chosen instead by using the [you]@kindle.com address but the delivery would cost 15 cents per megabyte [99 cents per megabyte for non-U.S. Kindle owners]).
See the earlier Kindleworld guide that explains how to use the no-cost [you]@free.kindle.com address for free delivery to your Kindle (UK: K3).
Essentially, to use the Send to Kindle feature, Kindle users need to:
1. open the feature's "Options" page and enter their Kindle's registered email ([you]@free.kindle.com) there, and
2. add the Chrome-extension sender, kindle@klip.me, as an approved sender at Amazon's Kindle management page.
' Once those two actions are completed, clicking the extension's icon will give you a live preview of how the article will appear on your Kindle and provide you with a "Send" button that will send it to your Kindle. Just make sure Wi-Fi or your Whispernet connection is activated on your device so it has no trouble getting there. '
I've not tried it but saw the article last night. Will be interested to see how this works for those who try it.
There is an automated option and a manual one. Remember that you can select what part of the page is sent to you or use the automated option and, in both cases, only text (not images) is sent.
Tip: To get the images accompanying a story, I highlight what I want and paste it all into a Microsoft Word document and then send the saved document to my free.kindle.com address.
Amazon converts it to Kindle format before sending it to the Kindle.
Kindle 3's (UK: Kindle 3's), DX Graphite
Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
This is a terrific development - tempts me to get a Kindle 3. For earlier Kindles, another alternative for quickly getting content to the Kindle involves using Google Reader and the "Note to Reader" bookmarklet. Described in detail here (second half of post):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.filterjoe.com/2010/07/23/can-you-read-anything-with-the-kindle-almost-with-google-reader/
Thanks for the added tip, Joe!
ReplyDeletethis a great tip. For Firefox users, there is also a Firefox add-on called instaright.
ReplyDeleteI use it on Firefox and it works great.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pointer to instaright.
In the past, Instaright would not send direct to [you]@free.kindle.com but only to [you]@kindle.com (necessitating small charges mentioned).
Has that changed? Or do you use side-loading to get documents onto the Kindle via the USB cable transfer method?
Thanks for any info.
I'm not sure what the terminology is, but Instaright just provides a link or Firefox interface for your Instapaper account. All I need to do is right click on a web page or highlighted selection on a page and choose the "Instapaper It" option. The rest works just as you described it.
ReplyDeleteI've been using [you]@kindle.com because I have a wifi-only kindle and thought there was no charge (and didn't notice the other option). I've just changed my delivery to [you]@free.kindle.com to be safe.
For me, Instapaper is great for short stories that many authors or publishers post on their web sites. All I do is highlight the story and Instapaper It.
BTW, thanks for your awesome blog. It is indispensable for any kindle owner and I recommended it to all my kindle-owning friends.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteWhat I meant was that Instapaper did not used to offer us [you]@free.kindle.com as the target and, when I looked yesterday, most info was behind a sign-up (I hate that) and I'd forgotten my sign-in. So I wondered if one can now designate the 'free.kindle.com' destination.
Those with WiFi-Only Kindles default to WiFi delivery only because there's no other way, so there is also no way you can be charged for what is normally the 3G-delivery Kindle address. But those with 3G/WiFi would be, w/o the ".free" part in the link.
Those with 3G who don't want 3G costs ever can stipulate $0.00 as maximum 3G charges at their ManageYourKindle page.
If you were able to change your delivery to use the 'free.' prefix on that URL, that is good news. I'll try it this week.
Thanks for the followup and for the nice words too!
This works well for me too: http://www.rekindle.it
ReplyDeleteHey Andrys!
ReplyDeleteYou might also want to check out http://kindlebility.darkhax.com/
I was getting sick and tired of having no dead easy way to get articles on my Kindle, so I wrote this.
You put your Kindle email in the box (either the free or non-free work), drag the bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar (in all browsers except IE), add kindle@darkhelmetlive.com to your Approved Email List, and hit the bookmarklet on any page you want on your Kindle.
Let me know what you think of it!
This can be done with ReadItLater and the iPad, and has been done for a long time.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleterekindle.it has a good interface. Thanks.
Daniel,
Your "directions" on your front kindlebility page are totally unreadable. You should re-do that. Don't compress the image so much or something. Maybe make it a gif.
Without directions, people are giving you Kindle-emails Blind.
Anyway, I'm suggesting that people go instead to your http://blog.darkhax.com/2010/12/03/kindlebility-open-to-the-world.
which DOES explain what it's all about and it's interesting.
IE not working with it leaves out a lot of people, but not as much as in prior days :-)
Thanks.
Jens,
ReplyDeleteYou didn't see that you're visiting a KINDLE blog? What does the iPad utility have to do with this?
Instapaper and Readability have done this for ages, for the Kindle, though not as simply, and have been written about earlier.
While I'm glad you are using a resource such as Instapaper, how many of you are supporting the developer, either by buying the app or becoming a pro user? If you are iphone or itouch user, get the pro version. If you are on another platform, sign up at http://www.instapaper.com/subscription .
ReplyDeleteAndrys,
ReplyDeleteThe "image" is actually a video, and you should be able to take it full screen.
I made some improvements to how it works today, and wrote up some more stuff about the technical aspects of it, among other things, here: http://blog.darkhax.com/2011/01/20/the-what-why-and-how-of-kindlebility
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing that out. For others who are clueless there, maybe actually say 'Click on the video' :-)
Also, I still can't read ANY of it or see what it's doing. It's well done but your width and height need to be increased, otherwise it's like watching a video of things you can't see, and while it's nice to keep it all on a one-page screen, the idea is to have the video help us know how to do what you've created for us and I can't read any of the words in it. Hope you don't mind my saying that.
Thank you very much for the added work and information available there.
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteOkay I found out how my viewer can make it Full Screen but then it was fuzzy though easier to read.
Later I clicked on Vimeo to see it THERE and though it's not full-screen it is MUCH clearer and sharper. MAYBE a new-target-window with the link http://vimeo.com/17458819 would help.
That's how I'm seeing it now, and when I exit that window I'm back on your Home screen.
I don't know if enlarging your embedded screen would help or not but I suspect it would.
One other tool I'd suggest that works flawlessly for Kindle is Wordcycler.com which syncs your Instapaper articles to your Kindle.
ReplyDeleteIt has two way sync, if you delete an article in your Kindle it removes it from Instapaper.
I use it on a daily basis, it's quick and it works.
Thanks, Jeton.
ReplyDeleteThere is someone who disagreed with that assessment for reasons given and I should actually update with the comments received at ycombinator. Good to get your own feedback on it.
That series of responses re the Chrome Send-to-Kindle blog entry is at http://bit.ly/s2kcomments
I'm puzzled why, when I preview (F12) the page desired it shows all of the pictures and graphs on the page relating to the article, but when it is uploaded to my Kindle, all that shows is text. No pictures, no graphs. Am I doing something wrong?
ReplyDeleteI've read some of those and although I can understand that some people are very specific and want a text formatted etc. But Wordcycler solves the problem of Instapaper queues for me very elegantly. :)
ReplyDeleteStill, the best part is that Kindle now has a some type of "ecosystem" of apps that make it more interesting and more useful to feed our reading habits.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteMost feeds seem to be received accepting text-only, depending on feed distributor, though the feed itself has the images...
Interesting feature. I do like my kindle strictly for fiction (tells my brain it's downtime), but it's nice that there are these other features.
ReplyDeleteYou can also use "Clear Web Text for Kindle".
ReplyDeleteAn app for iPhone and iPad that parses web pages and blog entries, and send them to your kindle account.