Special Pages - Reports

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cloud Player & Record Label Backlash / Top 100 free mp3 downloads - UPDATE2

CLOUD PLAYER STIRS UP A STORM
  (See Updates below.)

Also see the first blog article on this, as that introduced the feature and explains, more or less, how the cloud drive space upgrade to free 20GB space works.

  What does this have to do with the Kindle?  Anything we upload to our Amazon 'Cloud' drive is also downloadable to our various devices, and that includes our computer, and we can copy or move some mp3's to our Kindle's "music" folder, which is on the same level as the "documents" folder.

  However, the Kindle 2, 3, and DX all play the mp3's in the order they're installed and in the background while you're reading (the Kindle 1 plays them entirely in random order).  BUT if you want to be able to select an mp3 to play, you can put some in the 'Audible' folder and then they'll show up eein the menu, but you won't be able to read a Kindle book at the same time with that method.

  Remember also that mp3 files tend to be several times larger than book files, so it's best not to put too many on the Kindle.  (The Kindle doesn't stream music from the Net, of course.)  Most Kindlers tend to be Amazon customers who have a strong interest in sight & sound, in general, so I include that from time to time.

  ALSO, note that the Cloud Drive can be used for videos, photos, and documents as well, and that includes backup of books you did not buy from Amazon and your personal documents that you'd liked backed up externally.

  At the bottom of this blog article, you'll see some of Amazon's highlighted mp3 download pages.

Cloud Drive and Player Brouhaha
CBS News carries a CNet article by Greg Sandoval about Amazon's Cloud Player triggering a backlash, as Amazon did not obtain prior permission from the major studios and top record companies.  Many of them tell CNet they feel it violates their rights.

  Bear in mind this is storing recordings that an Amazon customer has bought and owns.  Presumably.  The service does not stream it to the multitudes as mp3.com does -- it streams the music to the customer who owns it.  In the agreement that we have to sign, we agree not to allow others to access this password-protected material to stream it for themselves.  It's not meant to be streaming to anyone but the person who owns the music files.

  For that reason, the record companies will have a hard time, I think, to stop this.  Furthermore, Amazon has said they got this up in place and are willing to negotiate the licenses for a customer to listen to his/her own music from the Net, once it is up and running:
' Sources said then that Amazon had met with some of their studio and label counterparts to lay out their plans. In those talks, Amazon executives said that they wanted to get up and running quickly and also wanted their blessing.  Amazon execs said in the meetings that they were prepared to unveil the service without licenses and would negotiate them at a later date. '
  However, CNet says that in an interview with the New York Times on Monday, they took "a more defiant tone" in that Amazon feels that with regard to music,  ' "We don't need a license to store music," Craig Pape, director of music at Amazon, said. "The functionality is the same as an external hard drive." '

  The 4 top labels, Sandoval writes, have made it clear that their current licenses don't allow for cloud distribution or storage.  OR STORAGE??  Are they kidding?  I can see how they would not like music streamed to the world, but NOT STORED???  How do they plan to stop us from storing our mp3s wherever we like?  Places like Mozy, Dropbox or Drop.net back up for us what we OWN the rights to STORE.  Now, streaming might be another matter, but I can see a problem if Amazon were streaming that music for *others* to hear rather than just the owner, and their Agreement makes clear that the streaming is only for the owner-customer.

What does this remind me of?
  This reminds me of the Big6 publishers who did not foresee the e-book or digital media changes coming and did not do licensing for that, specifically, when they first bought book rights.  A lawsuit to grab digital rights, after the fact, failed, because of what was considered the ‘new use’ – "electronic digital signals sent over the internet" being a separate medium from the original use."  In that case, it was whether the author, instead of the publisher, owned the digital rights, but the publisher was claiming rights to a publishing format that did not exist yet and that wasn't dealt with in a contract.

  Storing music that we purchase, on an external drive, has to be "licensed" ?  No good luck to them on that one.  Streaming music upon demand of the owner of an mp3 to that owner's ears only -- it'll be interesting how far they get on that one.  But we can bet that they'll try to include a clause against this on future recordings.

  Sandoval writes that "it's unlikely the labels would at this point file a lawsuit, but the potential for a legal fight is real" and adds that "EMI, the smallest of the four largest record labels, filed a lawsuit in 2007 against MP3tunes.com and founder Michael Robertson, one of the pioneers in cloud music" (who founded mp3.com).

  See the CNET article for more on what MP3Tunes and Sideload actually do.  It's just nothing like what Amazon is doing.  It involves tracking down and providing links to "pilfered" music files and then storing them on MP3Tunes.

  Apparently, Amazon risked being bogged down in negotiations for months and was determined to be "first out the door with a cloud service" and "time was running out."  CNet reported last week that some Google employees are doing internal testing of Google music, and Bloomberg reported that Apple is in talks with major labels on access to cloud-based tracks.

  Amazon's acting first may have offered too many advantages for the company to sit still, Sandoval writes.  The reality has been that customers who use cloud services are not enthusiastic about moving to another service after taking the time to upload their media.  First come, first serve(r).

  Sandoval reminds us that
' ...earlier this month, Amazon dropped a bombshell by announcing that members of the company's Prime service would receive free-of-charge access to a pool of 5,000 streaming movies and TV shows. Analysts noted that Amazon had the money and audience to challenge Netflix's domination.  The move put Amazon on the streaming-video map.

Not only did that send Netflix stock into a swoon, but it sent a message that Amazon is no longer satisfied with taking a backseat in digital distribution. '

  SOME AMAZON MP3 DOWNLOAD PAGES
Top100 free mp3 album downloads and Top 100 paid, on the same page.

Bestseller Mp3 Albums and Song Downloads

100 mp3 albums for $5, selected by Amazon editors

As non-U.S. customers know too well, new features come very late for them, partly because the U.S. customers are like a large test-sample for the later global offerings and because even more rights (countries differ widely in these) have to be considered.

  Right now, all Amazon customers get the basic 5 Gig Cloud Drive, but for some countries, the 20 GB upgrade feature is "currently unavailable," and only U.S. customers are able to use Cloud Player for streaming of their stored music at this point.
UPDATED, edited paragraph below
  As pointed out in the announcement post, the 20 GB upgrade is for a year and then it automatically reverts to the basic free 5 GB.  However, there is an opportunity for another 20 GB bonus that can be activated at the end of that first year.  See the original post for the details.

  In my case, I ran across the $2.49 $0.99 album {4/4/11) of 99 darkest classical-music movements by really good musicians, an mp3 collection which would otherwise be 99 cents per cut, or $95 :-)  But listeners don't usually buy just a movement from here and a movement from there, although sometimes compilations are made for a particular mood (or, in this case some would say, don't go there).

  However, it includes Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings in one of the best versions I've heard -- the Adagio was used for the movie, Elephant Man and is heard when the audience sees only a dark, starry night.  Very sad music, but it's mesmerizing with gorgeous chord changes and inner lines beautifully performed.
  On the piano are less known, but really excellent pianists like Arnoldo Cohen and Dubravka Tomsic.
  HOWEVER, really awful* is that the album's mp3-playlist shows NO composer names.

  * UPDATE2 - It turns out that the composers ARE credited on the mp3 file info fields and they show up in the data fields and playlist info of most computer mp3 players and libraries, including iTunes.  We need to ask Amazon to include the Composer names on the Cloud Player.

  For $2.49*  I decided this was a good album to get, to qualify for the Cloud Drive upgrade to 20 Gigs of storage.
  But on 4/4/11, this became $0.99 - and there are about 9 hours of music in this set.  (Price went back up later.)
Most customers writing about the quality of the music and performances are very happy (except those unhappy to see NO composer names on the Cloud Player). I just read this one line from a review:

"This is the best bargain I have bought in my entire life of 29 years."

And it's his first classical collection, as he likes other genres.  Most are posting it's a bargain at $5 (its price earlier) or at $2.50.  But it's 99 cents currently -- the price went back to $2.49 later [and went back up, to $5.99 later].

 FURTHER ON UPDATE2:  Also at $0.99 (price went back up later), people are enjoying The 99 Most Essential Relaxing Classics.  Definitely a 'mood' use of classical music but ratings are high.  However, the sound level is anything but consistent and I personally prefer the content in the "99 Darkest" album.
 Amazon benefits from customer Ekkehard Rohwedder's listing of composers from mp3 data fields, in the "Relaxing" one here though.  I notice iTunes's public listings omit the composers in these albums too, but the mp3 data fields does hold them.

  The vast majority will find, at the Top 100 links given above, other inexpensive, or free, quality mp3 album downloads in several genres.


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 £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Amazon's new Cloud Player for Web and Android / NYT-web free w/Kindle Edition - UPDATE3

While looking up info on the new arrangement by the New York Times to offer full, unlimited access to their now suddenly-costly website news "bundled" with a subscription to the Kindle Edition of the New York Times (but not with other dedicated e-readers for now), I came upon this new offering by Amazon and it's an interesting one. (See important UPDATES.)

 (I'll do a separate entry for the NY Times website situation and the new announcement for Kindle-edition subscribers but, essentially, the $19.95/mo. Kindle NYT subscription will give full access to the website too.)

Mashable headlines its story:
"Amazon Cloud Player Lets You Play Your Music From Anywhere."

Amazon is now in the music streaming business with the launch today of Cloud Player, a music player setup that lets you upload your favorite music to your Amazon Cloud Drive and play the mp3's via the web or via an Android device and listen to your music wherever you are whenever you want, if you have a good connection to the Net.

  Amazon starts you out with 5 GB of free storage, but you can be upgraded to a 20-GB cloud space for a year when you buy one mp3 album through Amazon by December 31, 2011.  If you use more than your allotment, it costs an additional $1 per GB.

' CAVEAT: Amazon states that "If you qualify for this offer and either have not signed up for Amazon Cloud Drive or have the 5GB Amazon Cloud Drive plan, you will be automatically eligible for the 20 GB plan for one year from the date of your MP3 album purchase.  Unless you set your account to auto-renew to a paid plan, the 20 GB plan will revert to a free plan one year from the date of your MP3 album purchase.

    If your Amazon Cloud Drive account is already at 20 GB or higher when you qualify for this offer, the offer will be saved to your account as a $20 credit toward any future Amazon Cloud Drive plan fees you may incur at the time your plan renews or at the time you upgrade your plan. If you elect to downgrade your plan to a free plan at the time of renewal, your upgrade offer will be applied towards the 20 GB plan at that time. '

  In other words, Amazon is encouraging customers to get used to 20 gigs of cloud space for our music, but after the first year of 20 free gigs, it would cost $20 per year for that much cloud storage; they do automatically set you back to 5 GB after a year, rather than automatically charge you for the larger storage space, however  So, if you don't want that, you can just take the 20 GB plan for a year (after buying one mp3 album) and then scale back to using 5 gigs which will still be free.

  UPDATED from experience 3/31/11 - On 3/30, I bought an inexpensive mp3 album and received the 20 GB space.  Today, I bought a couple of other inexpensive ones and got an add'l credit for (another) 20 GB, to be used upon the renewal date of the bonus space I received yesterday.  That explains the paragraph just above.

  It's worth noting here that NEW mp3's you purchase from Amazon get free storage in the cloud and are never added against your storage space count.

  1,000 favorites available (in the free Basic plan) for free personal streaming has sounded pretty good to me, actually.  It does cost money to store and stream music, so $20/year (or $1.67/month) for the streaming of music we choose seems reasonable.

  Since my very old iPod holds 60 gigs of music, even 20 doesn't seem huge to me and 5 gigs seems small, but Amazon points out that with only the 5-gig allotment you can store about 1,000 songs on it (4,000 with the 20-gig plan).  So, 20 gigs of my favorite music available anywhere is attractive.  I did sign up today because I don't tend to carry my iPod out -- and playing mp3's on my Kindle uses up battery time I'd rather save for books, periodicals, and my now constant use of the Kindle Notepad :-)

Other aspects
  With both the web and Android versions of the cloud player you can create playlists and organize your music.

  The agreement I encountered told me I had to agree NOT to share the cloud music with others (not to make a streaming service for others) and not to store music for others.  Listening to your music requires a password.

  Mashable reports that Google and Apple "have been rumored to be hard at work on their own cloud-based players, but it looks like Amazon beat them to the punch."

Technical Details - from the Amazon CloudPlayer pages:
  · Amazon Cloud Player and Amazon Cloud Drive is available for US customers only *.  (See more info at the linked '*')

UPDATE4: Amazon has changed the wording now on this page:
CHANGE: CLOUD DRIVE at 5GB is available to all Amazon customers.
  The UPGRADE for storage is not available in some countries (see bottom).
  CLOUD PLAYER is available only for U.S. customers.  This streams music, and rights worldwide are probably a problem as well as streaming using a lot of bandwidth and costly to run.
  · App upgrade is only available for Android OS 1.6+
  · PDF and video content is currently not available for purchase on the Amazon MP3 Android app

Well, now that Amazon is streaming everything (latest movies too) and making available many apps for Android, I can't imagine they won't be producing an Amazon Android tablet at some point.

UPDATE1 - I omitted one very important point:
' Songs purchased from Amazon MP3 are stored in your Cloud Drive for free.

When you purchase songs or albums from the Amazon MP3 Store, you can now save your purchases to your Cloud Drive.  All your purchases are backed up and available for you to download at any time.  Even better, you can listen to your music from any web-connected computer with Amazon Cloud Player.

And the best part?  When you save your Amazon MP3 Store purchases directly to your Cloud Drive, they don't take up any of your storage space and are always stored for free. '
Thanks to posts in the Comments area for that.  This applies only to NEW Amazon mp3 purchases.

Also, Amazon doesn't limit your storage space to mp3's.  Store your music, videos, photos, and documents on Amazon's secure servers.

UPDATE2
  1. Be sure to check out the HELP page for "Getting Started" which shows you what to expect on your personal cloud drive, in layout.

  2. Also check out the HELP page for actually "Using Amazon Cloud Drive."

  3. On the main intro page, there are two videos available:
  One on the top-right introduces the Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, and a second video further down, in the center column is titled "Learn How to Use Cloud Player."

UPDATE3 Original posting was at 8:20 AM
(This one conflicted with earlier "Technical Details" from another Amazon page cited above but is fixed now.  See Update4. Sorry for confusing reading in this chronological (b)log.

  Another help page has a Cloud Player FAQ.  Part of that is this interesting table of countries where the upgrade to 20 gigs feature is not available.
' Where is Amazon Cloud Drive [not] available?

The 5 GB free storage plan is available to all Amazon.com customers, however further upgrades to the storage plan are currently unavailable in the following countries:
Austria Belgium Bulgaria
Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark
Estonia Finland France
Germany Greece Hungary
Ireland Italy Latvia
Lithuania Luxembourg Malta
Netherlands Poland Portugal
Romania Slovakia Slovenia
Spain Sweden United Kingdom
'

Update 4 See the linked section above.
Essentially, though, Cloud PLAYER is U.S. only (for streaming of customer's music).

Basic Cloud DRIVE at 5GB is for all Amazon customers.
Cloud DRIVE Upgrade to 20GB is available in only some countries, noted in the table at Update 3.


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 £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Want to try out Free web-app SendToReader ? Webpages to Kindle. UPDATE2


SENDtoREADER
- a new, free tool for the Kindle.

  (See UPDATES.)

I received a tweet that asked if I would say a few words about a new web-tool for the Kindle, SendToReader, similar to the popular Send to Kindle, a Chrome browser extension, but the creator of SendToReader says that this one can be used with any of several browsers (although Internet Explorer version is due next) and will keep the images along with the text, something much requested.

  I don't have time to test it, so I'm not exactly recommending it, but it sounds promising and I'd like to know what some of you more intrepid explorers find.

  It promises the following:
' SENDtoREADER  is a simple web application that allows you to send any webpage to your Amazon Kindle Reader instantly.

This gives your Kindle the flexibility to be your work or leisure time companion with a simple click of the mouse.  SENDtoREADER is a simple web application that allows you to send any webpage to your Amazon Kindle Reader instantly.
 ...
Our web app is extremely easy to use. It's just a bookmarklet (or favlet) which works well in all modern browsers including: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Opera.  Version for Internet Explorer is coming soon.  Once it's added to your favorites, you can start sending web pages to your Kindle with a single click.  By default, Kindle is a book reader, but with SENDtoREADER you can also make it your personal Magazine.

In order to protect your privacy, our system requires you to register first. '

Sounds worth a try, no ? Please report what you find. Thanks!

Note: (Be sure to see the earlier Send to Kindle via Chrome article for details on how to use the Kindle-specific email.)

(Original posting was same day at 9:12 AM)
UPDATE - Norti was the first to report in the Comments area:
' Accented international characters in titles ('őűóúíáé') - and in text, of course - and pictures are well preserved with this, so it's already better than any other other page-sending service out there ... those are likely to fail on accented titles). '


UPDATE2 - The Comments area feedback is extremely positive, with images coming through well, good general layout, and "a great feature: history of your sent articles (linked) in your account at sendtoreader.com with an option to resend." Thanks to phelcq and Elmo.


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 £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Kindlefish - Free Google Translate Web Tool Optimized for the Kindle - UPDATE for Kindle 2 fix

     

This will be short (cheers resound) Seattle Flyer Guy has put together a great tool for the Kindle (using Google Translate) for those who like to get translations for phrases they'd like to say in another language.  One useful feature is that the resulting characters are huge, which means the person you might be communicating with will have no trouble seeing them.

Go to UPDATE if you've read the main entry before.

  I entered my Chinese surname, chose Chinese as the output language, pressed the Translate button and immediately got the correct character for the name.

  Seattle Flyer Guy, who posts excellent photos as Nicholas, and took some very effective pictures of the program's display, has a blog page guide to using the program, though I found it pretty intuitive.

  He also has a growing list of linked reviews from the last couple of days, so go take a look.

To USE Kindlefish on your Kindle, you'll be turning on your wireless to GoTo Kindlefish.  He explains:
' Kindlefish - No Muss Translations for the Amazon Kindle

One of the best features of the Amazon Kindle is the ability to access the internet virtually anywhere for free.  Since there is no touchscreen, the interface can be a bit difficult at times, but for simple errands like checking your email, reading up on something on wikipedia, or sending a text message with google voice it's great.  For example, I step off the plane, switch on my Kindle and a few moments later I can send a SMS saying that I got there safely.  It doesn't cost me a thing and it just works.

However, one thing that hit me the other day is that I should be able to use Google Translate on the Kindle to help me out in situations where I need to communicate a message, but there's a language barrier. The standard Google Translate page doesn't work for the Kindle and the mobile Google Translate page returns text that is too small to be easily read, and a little clunky for use on the Kindle.

So I fixed it. I present to you: Kindlefish! '

Thanks, Nicholas !

UPDATE - 3/28/11 (Am not changing the date for this entry, only the time)
In the Comments area, David Cuen let me know that this tool did not work for his Kindle 2.  I experimented and wrote the following, slightly modified here:
For your K2, you'll see a slightly different looking Kindlefish menu, and the 'Temporary DX Version' option on the right may not even show up unless you arrow down the page (which I found out accidentally).

  The best way, though, to get to the method which will work for the Kindle 2 is to use the following shortcut URL (making sure the URL action at top right is "go to" by going right with the 5-way button).

      bit.ly/kfishfix

    (Don't type the "http://" part -- it's not needed on the Kindle.)

  Clicking on the "Translate" button will work then.
Press Menu and select "Bookmark This Page" so you won't need to type the URL in the future.   I'll include it later in the Mobiweb weblinks file described above.

  (This Kindle 2 method uses the programmer's fix for the Kindle DX model ironically.)

  The Kindle 2 cannot display the Asian characters though.

In FACT, at times the Kindle 3 will not respond to the "Translate" button either. If that happens, you can use the fix-shortcut URL (bit.ly/kfishfix and it'll work.


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 £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

NPR: on e-reader value vs full tablets, plus added information

NPR's Jon Kalish has an article on using the tablet-like features on e-readers, titled "Cheaper than a Tablet: Rooting" your E-Reader," something that can be done with the NookColor to remove its mild Clark Kent eyeglasses and strip it down to the full-flying Android operating system capability, for a decent price.

 Google's Android OS, coming on strong against the Apple operating system (iOS) allows use of the Android Marketplace without the restrictions of the curated Apple app store, giving access to all Android apps, but  recently to some carrying malware, as they are not checked, and to apps that can cause crashes.
  For many, the risk is worth the freedom to choose.  An Android device should be able (if the software is robust)  to run ebook-apps from all the online bookstores that make them for the Android system.  The Kindle for Android app is one.

Android tablets have several features that the Apple iPad2 doesn't have, including a decent still-picture camera (not that I'd care about that), a USB port, SD slot, the ability to run Flash used on websites (some block them anyway), and real multi-tasking.
  Also people should note that the lowest-level $500 iPad2 is only 16G for storage, and if you use it for storing video you'd run out pretty quickly. So, the equivalent 32G-storage price is $600.  And that's before adding $130 for the 3G model of the iPad and $30 for the connection kit (camera and USB) + monthly data charges.

  With Apple's iPad2, background apps are suspended when the 'front' app is running, but Android devices can do true multi-tasking, with programs actually running in the background doing things while you work with the main one.

The article's words on the Kindle
  Despite the title of the article, the first few paragraphs are about the Kindle:
' In fact, San Francisco hacker Mitch Altman doesn't read e-books on his Kindle at all.  He only uses its Web browser to access maps and restaurant listings when he's traveling.

The Amazon Kindle-3 3G (UK: K3has 3G data connectivity so that readers can download e-books anywhere there is cell phone service  [by AT&T and its partners in 100+ other countries)]

 As many Kindle owners know, the device can connect to Google and Wikipedia to look up things mentioned in e-books, too.  That connectivity is all the opportunity hackers need to turn an e-book reader into a tablet. [AB comment: : Note that this is NOT doable with the Kindle]

Cheap And Portable Internet
"This is something that is starting to get around in geek and hacker circles, and it's a relatively cheap way to have Internet anywhere you go," Altman says.

When Altman says it's cheap, he's referring to the fact that the 3G Kindle costs a mere $190 and there is no charge for the 3G Internet.  Of course, there's a trade-off here: the Kindle doesn't have a touch screen, so you have to use scrolling buttons to navigate around the screen, which Altman has found cumbersome. But for $60 more, he could've gotten the Nook Color. '
3G vs WiFi
  Kalish does mention that, for that added $60, the NookColor does NOT have 3G access to the Net, which makes  access possible as you're walking down the street.  The NookColor uses only WiFi  for accessing the Net.
   I don't know about others' experience, but wherever I go now, all nearby WiFi networks are "secured," as security setups are now automated by routers today.  You'd need the password or passkey unless you find free WiFi.  Since that can be done at Starbucks or McDonald's, some will find it but they're not places I tend to visit.

 3G cellular access is almost always possible just about anywhere you happen to be.  But on an e-Ink screen, it's slow and requires patience.  I use mine mainly for look-ups while out and for reading feeds of text from various news sites.  I also use it to look up reviews of a product I'm undecided on when out and encountering an enticing sale.  The reviews usually let me know just why they're on sale.

 The definite slowness of e-Ink 3G web access on the Kindle does not encourage anything resembling web-surfing, but it's great for looking up (for no added cost)  info when you don't already have a smart phone with paid 3G data access.


From xkcd - Their home page

Ability to buy e-books when outside the U.S.
  Note that B&N's Nook books can be purchased only in the U.S. (and probably Canada now), and U.S./Canadian buyers cannot buy a Nook book when they are traveling outside the U.S.
  There's no such restriction on Kindle owners travelling abroad.

  The Kindle 3 not only has 3G use for downloading Kindle books, in 100+ countries, it also has free 3G web browsing in about 60 countries, usable by US customers when traveling.

  Also, most of the other 40+ countries that have 3G book downloads but which don't get free 3G web-lookups DO have instant, free 3G cellular network access to Wikipedia from their Kindle books (you get back to the book page by pressing the Back button after browsing Wikipedia).
   This is the great unmentioned feature of the Kindle.  For some reason it's not mentioned in review comparisons.  Great for those who are interested in finding out more about something they're reading. Certainly good for students.

An example of the free 3G usefulness
  I have a NookColor, which I really like for color magazines and lightweight portable web-browsing and I enjoy it without rooting it.  The Kindle is just tons more relaxing for my eyes for sustained reading of books, so the two types of devices are complementary in my case.  The new Notepad app (see discussion of how people use it at the Kindle forums) has me using it even more.
  But when I leave the house, it's the Kindle that goes with me.  It's lighter, easier to read outdoors, and it has that free 3G Net access, which is key for me, as it is for Altman.

  The NookColor doesn't have that, so it stays home.  This was emphasized on March 20, when electricity in my city went out, for several hours that night.  I looked out the window and the whole city was dark.  No WiFi, no TV, and that's when an e-reader comes in handy (or a tablet though it has less battery time).
  With e-Ink readers, a clip-on battery-powered lamp or case w/built-in lamp, or something I use for everything, the Beam n Read, are  useful at night or in dim light.

 But I'm so used to being connected to the Net, I went to my NookColor to do some email, forgetting that this was not possible, because while I can read books and magazines on it w/o electricity, I need the router to be On to use WiFi.

  As usual, the Kindle was the answer. I keep the battery high, as recommended by Kindle Support Team.
I was able to do brief emails and caught up some with Facebook (which needs a special URL for Kindle access). and also tweeted about the outage and using the Kindle.  The link is to the actual tweet.

Mobiweb file of best-for-Kindle links to websites
 The good Kindle link for Facebook (touch.facebook.com) is included in the freely downloadable "MobiWeb" file, a booklet of URLs or links that work best with the Kindle, plus info on workarounds when encountering navigational oddities at some sites.
  Included in this also are umbrella-menu sites like, Kinstant, ReadingTheNet, Skweezer, and Cantoni.  You can open it as you would any Kindle 'book' and click on links to be taken to the sites, if your wireless is 'On'... Otherwise, it asks if you'd like to turn Wireless on to do that.

You can download the file at http://bit.ly/kmobiweb.  That download will work on the Kindles.  Information and tips on using the file are at http://bit.ly/kwmobiweb.

As for the NookColor, rooting it may be easy for many active on the forums, but it has not always been as easy for others, and Barnes and Noble will be updating the device to run Flash and will have an appstore available mid-April.  These new features would satisfy most who buy e-readers and want some tablet features, I think, without the hassle of re-doing the rooting each time B & N releases software updates.  As mentioned in NPR's article, you should know that the warranty is voided, on a rooted Nook, and many are willing to take that risk, since there is always help on the forums.  But I'm not recommending it to those who are not very familiar with file management tools.


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 £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Friday, March 25, 2011

50K Audible Audiobooks direct to Kindle via WiFi. - Hocking signs ~$2M deal

New York Times's Julie Bosman reports that self-published Amanda Hocking has signed a four-book deal with St. Martin's (Macmillan).

Hocking, the 26-year-old author, who sold over a million copies of her self-published e-books (Amazon, Barnes & Noble), has signed up with the Big6 traditional publisher for her next series.  Who wouldn't? assuming the terms are good.  I guess the large publishing house couldn't ignore this success story which happened without any traditional publisher marketing, backing, etc.

  They'll publish her “Watersong” series, four books in the young-adult paranormal genre, Bosman wrote.
  See the earlier article here for background on her rise.

  What a scene.  Kudos to her.
' A heated auction for the rights to publish her books began early last week, and several major publishers, including Random House, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, dropped out as the price climbed into the seven figures.

The bidding eventually rose beyond $2 million for world English rights, said one publishing executive familiar with the negotiations. (St. Martin’s declined to comment on how much it agreed to pay.)  Ms. Hocking was represented by the literary agent Steven Axelrod.

The first book in the series will be released in fall 2012, a spokeswoman for St. Martin’s said. '

  As Hocking reported on her blog Tuesday, in response to news stories that she was shopping her series to traditional publishers, Hocking explained her thinking (and activity) to her readers:
' “I want to be a writer,” she said. “I do not want to spend 40 hours a week handling e-mails, formatting covers, finding editors, etc. Right now, being me is a full-time corporation.” '
The Bloomberg Businessweek/AP story by Tara Bannow the other day has a good backgrounder on Hocking's story, from last year to the signing.
  She's written only one of the four books so far, so there'll be a bit of pressure, which probably won't have much effect on her.

  Bannow also writes, "Earlier this year, Terri Tatchell, co-screenwriter of the 2009 science fiction film 'District 9,' agreed to adapt the books from Hocking's Trylle Trilogy as a screenplay."  
  There's a bit on how she's adjusting to all this, and you should read it there.

In the meantime...
If you want to check out her existing e-books while they are still available and at a good price, see her Amazon author's page.


AUDIBLE AUDIOBOOKS NOW DIRECTLY DOWNLOADABLE TO KINDLE-3 WIFI
Amazon announced on March 24 that:
' ...more than 50,000 Audible Audiobooks are available for download on the latest Kindle (UK: K3) via Wi-Fi delivery.
  Of course, owners of any Kindle device can continue to purchase Audible audiobooks from Audible.com and transfer the titles to Kindle via USB. '
  To find out more about how to do this, go to Audible Audiobooks, where they offer a 30-day free trial that includes "two free audiobooks."  The page will give an idea of what's available.  Those already subscribing to Audible Audiobooks they can listen to while on the go will probably welcome this news, as it frees you from the USB cable transfer in that you can download large-file Audible book whenever you are connected to a WiFi network, whether at home or at work or in a cafe somewhere.


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 £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Book lending clubs OK - Microsoft sues B&N - Apple sues over 'app store' UPDATE3

LENDLE  E-BOOK LENDING SITE IS BACK UP AND RUNNING.  THE OTHER MAIN SITES WERE FINE ALL DAY.

There have been three main Kindle booklending clubs, with one of them handling both Kindle and Nook e-books.  See earlier descriptions and links to the three sites.  Sites described there are BookLending Club, Lendle, and LendInk.
  Another site, ebookfling, received a full report in the Los Angeles times at one point, reported here.
  UPDATE - Forum folks also recommend BooksForMyEreader which also does both Kindle and Nook.
BookLending.com said all through the day, Tuesday, on Facebook and on Twitter, that their access to Amazon's listings was "unaffected," it was "business as usual" and "we're not going anywhere."

But there was generalized anger at Amazon for withdrawing Lendle's access to an Amazon API (special application programming interface), and the news stories tended to treat the action as a likely blanket decision to do a full stop on all e-book-lending clubs WHILE the four lending clubs mentioned above were up and running and the largest one had to keep telling members through the day that all was fine with them.

Why Lendle?
  There was something different with Lendle's situation.  It's not because they were larger and therefore more threatening to the publishers or Amazon.

  BookLending.com (formerly KindleLendingClub) now has approximately 18,000 members, and they say they're the largest lending site.

 However, Amazon could have been clearer, if Lendle paraphrased their statements well and didn't leave out important portions of the letter to them.  I think sometimes strange decisions are made at lower levels and the company pays for that later, but it was also quite odd that it was only Lendle that had the problem, of the sites that are most used.

  The most balanced and thoughtful column I read yesterday was by Slate's Farhad Manjoo, who did contact two of the other lending sites and found them both running and surmised:
' This suggests that Amazon might have shut down Lendle for narrow technical reasons.  So far, though, the company hasn't told Croft what those reasons are or what Lendle should do to restore access to the database. '
He also goes on to make many other good points, in general.

Here is Lendle's report-page re Amazon's actions and the explanation for the re-instatement last night.   About Amazon's latest email to them, they report:
' Late today, we received an email from an Associates Account Specialist at Amazon informing us that their concern only relates to our Book Sync tool, which syncs a user’s Kindle books with their Lendle account.

  Amazon informed us that if we disabled this feature, our access to the API, as well as our Amazon Associates account, would be reinstated.  We appreciate Amazon’s willingness to modify the position stated in the original access revocation email and work with us to get Lendle back on line.  We have complied with the request to disable the Book Sync tool (which was a very useful, but non-essential, feature of Lendle). '

That would be, then, the "narrow technical reason" that Slate's writer expected was the problem.  It appears to be a tool that's "non-essential" for Lendle but the sync'g of a user's Kindle books with their Lendle account seems to have been meant by Lendle to make it possible to confirm that the member had actually bought the book from Amazon.

UPDATE2
  On the other hand, the use of that API seemed to encourage making known what was available for lending for each person even if the author had not thought to lend it, so that it encouraged random lending even more.  Both publishers, already paranoid about e-books, and Amazon would have reason to be nervous about that.


OTHER STORIES
Microsoft's lawsuit against Barnes & Noble (Nook)
"Microsoft sues Barnes & Noble over Nook reader"
Points in the ibnlive article:
' Microsoft Corp filed lawsuits for patent infringement on Monday against bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc over its Nook electronic book reader, widening the software company's legal assault on devices running on Google Inc's Android system...
. . .
In lawsuits filed in federal court in Seattle and with the International Trade Commission on Monday, Microsoft claimed the Nook line of e-readers infringe five Microsoft patents, concerning the way they display retrieved images, show the status of downloaded material on a small screen, edit electronic documents and render annotations.

The lawsuit also charged the makers of the devices, Foxconn International Holdings Ltd and Inventec Corp, with patent infringement.

"The Android platform infringes a number of Microsoft's patents, and companies manufacturing and shipping Android devices must respect our intellectual property rights," Horacio Gutierrez, deputy general counsel of Microsoft's intellectual property and licensing, said in a statement.

"We have tried for over a year to reach licensing agreements with Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec. Their refusals to take licenses leave us no choice but to bring legal action to defend our innovations."

Barnes and Noble said its policy is not to comment on litigation. Foxconn and Inventec could not immediately be reached for comment.' ...

It's surprising that B&N would 'refuse' to take licenses since they had put B&N up for sale due to less than favorable circumstances.  Foxconn provides essentials to all the device-makers.  How does that affect things?
  UPDATE3 - Commenters to the blog have explanations for this.

  Amazon took action to prevent possible problems with Microsoft last year and they're not known to 'give' where it's not required.   Nieman Journalism Lab's Tim Carmody pointed out that "Microsoft and Amazon made a broad patent cross-licensing agreement for the Kindle and other technology, but it’s not known whether and under what conditions that agreement would permit an Amazon-branded multimedia tablet or prohibit it."

  The Nieman piece by Carmody is more general and makes these points:
' ...Like Frommer, I think it’s unlikely that the mainstream Kindle will be radically altered. It is simply too successful for what it is...

  Amazon plus Google may be the most dangerous competitor Apple could face.  The open question would be whether such a “Googlezon” tablet would need to carry the Kindle brand, or whether (like “Wintel”), they could set the market standards for an ecosystem of third-party manufacturers. '

  There's more at ibnlive.

  Here's added detail from AP on the situation.


Apple filed a complaint against Amazon to prevent the use of "app store"
TechConnect's Cristian writes a short and sweet story explaining this (bracketed clarification mine):
' ...Apple is currently engaged in proceedings to register App Store as a trademark and says that Amazon's use of the words would confuse and mislead customers.  Of course, iOS users [Apple operating system users] wouldn't really be 'confused' since Amazon's store would sell Android apps but even so, Apple doesn't like it and wants the court to throw the ban hammer at Amazon.

If Apple succeeds with its lawsuit then Amazon will have to figure out a new name for its store. '

ZDNet's Larry Dignan has a very detailed piece that should be read, explaining "Apple's stance: "Apple's App Store and a little trademark history"

Bloomberg gives detail on Apple's "Unlawful Use Claimed."
' Amazon has unlawfully used the App Store mark to solicit software developers throughout the United States,” Apple claimed.

Apple said in the court filing that it contacted Amazon three times to demand that it cease using the name and that Amazon hadn’t “provided a substantive response.”

“We’ve asked Amazon not to copy the App Store name because it will confuse and mislead customers,” said Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple.

Apple applied to register App Store as a trademark in the U.S., and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved the application, Apple said in the lawsuit.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) opposes the registration and the matter will be the subject of proceedings before a trademark appeal board, according to the court filing. '

Photo credit: http://reboundpost.com


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 £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Amazon Appstore for Android is Open - despite Apple's lawsuit on "appstore" - UPDATE

IT'S LIVE, FOLKS :-)

As written a couple of days ago, Amazon has opened the store today, announcing it in their Businesswire press release. "Customers can now find, discover - test! - and buy Android apps...

An innovative new feature called "Test Drive" will enable customers to test apps on a simulated Android phone. Customers control the app through their computer using a mouse.
"

The apps store products are not yet available outside the U.S. though.

Angry Birds Rio doesn't work with AT&T devices, but AT&T is working on it and will e-mail people when they've fixed that.

  Some report problems with some Motorola devices.
  Those who are able to run it tend to like it even better than than the earlier one.

Here's the rest of the info that pertains to this particular event (emphases mine):
' "Test Drive lets customers truly experience an app before they commit to buying.  It is a unique, new way to shop for apps," says Paul Ryder, vice president of electronics for Amazon.com. "Our customers have told us that the sheer number of apps available can make it hard to find apps that are high quality and relevant to them.  We've spent years developing innovative features that help customers discover relevant products.  By applying these features - plus new ones like Test Drive - we're aiming to give customers a refreshing app shopping experience."

In addition, the highly anticipated Angry Birds Rio for Android debuts today, exclusively in the Amazon Appstore.  For a limited time, customers have the opportunity to download it for free.  In fact, the Amazon Appstore will offer customers a paid app for free every day.

Customers can shop in the Amazon Appstore from any computer using a Web browser. They can also access the Amazon Appstore directly on their Android phones or tablets, once they've installed the Amazon Appstore application. When customers purchase an Android app from the Amazon Appstore they can use the app on any of their Android devices.

The Amazon Appstore will include popular Amazon features like personalized recommendations, customer reviews, and 1-Click payment options.  There will also be detailed product descriptions, including screenshots and video content that shows apps in action.  In order to ensure customers have the best possible experience with the apps they purchase, all apps are Amazon-tested before they're made available in the Amazon Appstore.

For the first time ever on the Android platform, ad-free versions of Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons will launch today exclusively in the Amazon Appstore.
  The Amazon Appstore also features a selection of bestselling and new apps from top developers, including Pac-Man, Doodle Jump Deluxe, Evernote, WeatherBug Elite, Zagat to Go, TweetCaster Pro and more.

"The Android platform's openness provides a great opportunity to reach new customers," said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds.  "We are thrilled to offer the Angry Birds suite of Android games using the easy and trusted shopping experience that Amazon is known for."

Developed in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox, Angry Birds Rio features the animated stars of the studio's upcoming motion picture, RIO, debuting in theaters worldwide on April 15.  Angry Birds Rio will launch with 60 dedicated levels, with more content to follow via app updates.

Visit www.amazon.com/appstore today to get Angry Birds Rio for free and browse thousands of apps at great prices. '

There is a LOT of news as yesterday, so I'll be adding that later today.

One is that Apple filed a lawsuit against Amazon for using the word "appstore."

Another is that Microsoft filed a a lawsuit against Barnes and Noble for not licensing from them certain important features of the Nook, and affected as well is Foxconn.  That also brings in Google, as it pertains to Android.  Amazon did make arrangements with Microsoft on use of their routines.

Details here later.

UPDATE - I see Angry Birds Rio already has 240+ reviews with lots of '1' ratings because the app is NOT available outside the U.S. yet.  It's a certainty that apps will be available globally eventually, from words on the forum by those working with Amazon, but rights and pricing may be hard to finalize with the publishers.
 Amazon should have, however, added wording to the app-download area to let people know, to avoid the time spent and bad feelings from people with expectations high as a result of the press release.



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 £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Monday, March 21, 2011

New Kindle app: Notepad for Kindle - finally! +NON-US reported.. Tip on type of text used. UPDATE5


NOTEPAD FOR KINDLE - by 7 Dragons

See Update4 - Received a report today in the comments area that a NON-US download was doable, at least in the UK.  But, it may be explainable another way, alas.

This is the type of Kindle app I've been waiting for, a Kindle tool rather than yet another game (even if I enjoy some of those).

  Kindle apps are probably still not available outside of the U.S., but I've seen several articles that indicate the Android AppStore will likely be available before the end of March and maybe Amazon will extend availability of apps soon after, then.  We can hope.

Product Description
The 7 Dragons group created the Notepad for Kindle.
  With Notepad, you can write and edit text notes on the Kindle-3, Kindle-2, and Kindle DX models.  (The Kindle-1 model doesn't have direct user-access to the screen content.)

  They mention that you can write meeting notes, grocery reminders, jot down quick ideas, phone numbers and addresses, etc.  The sample screen images above give you an idea of what you can do.  The Search function should definitely be very useful.

When creating or viewing a note, you can chose between two font types and from six font sizes.
  "Your notes can be sorted by date or alphabetically by title.
   Notepad also allows you to search for text in real-time within the body and title of your notes.   Simply start typing in the word you are looking for, and Notepad instantly displays the notes that contain that word.  This allows you to find anything you may have previously written, without having to browse through notes individually."

The app was released yesterday and already has a review involving an Amazon Verified Purchase (not always the case, since some get review copies).  It's by Jose M Salas and is definitely helpful (to the extent I just bought the app), so I'll insert a copy here while bolding the item headings to make it easier to read in an already wordy blog article.
' Amazing! Fast,Simple and Easy to Use, March 17, 2011

I have been looking for a few ways to get my notes into the Kindle - since I have had it for about 8 months now - and this "meets" the needs that I had.

Needs:
o Quick - it must be quick
-- Did I mention that it has to be "Quick"? -- and this is the fastest I've seen on the Kindle - I have about 500MB free (yup - I like books,magazines, etc.) and my kindle is sluggish - but this app works really fast.
-- Disclaimer - I've only put in about 50 notes (so far)
o Easy to use - this is SUPER easy
-- All the key mappings you need are displayed in an intuitive manner - Alt+X (Save and Exit - I really like this)
o Copy Notes to my PC and Vise Versa
-- The video shows that this can be done - I've yet to try it - but it's a simple copy / paste operation
o Font Sizes:
-- I am a fan of small fonts and this allows me to use small fonts - to be able to add more notes
o Search by Note Title
-- This works as advertised - quickly locate notes by title
o Search Notes by Body keyword
-- Again, works as advertised - quickly and painlessly
o Saves work in progress (for the "all thumbs folks" (like me)
-- I have a tendency to hit the home button - and this saves my "unsaved" note - so I can go back to it - sweeeeet!
o Simple, Clean UI: [User Interface]
-- This UI reminds me of the Old Palm Days (think Palm Notepad) - but on steroids - so nice to KISS

In a nutshell, this is worth $0.99 many times over,.... BUT only if you are looking for a Quick, Easy and Intuitive UI that allows you to enter notes on your Kindle. '

UPDATE - I contacted Abhi of 7 Dragons and found out a bit more and will include here some notes:
' If your Kindle is shown as D: drive on your computer, the path/folder where your notes are stored will be:
  D:\.active-content-data\8a5982e82ae68fb2012bc688405e0026\work\user

  . The "e0026" at the end of the long folder name is an easy way to find the right folder.
  . Fonts are not anti-aliased to preserve speed.
  . Changing font size changes everything - buttons, labels, help, everything.
  . There is a time/date stamp and you can sort by time or alphabetically.
  . There are lots of other small things:
      Press Home accidentally and a copy is saved with your changes.
      Progress bars for main page and for a note.
      Character count and "Page 1 of 2" for note.
      Backup in the app itself.

There are also some caveats:
  There's a size limit so the app can't be used for reading Gutenberg books.
  For simplicity purposes they had to remove extensions so everything is saved as ".txt" although ".txt" isn't shown.
  There are no folders.
  The focus on speed means they don't use anti-aliased fonts or pretty backgrounds. '

He mentioned there will be Kindle Notepad Help Videos and a Help Page that will include downloadable help files.

UPDATE2b - The HELP when you press the app's Menu button and then "Help" is voluminous.  I had originally used the 'Welcome' link in the default "All Notes" page and mistook the SHORTCUTS there for a help page.  No, the Help page is 12 pages long. (Menu >Help).

  These are some of the best Help notes I've seen on any app.  I also like that the bottom screen reminds readers that the Kindle number keys on the Kindle 3's are always available using the alt key with the top row and displays which top-row key it is to get any number.  Great way to remember the alternate way of getting numbers whenever you're using the Kindle 3.

The "About" page in the app (Menu >About) means that on your Kindle you'll have access to their website too.  Enter the website link in your experimental web browser:
 ( Home >Menu >Experimental >Web Browser ) and then, when you arrive at the website, Save that page as a Kindle web bookmark.
  When on your computer (but not on the Kindle) you will be able to view videos on their website.

UPDATE3 - (Original post, 3/17/11)
TIP: Because the fonts aren't "anti-aliased" - to keep speed - they won't be as smooth looking but I prefer the speed (typing and moving around are amazingly fast).  I found that instead of using the default font-size '3'  I use size '4'  which I actually like anyway, and the 'SansSerif' family of fonts.  That's done the usual Kindle way, via the "Aa" type/font key at the bottom of the Kindle.

UPDATE4 - 3/21/11.  An anonymous commenter wrote today that "Notepad is now available from Amazon in the UK I downloaded it yesterday."  I don't know if it applies to other countries yet (or whether the person did it as a resident of a non-US country or was a U.S. person downloading it while abroad, but it happened close to the date that the Android Apps Store is expected to open (Tuesday, 3/22) so it's a possibility they are working on it for the appstore opening.
  KinWorm reported in from the UK and was NOT able to find the file in the UK Kindlestore nor download the file from Amazon-US.

UPDATE5 - TIP: The program manager of Notepad has this note on the Amazon Kindle forum thread about Notepad:
' Last edited by the author 15 hours ago
A. Singh says:
Debi, sometimes the encoding used is different.

The KDK supports text files in ANSI format. If you open a text file in Notepad and click Save As you will see the options in the bottom right - UTF-8, Unicode, ANSI, etc.

So if the characters used are ones not supported by ANSI then the KDK (on which the app is built) can not recognize them and it cuts the notes.

Another Kindle owner had a similar problem where note was getting cut at '-' and when she removed that it went away. Notes that are made in Notepad on Computer and saved using ANSI format should open up fine.

**** In particular, the ` and the ... in that note might not be the standard ones.

So if you just open up your note on your computer and replace it with typed out ones using your keyboard it should work fine. '


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.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

The Amazon App Store is to open Tuesday, March 22, per Wired online.

Well, Nate at The-Digital-Reader site had the right date several days ago, and you should go there to read how he guessed the date.  It's more or less confirmed today by Brian X. Chen of Wired's Gadget Lab with a lot of interesting details provided by someone involved with the launch but who signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (so much for Agreements, but it creates interest).

Coincidentally, Apple is in the middle of an approved-app flap today over an app that they designated had no "objectional material" but it's a guide to converting gays to straights.

 Amazon's already seen complaint-storms when customers did not 'approve' of subject matter in an e-book.  I think they'll be very busy.

Excerpts from Wired:
' Amazon’s Android app store will be a curated market, meaning Amazon reviewers will determine which apps are allowed inside, similar to Apple’s iTunes App Store.  That’s a contrast to Google’s “anything goes” policy for apps that appear in the Android Marketplace.
. . .
For apps that have links to purchase and download other apps, those links must go through the Amazon market. They may not contain URLs to apps on the Android market, our source added.
. . .
. . . it’s worth noting that Amazon payment systems are deployed in more countries than Google Checkout, so an Amazon app store may pose serious competition to the Android Marketplace, and possibly even iTunes.

TechCrunch has speculated that the Amazon app store may precede an Amazon-made tablet powered by the Android OS, enabling Amazon to more directly compete with Apple and other tablet manufacturers.

[ See Computerworld's early word on this information also, from sources, in November. ]

Multiple reports claim that Amazon will focus on lower prices for apps to gain a competitive edge.  Indeed, tech blog Android News looked through the 48 apps on the leaked webpage and found that prices of a few apps undercut the prices for the same respective apps listed on Google’s Marketplace. '

You can read the rest of this at Wired.  I left out quite a bit about how it'll work.


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.

Popular, higher-priced Kindle Games on sale for 99 cents until March 27

  SALE ON POPULAR KINDLE GAMES - $0.99 until March 27

At the Kindlestore's front page, the little box below reminded me that I'd forgotten to alert people to a sale on Kindle games that are normally between $1.99 to $4.99 but which are on sale until March 27 for $0.99.











Apologies again to the outside-U.S. readers, as the apps aren't available there yet.

For those who have already been enjoying the excellent, new Notepad app, I've added some info in later updates to that blog entry.


Earlier articles on Kindle Games
Chess, Word Search, Panda Poet
Every Word, Shuffled Row (both free)
Flip it! and Tic Tac Toe (ratings increased)
Newer Tutorial and other apps


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.

NYT: Amazon tablet? Attorneys: Kindle or tablet? Amazon #1 best-value brand

"The Kindle Is An iPad Accessory" ?

 That's part of the catchy headline in Business Insider's story written by Dan Frommer and carried in the San Francisco Chronicle this week: "The Kindle Is An iPad Accessory, And That's Why It's Still Going To Be Huge " (Thanks to KindleToday for the first report I saw.)  I love the photo (at left) that Business Insider used.

  Frommer's take is that "The Kindle is capable on its own, and many will use it that way.  But the Kindle is now inexpensive enough (and getting cheaper), and light and compact enough, that it's reasonable to consider it an accessory to an iPad, or other larger, heavier tablet.  Or even as a larger accessory to a smartphone."

  Also, his main point in this whimsical piece is that the tablet market will be "bigger and more mainstream" than the dedicated-ereader market, and Amazon, he says, is smart to offer Kindle e-books apps on every tablet and smartphone platform.

  He suggests people with roomy bags can carry both a tablet and a Kindle.  The usual positives are listed:  the Kindle's screen in sunlight, the long battery life,  free 3G access, lower cost, and he doesn't see why people can't be using the Kindle  (UK: K3) to read while one of the tablet features (video, email, music) is otherwise entertaining you on a larger, LCD device.  But many prize quiet, relaxed reading time too.

  In the UK, Carphone Warehouse amd Best Buy will begin giving Kindles away for free "as accessories" (his concept) to customers buying new phones and signing long-term mobile contracts.

  In a survey of those waiting in line to get an iPad on its release-date (the day of the Japan earthquake -- and it was strange to watch the intense focus on Japan's set of horrors juxtaposed with the feverish focus on the new gizmo here), Piper Jaffrey found that about 24% of those interviewed in line owned a Kindle.

NYT:  "Is Amazon working on an Android tablet?"
That's a question from the NYTimes's Nick Bilton and his creative illustration) for the NY Times at the right.

  Well, Computerworld's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, in November 2010, mentioned that Amazon sources were telling him they -will- produce an Android tablet.

  To get one working really well, it should take a while since the new (color) Android tablets present problems to some degree (the operating system programmed FOR Android tablets is new).  But if they did it, it would be not a Kindle but a different type of device that supplements the Kindle and of course would cost more.

Bilton points us to Amazon's Lab126 website and its newest job listings which include more Android developer openings.  These could be, though, he says, for software development for other Android devices.  Who knows?  They did buy Touchco, the touchscreen maker with some advanced capabilities some time ago.
  I bought a NookColor for color magazine, color-photography books, and portable color web-browsing, but I read regular books on the more relaxing text screen of the Kindle because I don't get eye fatigue from that the way I do with even a very good LCD screen.

  I would be surprised if Amazon was not working on a tablet but it would have to be an especially good one, at this point, and we've seen it's not easy yet to produce an Android tablet without some downsides.

Amazon named as 'world's best-value brand'
TechRadar.com's Internet News section has a story by Marc Chacksfield on Amazon having been named "world's best-value brand", beating Microsoft and eBay to the top spot, per a study by Millward Brown, a research agency that specialises in advertising and marketing communications.  It tops both the global and UK lists.  How does that affect us?  Not much, except it indicates an emphasis on offering value and probably quality.

 TechRadar is in the UK and announced also that the Kindle will be sold at both Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse there - available in about 400 stores.

LAW.COM - "Tablet or E-Book Reader?  It Depends"
John Edwards (no, not that one) writes about the difficulty some attorneys are having in deciding whether to get a tablet or an e-reader.

The sub-headline is, "If all you want to do is read books and documents, an e-book reader can be a cheaper and more convenient alternative to a tablet computer."
  I'll quote below the comparisons some attorneys made while considering the options:
' Like a growing number of attorneys looking for a way to conveniently access books and documents anytime, anywhere, Charles Naylor faced a choice:  buying a tablet computer or an e-book reader.

Naylor, a maritime industry personal injury lawyer in San Pedro, Calif., opted for a reader, an Amazon Kindle.  He says he doesn't regret his decision. "I have a laptop and a smartphone, and a tablet just seemed like more technology than I needed," he says. "My reader acts like a book and feels like a book."  Naylor appreciates his Kindle's lower cost, smaller size, lighter weight, and extra-long battery life. "It does what I need it to do," he says.

While some mobile technology experts expect that tablets will eventually dominate the e-book market, others -- pointing to users like Naylor -- predict that smaller and cheaper readers will continue to appeal to knowledge-hungry users who don't need a tablet's sophisticated information management and media capabilities. '

They look at Size and Weight; Usability and Convenience; Readability; Wireless Support; Battery life; Document Compatibility [Read the section there]; Cost; and Security.

Also, Edwards points out that while the Kindle screen is more readable in bright sunlight (or by windows), shiny LCD screens -- unless positioned just so -- "are also vicious light reflectors" and annoying under those conditions.  An LCD screen will be better indoors and in low-light ocnditions..
' "When I first got my Kindle, I was switching over to this job and there were some materials about our products I wanted to read," recalls Elle Byram, corporate counsel for ZL Technologies, a San Jose, Calif., company that provides e-mail and file archiving software for compliance, litigation support, corporate governance, and storage applications. "I didn't want to have to lug around a ton of papers, so I figured I could send them to the Kindle in PDF form." While Byram could use a tablet, she feels that her Kindle is easier to carry, less complicated to use, and costs less. "It's just better suited for what I want it to do," she says.
. . .
Katharine M. Nohr, a sports risk management attorney in Kaneohe, Hawaii, says that E Ink's superior readability led her toward a Kindle. "I use a computer much of the day; my eyes need a break," she says. "However, reading a Kindle is similar to reading a book." '

Under Cost, Edwards mentions, "A reader's lower cost makes it more practical and less financially painful to distribute the devices to colleagues and staff members involved in various types of research."

I was surprised that the cases described were heavily weighted toward the Kindle, but it may be that since attorneys focus most of all on words and not usually on heavy use of graphics, this makes snese.  The lightness of the device and the clarity of e-Ink seem to be quite a draw.


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.