NOTEPAD UPGRADE AVAILABLE (FREE)This is about my own favorite Kindle utility, and I've been looking forward to this.
Unfortunately, it's still, at this time, U.S. only.
FIRST, BACK-UP your Notepad Kindle Folder to your computer BEFORE downloading the Notepad 1.1 update, in case.
It's important not to delete any Kindle files yourself. Let the automated download take care of things.
I had written Dragon 7's Abhi Singh to ask him how the Notepad upgrades are going as far as release-dates by Amazon and received a detailed reply tonight.
THE UPDATING PROCEDURE
When you already own Notepad, the Amazon Notepad page lets you know you have it already and offers the Updated version of it in the same box where one would normally purchase it.
The product page lets you decide which Kindle (or computer if you don't have wireless and need to do a manual-upgrade) should get the Notepad Update and then wirelessly sends it to the Kindle (or computer) you specify.
Abhi says, on their webpage, that this automatic wireless download works "automatically and flawlessly" and that "The upgrade works seamlessly and does not cause any problems."
If you have 3G wireless available in your area OR WiFi access, you should just download the update from the product page after you back up your Notepad app files to computer.
The backup is especially important if you do a manual upgrade (to your computer and then to your Kindle's Notepad folder) instead of a wireless one.
DRAGON 7's ABHI SINGH's NOTE RE THE UPGRADE/UPDATE
Here is his reply:
' Basically this is a combination of the original update with Word Wrap and Movement shortcuts and Persistent Shift [key] etc. and a newer update we submitted just a week ago that has Copy Paste.
The features include:
Copy Paste - It works like highlighting in Kindle Books. Press Once to go into Copy Paste Mode - press 5-way again to get options.
Persistent Shift [key] To get capitals you can now press Shift, let go, type 'a', and get 'A'.
The largest font size is now bigger. Earlier it was 30 and now it's 33. Note: Your current font size doesn't change unless you go into Aa menu (by pressing Aa key) and change it.
Anti-aliasing option on newer Kindles. On Kindle 3 and Kindle WiFi you can turn on anti-aliasing. [Anti-aliasing smooths out fonts, less-fast display]
Speed Improvements. With Notepad V1.0 once you crossed 100 notes you'd see slowness and would also see things slow down quite a bit once you got to 200+ notes. With Notepad V1.1 even 300-400 notes work relatively fast and everything is faster to use. More on speed improvements at the end of this post.
Word wrap. Now words don't get cut at the end of a line.
Smart Note Save Notification. Now the note save notification doesn't take focus and doesn't stop you from continuing to type. Press Alt+S and the note save notification appears at the top and you can just continue typing.
New Movement Shortcuts. Move around quicker using handy shortcuts:
Shift+Next Page: Goes to the End of the Note
Shift+Prev Page: Goes to the Beginning of the Note
Shift+Right on the 5-way: Goes to the end of the Line
Shift+Left on the 5-way: Goes to the beginning of the Line
You can press Shift and Up to scroll up quickly.
You can press Shift and Down to scroll down quickly.
Next Page goes to Next Page of the Note (Page Size = amount of the note you see on the screen at one time).
Prev Page goes to Previous Page of the Note.
Quick Delete feature - Press down on DEL and hold it. After around a second it starts deleting 4-5 characters per second.
Undo Feature - Press Alt+Z to undo your last few moves one by one. If you delete something by mistake or want to undo typing you can press Alt+Z to Undo.
It's a free update (except to us as we pay the data charges :) ) and it's available now. '
The backup procedure was written for Notepad in general and is something you we should use BEFORE downloading the Upgrade.
7 Dragons group offers Help files with detailed explanations of Changes/Improvements in PDF format for your computer especially, at bit.ly/notepadchangespdf, and in Kindle (mobi) format at bit.ly/knotepadchanges.
The latter Kindle-format file should be directly downloadable to your Kindle via the Kindle (see "Download" option at that page).
(The "http://" part isn't needed for the Kindle web browser nor on most computer web browsers, for that matter, as they add that in if you omit it.)
Here's to even more enjoyment of a great utility.
Kindle 3's (UK: Kindle 3's) K3 Special ($114) K3-3G Special ($164) 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. Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
I updated the app for my Kindle WiFi from the Amazon webpage. The process was quick and smooth and did not affect my existing files. The new features are great, the 7Dragons folks are really helping exploit the Kindle for all it's worth.
ReplyDeleteK. Hugh,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that quick feedback!