SOFTWARE VERSION v3.4 IS HERE for delivery to all Kindle Keyboard / Kindle 3 models. This is for the physical-keyboard model (Kindle 3 U.S. [UK: K3]) first released August 2010 and NOT for the later Kindle touch devices nor for the Kindle Basic NO-Touch/No-Keyboard (which gets its own updates)
This update for older Kindle Keyboard models includes the following changes, which I'll just plop here from the Amazon page (Italics for emphasis, mine).
Amazon's info page for the v3.4 software update. (Link: bit.ly/kv3-4 )
(Update page in UK (Link: bit.ly/kv3-4-uk )
Software Update Version 3.4
Version 3.4 is a brand new, free software update for Kindle Keyboard that includes:- Improved Font: We've improved the reading font to have more contrast and be more crisp.
- Parental Controls: With the latest software update for Kindle Keyboard, parents can restrict access to the Experimental Web Browser, the Kindle Store, and Archived Items. While the Kindle Store and Archived Items are locked with Parental Controls, you can continue to buy books from a computer and send them to the Kindle wirelessly for a child to read.
- Kindle Format 8: KF8 makes books look even better with support for author specified fonts and more book styling options.
- Comic Books: Kindle Keyboard now supports comic books with Kindle Panel View. Supported titles can be purchased from the Kindle Store. Books open in Kindle Panel View by default (a view that allows you to read a comic book panel by panel).
- Children's Picture Books: Kindle Keyboard supports children's picture books with Kindle Text Pop-Up. Supported titles can be purchased from the Kindle Store.
- Whispersync for Voice: Now you can switch back and forth between reading and listening without losing your place. Whispersync for Voice will synchronize what you read on any Kindle platform device with Audible playback on Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Fire, or on Audible apps for iPhone and Android.
The Kindle Forum version states that "The software update will be delivered automatically via wireless to your Kindle in the coming weeks" if you haven't already downloaded it this way.
More from the Kindle Keyboard software update page - Downloading Version 3.4
You can download the latest version at the update page. ( Update page in UK
The page shows you how to tell what version you have and then what to do based on that version, if you want to download the update and install it rather than wait for it to be delivered 'over the air.'
Please feel free to ask or give your own personal experiences or info learned that will help (as usual - and thanks for the valuable input).
BIG thanks to Tom Semple for the heads-up
Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers. Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
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Thanks for the update... interesting that this is coming out - looks like they're trying to ensure as much feature parity across devices as the new Fire and PW come out.
ReplyDeleteFYI, my update had one positive and three negative impacts. The positive was that it retained my (admittedly not "nice") screensaver alteration. The three negative impacts:
1) It lost its place in the current book. Side-loaded, if that matters.
2) It lost any connection between the highlights and notes I took for said book (I'll download the My Clippings.txt file, but still, this is a pain!).
3) My font spacing reverted to some other defaults. It retained the font itself and size but changed line spacing.
Calibre and the Calibre Collection Manager Plugin appear to still work (whew!).
So - went smooth, but just wish it hadn't mucked with my current read. The new font sizes are okay and maybe there's a little sharpening, but I don't notice that much difference. Maybe others can comment?
I already ordered the PW, so are they trying to talk their KKB users into not upgrading or something? :)
Thanks for the update!
Tyler,
DeleteThe Keyboard model meets certain requirements of the State Department's big project they withdrew and then came out almost immediately with an RFI for a company to manage Kindles (replacing them as necessary w/ free shipping and other devices, doing 24/7 helpdesk globally, having something like a text-to-speech function and the biggest change I saw was that the minimum battery life was changed from an e-Ink type to an LCD one and that they also needed video on it. Looks to me that between 3 types of devices Amazon could fill the bill if they want.
With regard to the things happening on your K3, I read the entire forum thread of people installing this and this one is relatively free of problems. It was two pages of notes and at that point it was going smoothly. Mine is okay although I had a note that the book I was reading was corrupted. But then it read fine.
I have a recent photo book done by someone and it didn't look that great before and now it's laid out very well, but for all I know I last saw it on the Kindle Touch, which ought to display it better, so I'm lucky on this one that the first book, which has a more complex layout, looks pretty nice.
Like you, I don't notice the difference in fonts and contrast. My K3 has always had good contrast and screen fonts (unlike my K2, which was okay, no dim fonts etc, but less readable due to less contrast).
It's possible that your screensaver modification causes a difference when the software update is installed. It's good you didn't have to remove any screensaver files (unless that was done first) as used to be required for updates.
Good luck on your other books. Try the menu settings for line spacing to see if you can get a setting that's more like what you had enjoyed. Maybe you could do a follow-up report how it goes for you? Would like to know. Thanks.
Yeah, I had seen the articles on the govt's interest in an e-reader (including some update that said that some association for the blind was complaining, citing that a purely touch display would not work for those trained to read braille). I think your points are spot on... after all, it seems odd that an entire generation of Kindles (the K4NT and Touch) have come and went in a year, and the KKB is still around!
DeleteMy wife's Kindle is also a KKB and has not been updated yet. I just put them side-by-side, and noted two things. One was that the old version's line spacing for "larger" is approximately the same as the line spacing for "smaller" on the new version. In other words, "smaller" on the old version looks downright smushed-on-top-of-itself, whereas the new one's "smaller" is what I was always used to. I would have quite expected the opposite. That was with two side-loaded books, so I'm fairly sure it's not some font setting withing the MOBI file, itself. The other thing I noted was that the contrast does not appear any better. Looking at letters like c and v doesn't show any particular "new" sharpness for either the curvature of the c or the angular lines in the v.
The notes are working fine now (I deleted the My Clippings.txt file after copying it to my computer - I use it for notes about bad grammar and punctuation I, sadly, still find in Kindle books), and the line spacing is fine (it's a good thing I don't want it any tighter). It's entirely possible that the screensaver mod may have interfered with some portion of the upgrade and caused my unit to lose its current place in the book, along with the connection between notes and book, but I'm glad it's still there. Really dislike those dead authors peering back at me. :)
Thanks again for the blog (check it every day for news like this)! I never would have noticed the update otherwise, since I usually leave wireless off unless I'm downloading a book, so I doubt I would have gotten it before the PW comes.
Glad to see a renewed commitment to the KKB... the only thing I truly dislike about the PW is the lack of page turn buttons, but the light and other features far outweigh that one negative. I'm jealous you got hands-on, last week! :)
Tyler, what an interesting test...
DeleteWere your Kindles on the same book? Also, maybe try them on Amazon's own Kindle books? since they have specifications for the publishers.
Re line spacing, on mine sans serif has the best contrast so maybe that's why I saw no difference in contrast at first. They're pretty close now.
Yes, I would definitely prefer other sleep-screen images too!
You'll be able to see the Paperwhite soon enough, I hope. Hope to hear from you what you think. I didn't order until today because I'm still trying to decide which KFire as I really want the 8.9" (not being unhappy with the 7" I have) but the wait is long for that one. I finally ordered the HD that's available now, as I should have one for blog duties :-)
On K3/K4/KT, The line spacing is different for mobi than for kf8, no doubt that is what Tyler is seeing.
DeleteSome people consider this a bug, but I am not so sure that Amazon considers it as such; they haven't 'fixed' it as the same behavior has been pushed to K4 and now KK. I'm used to it now and just leave it with default spacing. I think there are spacing differences on Fire and the Android/iOS Kindle apps as well but they are not as obvious.
I've observed that when there are Popular Highlights or Public Notes, the interstitial annotations definitely do not have much room with mobi at default spacing. They tend to touch the text on the line below. But with KF8 spacing there's more room. I don't know if that's why they increased the spacing for KF8 but it certainly improves at least this much.
Hrm, you may be on to something. The books in question were generated from Calibre, and I formatted the HTML input code personally so I know there's no CSS weirdness. But, recently in Calibre, you can optionally have, on output, either MOBI standard, KF8, or both. When I saw that option, I selected "both" in case the newer Kindles would "want" KF8 for some reason, and that was a while ago. Perhaps, because Calibre was "attempting" to put both versions on the Kindle, maybe that means that the new firmware is leveraging the KF8 line spacing standard, and the old firmware has to revert to MOBI spacing.
DeleteIn any case, luckily, it's just an interesting side-effect of the upgrade. I was unaware that the spacing changed in the KF8 fonts, thanks to Tom for opening that up as a possibility. I guess it's not THAT big of a deal; the only time that that would impugn on my reading would be if I wanted minimal inter-line spacing; the old Kindle can bunch the lines so they're only 1-2 pixels apart at the smallest, whereas the largest spacing on the old is near equal to the new firmware at smallest spacing. I guess, to test, I could re-compile all the MOBI in Calibre with the option for MOBI/KF8 to be MOBI-only, and re-load the books, but I think I'm satisfied for now. :)
Thanks for the input, Tom. It's the little things, y'know? Since I didn't have differing devices in the past that only supported one or the other, I never noticed.
And Andrys - two questions for you, then:
1) Do you feel, having seen the two tablets in person, that the extra almost-2-inch diagonal increase is worth the extra $100? Because basically, that's the only "real" difference between the two. I have an HP Touchpad from their fire sale (10.1") and I notice the difference, easily, with a 7" tablet, but I don't know how much that would matter for a media consumption device like the Fire is "supposed" to be.
2) Did you have to wait, due to late ordering, and have your shipment date pushed out? :( I saw that shipping dates are around the 24th, now. Mine should arrive on Friday.
Tyler,
DeleteIn looking at my now-updated KK/K3, on my Kindle books, line spacing seems smaller in general. I think you might like Sans Serif/Small spacing.
Re the 7" and 8.9" tablets, that would really depend on the user. I find the 7" the perfect size to carry out with me. And, often, to pick up.
But I have a 10" Samsung Galaxy Tab 1.1 (which Apple has outlawed selling but Samsung is on to later devices) and I pick it up less, even at home because it's a bit more unwieldy. The 7" seems more 'personal' a device.
But the 10" is stunning in its own way. Samsung did a good job on it.
The 8.9" one definitely is good for those who feel that the 7" is too constraining and who don't want to go to a 10" tablet.
Amazon's making the 8.9" resolution 1920x1200 and, essentially, up to 1080p HD, would have made little noticeable difference in the 7" but it makes quite a bit of difference in the 8.9".
People who find the 10" too big to handle for a period of time and who don't feel they need all that viewing space but who feel the 7" is definitely too small will like the 8.9" one and I've seen that some reviewers feel it is a good size and makes a difference.
But it sure will depend on each person's likes and use of the device. I don't like reading books on the 10" screen, as even dimmed, it's still too much light coming at me, even dimmed, but that's only my own reaction for my eyes and mindset. I also don't like that it's heavier for longer-session reading.
I definitely will get the 8.9" of some type as highest resolution's important for me. I just haven't decided if I want the 4G one or not as I can use my smartphone to tether it for 4G. But that lowers battery availability on my smartphone. Also, 32GB memory is nice and both devices are for later delivery on that.
I went, finally, for the $200 and will switch to 8.9" after it's ready, either selling the other or giving it to a family member but the magazine reading on the 7" HD even is impressive, so I'm not sure what I'll do. I imagine people are not having the easiest time making their minds up on the various KF models. For when I'm away from home, the 7" would still be more portable and have good resolution at 1280x800... I'm getting it now rather than waiting for the 8.9" because I should know what it's like for the blog.
My Paperwhite doesn't get here until Sept 25 or so and the KF HD Oct 15.
So I'll be behind many of you in having one :-)
Tyler (and anyone else)
DeleteReverse what I said about arrival dates for my KF HD and my Paperwhite purchases :-)
Whichever, I'll be very late to get either, since it took me awhile to decide on which model I wanted and of course the arrival dates were a consideration too.
...then you'll apologize my taunting when I say that Amazon just sent me my tracking information for the Fire HD to arrive tomorrow. :) Hehehe, sorry, couldn't resist.
DeleteYours might still go today - the previous "Due to demand, shipping is " isn't there any more - maybe they got more in than expected?
Thanks for your thoughts on the 8.9 - yeah, I would like a bigger screen, too, but when it gets too big it's more like, "why didn't I just bring a laptop?" :)
Tyler,
DeleteI'll try to -forgive- you your taunting LOL! Yes, good to see that they're delivering the first-orders on time! In past years, many WERE delayed, but people generally got them earlier than first estimated -- they're careful on that.
I brought along the 10" Samsung (and KFire) on my last trip to Yosemite as I needed to do some writing and that is impossible for me on smaller devices but at least I had a bluetooth keyboard attachable for the Samsung.
The Kindle Fire has bluetooth also!, so that'll be nice. I recently got a new netbook as it is SO much nicer to use notebook/laptop and Windows when needing to use a lot of concurrent tabs and write from info in all of them.
Tablets are sort of a horror for that, if you're used to typing fast and not wanting to wait for a long press 'select text and then answering copy/paste? etc. and then going to long-press another field (which can be sort of 'touchy') and then paste the info.
Luckily, good netbooks are cheaper than 10"tablets and I was able to get a 500GB hard disk and 4 gigs of RAM on it and it's pretty nice - for under $400. The 10" tablets are not that practical for some of us.
Could not agree more, Andrys. For me, iPad/Galaxy/Fire/"Tablet X" have always been a solution attempting to find a problem to solve. When most people get one of those devices, they get them under the misguided assumption that they are laptop/desktop replacements (which they're not) or advanced eReaders (doubly not). They are jack-of-all-trades, but master of none. When it comes down to it, you really need a keyboard and mouse to do any serious work, and for that, you get much more functionality at a much cheaper price with a netbook or laptop. My wife's 17", well-appointed ASUS laptop does dozens of times more than any iPad could dream of accomplishing, at the price point of their lowest iPad3 model.
DeleteThat being said, there is one instance where a tablet truly shines, and might be considered, finally, a "master." And that is media consumption. Not "just" reading... but the entire music, video, and book experience, and being part of that ecosystem. The reason is that when people get in the mood to listen/watch/read something, they don't want to lug out a whole armada of gear, and an easy interface is king. That's why Amazon sells well; they get it. Apple is so busy trying to get everyone to buy the latest upgrade (look at the iPhone 5 - a failed launch if there ever was one from Apple) that they're missing the best market for their device(s).
Hope yours ships soon - with them rescinding the "delayed shipping" notification, maybe they'll get to yours today, as well.
I made a call, as press, and was able to get mine today and there is just one word to describe it and it starts with 'phe' -- I'll write that it's important to reset it with the 21-second salute if at first there is problem getting the video functionality.
DeleteYou're absolutely right re the consumption focus, and that's what I like it for. I'm not much of an apps person though I use them, from several sources, since Amazon's settings allow that. My main interest is in books and videos. Voila.
Did you try yours yet? The keyboard is the easiest I've ever used (no typos).
Nothing for K2?
ReplyDelete(Thanks for this marvelous blog!)
Fabien,
ReplyDeleteThanks for such nice words :-)
Re the K2, I wish I could say there was!
The Kindle Keyboard changes were a nice surprise, as it is two generations back now. The K2 came out February 26-27 2009, so it's almost 4 years old now and they tend to leave those alone but they do give support for any problems you might have with it.
The Kindle 3 came with the new Pearl screen, which has more contrast and is said to be more speedy in response also (in e-Ink terms)...
The K2 has been very solid for a lot of people though...
Yes, K2 was a good device. My old K2 is still usable…
DeleteI also have a K3 and I love the upgrade: the new font is really more readable.
Cheers, Fabien
I can't really decide between the Kindle 3 and the Kindle 5, is the latter a worthwhile upgrade to make?
DeleteCza, sorry to be so late in reply!
DeleteWhether the Kindle 5 (the Paperwhite) is a worthwhile upgrade depends on whether you prefer a Touch Kindle (v5) to the older one with a physical keyboard and a 5-way button for navigation rather than touch-method.
The Kindle 3 has free 3G that can be used on most websites in ultra-slow fashion globally in many countries but that is not likely a big draw. It also has more storage and text-to-speech. The Paperwhite is lighter, smaller, sleek, and in my case the front-lighting involved is a real plus, day or night. The touch mechanism is very smooth. It doesn't have text-to-speech and emphasizes cloud storage now with half the physical storage of the K3 but it's still enough for up to a thousand Kindle novels or so.
Hope that helps somewhat...
The Kindle Keyboard has been updated for two key reasons:
ReplyDelete1) Amazon has said that they're retaining it because it has a lot of good features for accessibility (TTS, Audiobooks, physical page turn buttons, physical keyboard).
2) Because the Kindle Paperwhite is not being sold outside of the US, it's now the only model available with 3G internationally.
David,
DeleteAgreed on #1, that's what they did say, and it makes sense. As a company interested in qualifying for projects with federal funding, all of that is important for them too.
I don't understand the 2nd point though...
On Amazon.com, you can buy the following devices:
DeleteKindle (Wi-Fi only)
Kindle Paperwhite (3G option - but it's US only)
Kindle Keyboard (3G everywhere)
Kindle Fire (4G option only sold in the US)
Kindle DXG (it has 3G, but it's so old I'm not really counting it!)
On the UK Kindle Store they're still selling the Kindle Touch - but only the Wi-Fi model.
So if you want 3G and you don't live in the US, your only choice is between the Kindle Keyboard and the Kindle DXG.
David,
DeleteThanks. What I meant was that you had typed,
--- "Because the Kindle Paperwhite is not being sold outside of the US, it's now the only model available with 3G internationally."
It was then just a typo in there.
Yes, the 3G KTouch is currently described as not available on the international pages, but the product pages still exist in each country, and my reference column on the right-hand side of the webpage, still links to the International page done by AMazon, which also still exists.
That's at amzn.to/ktouch-global ... and if you put in a European country it will tend to lead you to any Amazon stores there that are designated to deliver their own model.
BUT, on each European country with its own Kindle store, it says they're not 'currently' available and they don't know when they'll be back.
This, however, is the same as for the U.S.'s missing Ktouch 3G page, which is reachable at amzn.to/k4-touch-3g-wifi.
It seems definitely not to be sold in the U.S. anymore then, since they mention a "newer model" available in the U.S. and it is NOT showing in the individual-country "Family" headers of the current Kindle line either -- but it also doesn't show the KTouch 3G as having a "newer" model available the way the U.S. does.
THE KICKER? For countries or areas like Estonia or Hongkong, that International 3G Kindle Touch is shown as available.
I imagine keeping everything available for everywhere is quite complex and a bottom-line concern because a lot is determined by demand, which is hard to ascertain right now. The other countries don't currently have the Paperwhite 3G choice. It'll be interesting to see what Amazon does do here after the dust is settled. So many models are not even being released for awhile.
This, as some reporters said, is better than no estimated date and no estimated pricing, as we've seen with other companies' announcements.
What's your take on this, seeing this?
David, again -
DeleteI see now, you meant the KK! is now the only available 3G device available globally.
Sorry I didn't see you were referring to the Keyboard model when following up on the previous statement. I should have.
As I mentioned though, the 3G Kindle Touch is nominally shown as available for other countries but not currently, but also not stating that there is a new version or model (as the main product page says for U.S. residents), so there may be hope that they'll provide these also when trying to get everything available everywhere, including so many models still not even ready for shipment. Or, they may just ramp up 3G Paperwhite for other countries, depending on demand and supply.
Kindle DX is K2 generation and still on sale. No feature updates for long time. I really miss PDF improvements Kindle got in K3.
ReplyDeleteDamian,
ReplyDeleteThere were two DX's, one 2nd generation (white bezel, generally) and then the Pearl one, which was 3rd gen. Yes, I have the latter and, like you, I've wondered why no updates to get it on a par with the Kindle 3
Actually, I think the only difference was the Pearl screen and graphite bezel. The internals and firmware is the same (there is only one update, v2.5). So they are both 'gen 2' devices.
DeleteTom, I remembered reading that the DX Graphite had similar speed in the Pearl graphite display area as the Kindle 3 but that there was something about its handling that was behind the Kindle 3.
DeleteIt was a sort of hybrid of 2nd gen and 3rd gen (since DX original was definitely Gen 2 for Amazon -- and the Pearl screen made the main gen difference for K3 but DXG had it too and that made the screen display somewhat faster for both.
For those types of differences, I'd wondered in recent comments if the DX might be not that capable of some of the software updates considering it had to pass 2-3 times more data for a page turn. I added that I thought it -might- be a reason they'd stalled on the updates for it that would match some of K3's.
Looking up the differences in Wikipedia, I saw that:
===
"On July 1, 2010, Amazon released a new revision of the Kindle DX "Graphite". ...The new Kindle DX has an E Ink display with 50% better contrast ratio (due to new E Ink Pearl technology) and comes only in a "graphite" case color...
"The DX Graphite (DXG) is a mix of 3rd generation hardware and 2nd generation software. The CPU is of the same speed as Kindle 3 but it is of a different revision.
"Even though DX Graphite has a larger case, it has only a half the system memory (128MB) of the Kindle 3 (256 MB).
[ That is key re what it can handle in the fancier software functioning upgrades and the type of thing I remember reading, and it is handling passing more data through for each page. I wonder if Elmo Glick, eager for a DXG update, is still reading but even then he probably wouldn't see these comment areas. ]
"Due to these hardware differences, DXG runs the same firmware as Kindle 2 (currently at version 2.5.8). Therefore, DXG cannot display international fonts (such as the Cyrillic font, Chinese, or any other non-Latin font), and PDF and the web browser are limited to Kindle 2 features."
=======
[ So, COULD it, despite the considerably smaller system memory, handle what we've wanted from what the K3 can do, hardware wise? Can the firmware be updated the way we want and still function well?
In talking about the K3 Keyboard, it of course mentions the new Voice Guide at the time and also the change of the web browser to the Webkit.
Has Amazon abandoned the Touch? The Basic kindle and now the keyboard model has gotten updates that add security features , comic book viewing features and most importantly the ability to lock the browser, archive items and kindle store. I have not gotten any of those features on my Kindle Touch 3G even though it came out after the keyboard and is more expensive that the non touch. This is quite upsetting. Its like they are saying to touch owners you must upgrade. That is acting like another famous tech giant of fruity fame.
ReplyDeleteQZA,
Deletethe KTouch is not showing on U.S. product pages but is showing on non-US ones while the Paperwhite is currently available only here in the U.S. (a normal thing for initial release) so some outside the U.S. are unhappy they can't get the Paperwhite at this point.
Amazon has had a lot on the plate and are readying for Oct and November releases and have done the KK update and it could be they're readying a KTouch software update for those who have it. We've seen that they do upgrades on previous models, some time -after- putting them in new releases, so I'm hopeful on that.
I would guess that KTouch has in its short life time probably sold at least as many units as KK. So I'm confident it will get an update, ideally a facelift to match KPW (but probably not including the bigger font selection). Most likely the KTouch team has been busy with KPW as the latter is clearly evolved from it.
DeleteBut I have the same question about Fire 1. I'd love to get some of the new features there, where the hardware differences are even less dramatic (basically just a new CPU with more RAM).
I hope you guys are right on the Touch update in the hopefully near future ( before Dec 31st I hope).
DeleteBtw Andrys I am actually from Trinidad in the Caribbean heh. My present Kindle touch is a US model with 3G my boss ( US online publication) gave it to me as a (work related) gift. In Trinidad even though we don't get the product officially at launch certain local sources make it available within a month of the launch date for about a 15% premium. Either way I might get one in January if that Touch update is not rolled out by then. The audio features on the Touch along with an update will trump the Paperwhite screen for my uses.
I'm not sure the Paperwhite is derived from the Touch; the touch screen technology is what gives me doubts. I think it likely they've been working on the PW for a while as capacitive. When B&N released the Nook with Sony's infrared touch screen they had to get something to market but the capacitive screen wasn't there yet. I think that might be why the bezel depth was so unappealing compared to Nook or Kobo—it was just a stop gap model.
DeleteOza, I had clicked on your blogger name and did see that you were writing from Trinidad. Glad you're able to get a Kindle even if there is a small premium involved. Hope you get the update since the audio is more important for you.
DeleteVery good points, Tom.
ReplyDeleteAm also with you on hoping Kfire 1 gets some of those new features.
I installed the update and tried Watchmen (KF8 comic book format). It works surprisingly well! It shows the full page, then page turn takes you through panel view for each panel. And unlike support in Fire/iOS/Android, you can zoom and pan the page and or panels. I think it looks best when Panel View is zoomed to 'Actual Size' (instead of the default fit-to-page) as this eliminates scaling artifacts (unfortunately this setting does not persist between sessions). And as with other implementations no bookmarks/annotations/sharing or TOC. But this should work especially well for B&W manga. I hope someone will work on some tools to generate this format more easily, so you could more easily generate Kf8 from a series of scanned images, or taking photos and making an album with thumbnails that open in panel views, etc. Wish I had time.
ReplyDeleteBut—whenever KF8 is mentioned—I feel obligated to complain that personal document service doesn't support it.
One of the 'silent' features seems to be improvement to the way dictionaries work: KK now pays attention to language metadata and selects a dictionary to match that. Also, dictionaries for non-Latin alphabets are now supported. It is not quite as nice as K4/KT, since you still cannot set a default dictionary for each language, but it is nevertheless very welcome for people who read texts in more than one language, since you don't have to keep setting Default dictionary unless you have more than one per language.
Apparently with a large archive (>5000 items) KK would crash when attempting to sync, and that's been fixed.
I don't notice any difference in font clarity, but have done some before and after screenshots at the three smallest text sizes so I'll have a closer look at those.
Tom,
DeleteMay I add what you wrote to the blog body or to a separate blog entry on the update? Maybe make a guest blog article from it and you can send me in email how you'd like it to go ?