Kindle Paperwhite Software Upgrade to v5.3.8.1
Reader Peraino sent a tip that a software upgrade for Kindle Paperwhite 1 is available.
I have not been around lately, and when I have, my main laptop (HP) has been dying and finally did collapse this week, and although I'm now on a 5 year old reliable old Samsung with only 2 GB RAM on it I can at least get online with this one. A Surface Pro 2 is arriving Wednesday and I hope to be back to speed with that one.
See Paperwhite (US); (UK Paperwhite: here;
A new, free software update available for Kindle Paperwhite 1 can be found [here] [U.S.]
[Here's the UK-only software update page]
Amazon's lack of separation of Paperwhite software update pages
What's odd is that this is under Paperwhite software updates and there's no differentiation between Paperwhite 1 and 2 devices, but their software IS different in that the Paperwhite 2's have other features like the page-flipping one, and someone had mentioned that the new device's software is v5.4.0, but since I did not upgrade mine and didn't request a review copy, I don't know why they don't have a separate page for Paperwhite 2.
Nevertheless, the software page does tell you how to check the software version currently on your Paperwhite. Mine still has v5.3.8 on it rather than v5.3.8.1
This update automatically downloads and installs on the applicable Kindle Paperwhite; however, you can also manually download the software and transfer the update to your device via USB cable.
The software update includes general improvements and the following feature enhancements that were already announced (see below for a REPEAT of that announcement) for v5.3.8 early in October. This would be just a 'maintenance' update for general improvements.
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* Search terms highlighted in search results
When you search for a word or phrase within a book, the search terms will appear highlighted within the search results. When you tap a result to go to that location in the book, the search terms will appear highlighted on the page.
* Select other dictionaries when looking up a word
When you look up a word in the dictionary, you can choose to look up the word in other dictionaries on your device from within the dictionary definition window.
* View other definitions of a word [within same window]
When you look up a word that has multiple meanings for the same spelling (homonym), you can navigate through each of the available definitions from within the dictionary definition window. '
As ever, note that keeping your Kindle always connected to a Wi-Fi network can drain your battery faster. So, once you've got the update "over the air," put the Paperwhite back to "Airplane Mode ON" via the 'Settings' option on the Menu -- the option lets you toggle Wireless Off with the "Airplane On" choice.
They still have not put the "Wireless Off" and "On" back on the front menu as they recently did for the Kindle Touch, removing the 'airplane mode' icon, which many of us wish they would do, as it is very inconvenient to have it on a secondary menu and many do not even know about the wireless-off feature, causing more battery drain and confusion over that. Amazon: please do this in the next update; the Kindle Touch team has the right problem-avoiding idea.
I realize Amazon prefers Wireless 'On' due to delivery of Special Offers but the battery-drain problem can occur when circumstances involve subscriptions that are downloaded regularly or due to a weaker connection that results from the distance from the router, in which case the device keeps trying to connect when a download is due (and that can be for the special offers that Amazon regularly needs to send for those who choose to opt for the less-expensive special-offers feature).
Only if you'd rather not wait - DOWNLOADING and transferring the Update via USB
US: Go to the Kindle Paperwhite Software Update v5.3.8.1 download section to get the instructions for the download and transfer to your Kindle via USB:
UK: Go to the same for the UK-only page
More when I learn more...
Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.
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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Will you write a review of the Surface Pro 2?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I probably will, but I recommend the 23-minute video review by Lise Gade for Mobile Tech Review at Youtube.
DeleteAnd comments by lots of people who have bought one tend to be raves. Engadget is one place. The review is somewhat lukewarm as the writer wants it to be a very light tablet but it's a hybrid and is actually quite a capable computer, with fast, genuine multitasking, unlike tablets, running full Windows programs very well.
5.3.8.1 is for the Paperwhite 1 only, and is apparently just a bug fix release, as the features enumerated were delivered in 5.3.8. PW2 probably does not have a page because there are not yet any updates (pretty amazing considering past Kindle history). Even the PW1 update page disappeared for awhile prior to the appearance of 5.3.8.1.
ReplyDeleteTom, yes. We agree on this. I had written:
Delete"The software update includes general improvements and the following feature enhancements that were already announced (see below for a REPEAT of that announcement) for v5.3.8 early in October. This would be just a 'maintenance' update for general improvements."
But your explanation for there not being a software update page for the Paperwhite 2 makes sense, although I think they should differentiate them on the listing and also indicate on this update that it is for the 'previous' (as they term it on their product pages) Paperwhite.
Apologies I was missing for a few days again. Life is crazy.
I'm guessing the previously announced 'feature update' for PW1 won't arrive until next year, and the team is hard at work on the goodreads/freetime/bug fix update for PW2 (november?). This is all I have to look forward to in Kindleland, I'm afraid, as I'm not planning to get a PW2 and have all but ruled out getting an HDX.
DeleteWhile you were gone, of course, Apple has announced the new iPads. The mini price hike was a cruel blow, and they continue with the draconian prices on memory upgrades (no surprises there). They really don't seem to care much about market share, just profit margin. Else they could have configured the base model for 32GB and probably tripled their preorders (which would have included mine). I still think I'm going to get one (maybe even the 'Air'), but it seems it will take me awhile longer to overcome my (quite reasonable) objections to opening my wallet.
True, Tom. It normally takes 4-6 months at least for the new features to make it, in part, to older models.
DeleteI didn't order a PW2 as my PW1 is fine but I -would- like that flip-pages feature but I know the speed-up would come only w/ the new (I assume) processor.
As you know, I had suspected Apple would do that with the iPad mini -- I think they do care about market share but they believe the best way to do it is to stand out as the 'prime' offering and that most will go along and many will. But their tablet market share just dropped to 30%. The iPad mini really IS light and sleek, which is a real plus, and the screen is a killer one now. So you will likely get one, proving them right.
I have been playing with (setting up and trying out galore) my new Surface Pro 2 with 256GB and a 64GB microSDXC slot + a v3.0 USB port and of course HDMI out. I am using a Type cover version 1 until the new cover (backlit) is delivered, since they're out of stock.
The device is just incredibly fast (normally slow-loading webpages on a 1 yr old desktop) just suddenly appear, intact, with no waits. It's just amazing. Well, it has an HFS256G3AMNB-2200A SSD, which gets pretty good ratings. Apparently others have received SK Hynix ones - fairly comparable..
So now I have a really nicely working portable system for Adobe Photoshop 6 and LIghtrooom 4/5. Stays pretty cool too! It's been worked hard for two days and maybe I can get back to blogging now. If I feel like it, I can just use the Android/Windows blue-tooth keyboard in the car if I need one outside. It's a smaller keyboard than the Type Cover that is so easily attached to the netbook and works w/o a hitch and sometimes I use this extra smaller one in the lap while the unit sits on a nearby surface (no pun intended) with its Type cover keyboard attached.
The screen is a joy (it took a couple of hours to normalize to settings I like) and photo reproduction (gamma settings) and color accuracy, as well as viewing angles, are just stupendous. Am really happy. Hated that HP -- I think it could not handle the 500GB hard disk that HP put inside the model I got -- the heat was just too much for it and it was very unstable. And it was fairly slow, while this is like lightning!
i used a Mac for the last 6 yrs of work that I did at UCB and did some support for it but I just prefer to work with Windows. Of course the upgrade from OS 8 to OS 8.1 is a nightmare for some pc owners, and they should never have let that out and they're not handling it well. But this was put together with that in mind and it's functioning beautifully. I have umpteen tabs going and two windows of them and memory use is kept fairly low, considering, and while I'm playing music through it and sometimes watching some HD videos, I have a 1-terabyte My Passport drive attached too for transfers.. It handles it all well. My trusty 5-yr old Samsung 10.1" netbook saved me the last 2 months when I was fighting the HP instabilities, and i like that smaller size better for mobile use (including in the house -- where I prefer to work in the lounger now).
With this, I have Chrome set to a certain zoom that leaves all the text highly readable while bringing me everything on the screen despite the small size of the display. It helps that it lets you enlarge only the text in dialog boxes where the main problem had been.
Mainly it's like butter. Just a beautiful device. Too heavy for a tablet but it's not a tablet -- it's a tabtop :-)