The Verge points to Amazon's new Kindles ad that was shown during the NFL broadcast

The Verge points to the full ad shown in an unlisted area at Youtube.  It appears to show a 7" Kindle Fire and a somewhat longer e-Ink model than the current one that has a very white-looking "Paperwhite" background.

  While they mention the latter, e-Ink model would be 'backlit' it would be front-lit (as it's been said that e-Ink can't be backlit) - using a technology Amazon bought when they acquired a company specializing in this about 1.5 years ago -- see the April 2012 article on that.  There was word about a delay in July.

The Verge's Bryan Bishop points us to the full ad showing multiple devices, posted in a non-public area at Youtube by Daniel Marchena.

Got back from a late dinner near Santa Monica, so this news has been out for a few hours.

  In the 2nd half of the ad, The Verge mentions what looks like a verrry large tablet at first (it would be larger than 10") but it has a hinge at the bottom and the people are using it with a keyboard and at times a mouse, so it's probably a laptop. (I'd love it if Amazon suddenly came out with a laptop).

  Or even a verry large tablet :-)

  At marker 0:33 or so, the hand-held tablet, at an aspect ratio of 4:3 or so, looks large as a result, relative to the current Kindle Fire, which is longer but narrower (good for HD-widescreen videos) --  it almost looked as if it could be a 8.9" one but otherwise seems just a wider 7" Kindle Fire this time, as has been expected from early sources.

Amazon smartphone?
The Verge's Nilay Patel, moreover, says that the Amazon phone is 'confirmed' and could be announced Thursday morning.  Patel says "multiple sources" confirmed Amazon "is working on a smartphone that runs a variant of the Kindle Fire's Android-based system," and they hear now that the device will be "shown to the press" in the morning, although it's "currently unfinished."  As with the Kindle Fire, Amazon would be using Nokia's mapping technology rather than Google's.

The Sept 6 Press Conference in Santa Monica
As an individual, I won't be live-blogging, as the big-boys have teams and some excellent technology for that.
  For monitoring live blogging, I normally watch a combo of CNet, Engadget, and Gizmodo and of course we'd add The Verge now.

I'll tweet, though, some of the points that really strike me while at the event and tweets will be readable at http://twitter.com/kindleworld (no refreshing is needed, or it tells you to 'click' when there's something new).

  An alternative for seeing any of my tweeted info will be to read them through the more detailed http://tweetree.com/kindleworld.

  I plan to jot a few notes here on the blog as it goes, which won't be seen until you refresh or reload the screen but will do a full write-up later in the day of what I saw and heard and give it a bit more context when combined with what we know about the details of current Kindles and what the changes are relative to expectations, hopes, dreams :-)

  I also hope to have a few interesting photos as well.

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  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard(U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Kindle Tip: Small text on web page when using Kindle Fire or Kindle e-Ink readers - How to read it

Browsing web pages on a Kindle Fire or Kindle Touch or Kindle Keyboard e-reader

Recently, a family member recently told me he was frustrated by trying to read webpages with tiny fonts, and I saw a Kindle news blog saying not much had been done to improve the Kindle Fire.

I replied that the new Kindle Fire feature, Reading View for web-article reading that isolates the article, is done VERY well, and it’s brought me back to Amazon's Silk browser from Dolphin HD (Android) web browers which I had far preferred until Amazon’s Reading View feature was added to its Silk browser.

  The new feature makes a huge difference for most who use the web browser on a 7" tablet if they know about it (and that’s the key, or at least one of them).  For those who don’t know about the "Reading View" feature, look for the reading glasses icon in the bottom status bar when at a web page article.

  Lightly press the eyeglasses icon and you'll get a specially formatted page for the web article you're on, far more readable with no ads or surrounding link and info boxes.

  I really enjoy this new feature despite the fact that in normal web-browsing on the Kindle Fire, a double tap on an article will usually raise the font size considerably and wrap the web article text within the width of the Kindle Fire, depending on your web settings and it's usually at a good size.

  But the instant Reading View is much easier and very effective.  No other eReader-based Android tablet web-browser or non-Kindle e-Ink eReader [I edited to correct the subject device type here] has this for browsing the web in full desktop mode (not limited mobile mode).  It’s like Instapaper or Readability, getting rid of ads and side boxes while displaying just the article in normal-sized text and supporting any article links.  But you also have access to the normal full webpage.

  And ANOTHER way to do this (on the Kindle Fire):
  Resize the column you want to read and then pinch zoom the display to enlarge the words until you have only what you want in the window (no side boxes or ads).
  Then double-tap, and that will keep the font size you are seeing while wrapping the rest of the article to the width of the window.
  My web browser settings are something like "auto-overview" and zoom in='Close'...

Remember that if you rotate the Kindle Fire 90 degrees, web browsing will be like reading on a 10" screen but only a half page at a time and the text on the page is easiest to read this way, with more room for it.  I do most of my web-browsing in landscape mode.

  The Kindle Touch ALSO has the pinch-zoom feature to enlarge the displayed text to the font size you want but it's hard to control the width of that as it doesn't wrap at the width so I don't consider it worthwhile except to raise the font size in an area you want to read, knowing it won't wrap.

  The Kindle Touch and Kindle Keyboard e-Ink readers offer ARTICLE Mode, which converts the layout of the web article you're reading to a simple isolated article-view with very readable text.  When finished with the article, press Menu--Web Mode to return to normal web browsing.

  The Kindle Touch otherwise allows, in normal web-browsing, only two auto-sizes -- the normal tiny, unreadable font when you're on a full webpage and a MEDIUM sized font if you double-tap the screen in the article box.  This isn't large enough for most though.  If you double tap it again, it reverts to smallest font and the double-tap acts as a toggle between the two sizes.

 (An oddness: If you double-click on an info box on the right, the Kindle Touch will sometimes raise the article font to a large size and then show you the article that way, but it's not worth doing because the KTouch gets confused and can crash the browser.)

Hope that helps.  I find that although I've written about this a couple of times, most people don't seem to know about the enhanced web-text reading features.

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US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard(U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

CNet quotes an analyst on supply-chain info re 4 new Kindle Fires. Smartphone being readied?

CNET now says that four Kindle Fire 2 tablets are on their way

CNET's Brooke Crothers cites NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim, saying that Shim gets his information from sources in the "supply chain."
What Shim sees: '

• 7-inch Kindle Fire 2:  1,024x600 display, no camera; August production.
  
• 7-inch Kindle Fire 2:  1,280x800 display with camera; August production.
  
• 7-inch Kindle Fire 2:  1,280x800 display with camera and 4G; September production.
  
• 8.9-inch Kindle Fire 2:  With 1,920x1,200 display; Q4 production. '

First, the #1 item on their listing (all these are said to be based on orders from makers) is more likely continued production of the to-be-cheaper $149 current model rather than of the Kindle 2.

  I see no reason for Amazon to be doing a new Kindle 2 with the current display resolution and no camera.  But it's been said they do plan to continue the current model as the economy model, which means they have to keep ordering it too.

  The one coming out sometime in August would be the one with a 1280x800 display with camera.

  And, as Apple did with their first iPad, they may add a 3G/4G model afterward; in this case, Shim is "seeing" - September for production.

  The 8.9" one by the yr-end 4th Qtr Holidays -- all this needs to be taken with a grain of salt, remembering that recent CNet rumors were that the 10" one was coming year-end and that they were not moving after all on an 8.9" one.  Since this is SAID to be based on orders from companies, this would seem stronger, but these things have been said before and didn't materialize.  It could go either way, but I'm pretty sure they plan something larger by the Holidays for those who are not interested in the 7" size.

One thing for sure.  Amazon won't be standing still.

Bloomberg says Amazon plans a smartphone as well
Bloomberg assigned three people to this story: Tim Culpan, OlgaKharif and Ashlee Vance
The story is that Amazon is developing an Android phone that would go up against Apple.  Foxconn International Holdings Ltd is working with Amazon on the device, according to "two people with knowledge of the matter."

  Amazon is said to be working on acquiring patents covering wireless technology, but they're not commenting on this.  The writers also say that Mark Mahaney, a Citicorp analyst, had said back in November that Amazon was planning to release a smartphone.  Many others said this as well.
  The Bloomberg story explains it quite a bit more.

  Those who want to read even more speculation on this should go to Computerworld's story by IT blogwatcher Richi Jennings, who put together a collection of information and speculation he found.

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links

US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

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.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!