Software Update v5.6.1 for Kindle Paperwhite2, Kindle Voyage, and $79 e-Ink Kindle (Gen 7). US and UK -- Tips and detailed info

Amazon has released a software update for their current line of e-Ink Kindles.  

The free update will be rolled out automatically in the coming weeks, and those who prefer to manually download the update can do that, as before.

At the left is a screenshot of the expanded X-Ray for Books feature.

I received confirmation that Amazon's "goal is to make this update available for the first gen Kindle Paperwhite" (Paperwhite 1) as well. 

  (Updates for older generation devices tend to follow a few months later.)

New features include [quoting their forum announcement and press release]:

·         Word Wise—For readers learning English and children learning to read, Word Wise makes it easier to understand more challenging books more quickly. Short and simple definitions automatically appear above difficult words, so you can keep reading without having to stop and look up a word. To see the various meanings the same word can have in different contexts, just tap on the word to quickly bring up a card with definitions, synonyms, and more. You can adjust the number of definitions you see with a slider, dialing them up or down as you learn and grow your vocabulary. Word Wise is already available on thousands of titles, including The Hunger Games, The Giver, and Wonder. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/wordwise.
  [A sample is show below.]

·         Family Library—For the first time, you can access not only your own Kindle books, but also books from the Amazon account of a spouse or partner. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/family-library.

·         Kindle FreeTime Unlimited—For as little as $2.99 per month, kids get unlimited access to hundreds of hand-picked chapter books and early readers, all curated for age-appropriateness, so parents don’t have to spend time and money guessing what their kids will enjoy. Includes favorites such as the Harry Potter series, The Borrowers by Mary Norton, Big Nate and Friends by Lincoln Peirce, and Newberry Medal and Honor winning books such as The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, and Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.

·         Expanded X-Ray for Books—X-Ray now makes it easier to explore as you read—quickly flip through all the images in a book, and use the new timeline view to easily browse the most notable passages. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/x-ray-for-books [and above].

·         Deeper Goodreads Integration—Goodreads on Kindle now allows you to easily share your reading progress updates, add books from your Kindle library to your Goodreads shelves, and see your friends’ updates, ratings and reviews when looking at a book on Goodreads. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/goodreads-integration.

  

·          Enhanced Search—Makes it even easier to find what you are looking for by combining and previewing results from your Library, Goodreads and the Kindle Store on the same page. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/kindle-search.  

  

·         About This Book—See information about the book as you start to read, including its place in a series and author information, plus mark it as “Currently Reading” on Goodreads. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/about-the-book. 

This is a screenshot of Wordwise

To Manually download updates if not wanting to wait for automated over-the-air updates:

Here is the umbrella Kindle Software Updates page that covers ALL current Kindle devices (U.S.)
  Here's the equivalent UK page for Kindle software updates.

Again, the free update will be rolled out automatically in the coming weeks.

New Kindle Software Update Version (The version no. will be the same for the UK models)
All 3 models are getting the v5.6.1 software update.

Kindle Basic (7th Gen):
  NOTE: I've made a specific page link here, because Amazon's software updates page isn't clear in the left column about which "Kindle software update" is for the current basic Kindle (Gen 7).  The other models are clearly shown at the left of the umbrella page for updates.

  If you scroll down the general updates page, viewing the images of the models in the body of the page, it's easier to see which device-link to click for your software update file.

  Remember, the update is *automatically* sent to Kindles over an interval of a few weeks and it will be easier for most to wait and get it that way, fully automated.

Otherwise:
HOW to do a manual USB transfer and install of a Kindle software update
Here's Amazon's general page of instructions for USB transfer and installation of updates to a Kindle device.
 Each update page for a specific device has a Determine Your Software Version link that needs to be used before trying to transfer a file for installation

Tips and Reminders
How does Family Library work?
Amazon has a very clear write-up on this book-sharing feature. It starts:

' Use Family Library to share content between two adults in your household.

Family Library lets you link your Amazon account to that of another adult in your household so you can easily share Kindle books across your Amazon devices and Kindle reading apps. Each adult chooses what they want to share: they can share all of their Kindle books, or, they can choose to only share individual titles.

Once you’ve set up Family Library, shared content will appear in the Cloud tab of each of your supported devices, which you can filter (for example, See My Books, See My Partner's Books, See All Books, etc.). When accessing shared content, each adult has their own settings for that content, such as furthest page read, notes and annotations, and more. '

    See the About Family Library help page for much more detail.

A Reminder about how syncing of your reading between devices and apps is done
In order for this to work reliably, the changes to your last page read and any new annotations done (highlighting, notes and bookmarks) must be 'seen' by the servers at Amazon -- this means that your WiFi or 3G wireless connection would need to be 'on' at the time you close the book by tapping the Home icon.
   Once the Amazon servers note the changes, they'll be available to the next Kindle-compatible reader or app you open (with Wireless on that device turned On also).
  You can turn 'off' the WiFi or 3G Wireless connection after leaving the Kindle book reading, which will help maximize battery use on that device.)

  When an eInk screen is displaying a page but there is no change to that screen, the display is having no effect on the battery.
  When you change what's being displayed (changing or adding anything on the page, as in tapping it on the side to get a new page or when an action brings a pop-up window or dialog box), the display IS using the battery.  That's why just pressing the power button for only ~1 second puts the Kindle to 'sleep' during which it displays an image, which doesn't use the battery, but the Paperwhite light turns off.

  Leaving it in this sleep state doesn't draw battery power as a result of the image display itself.  If, however, WiFi is On during Sleep state, any activity with subscription downloads or a Special Offers download -will- use battery power.

  There is always very slow battery drain in between charges even when a device is turned off.

  So, the "Screen Off" is a relatively new choice on mine.  This just blanks the screen and puts it into sleep state.  SOME have requested a blank screen so they know it's "Off" but, in this case, it's only that there's no image seen - not even Amazon's default images during normal sleep-screens.

Mentioned previously also:
  "Restart" acts more like a soft-reboot on a computer and clears up memory states that may be causing problems.

(Using the Paperwhite as an example)
  There is no option on my Paperwhite to completely Power Off or Shut down the Kindle.  My options are to (1) Cancel a longer key-press action, (2) Restart the Paperwhite (mine is a Paperwhite 1), or (3) choose "Screen Off." On other devices, some will see an option to "Power Off" or "Shut Down" the Kindle.

  Also, holding in the power button for over 20 seconds (rather than 5 seconds) does still cause a Restart (and a clearing of current memory use), as in the past.


IF you experience unusual battery drain
Note that keeping your Kindle always connected to a Wi-Fi network can drain the battery faster under certain circumstances.  If you're experiencing that, then 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, using the "Airplane On" choice.

  Amazon's Paperwhite development team hasn't returned the Wireless Off/On choice to the front menu as they did one year for the Kindle Touch when they removed the 'airplane mode' icon that confuses many.  It's inconvenient to have the WiFi On/Off setting on a secondary menu and many, as a result, don't even know that they can actually turn WiFi Off if needed to conserve battery power.

  Amazon may prefer that we keep Wireless 'On' due to delivery of Special Offers but a battery-drain problem can occur when circumstances involve (1) subscriptions that are downloaded regularly (my New York Times Latest News subscription updates the Kindle edition about five times a day - $1.99/month)) or (2) due to a weaker connection that results from the distance from the WiFi 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 model with the special-offers feature) and is then often active.

  On the other hand as mentioned earlier, WiFi needs to be 'On' after you've read a book and made annotations for a session AND when you then want to be able to continue reading later, on another device (like a smartphone), starting at where you'd stopped.
  If WiFi isn't turned on, the Amazon servers won't have any way of knowing the last-page-read location nor any notes or highlighting you've made, which you'd want to be able to access on the other device.  So, a reminder on my usual recommendation:

1. When you're finished reading, tap the top-toolbar and press the HOME icon.
  On most e-Ink devices, this will 'close' the book session and record the last page read and log the annotations.
2. Tap the top of the eReader to bring up the toolbar and menu icon.
3. If you see an airplane icon at the top, your WiFi is Off (and you're in "airplane" take-off mode).
4. Tap 'Settings'
5. Turn Airplane Mode OFF, and that'll turn WiFi ON.
6. At that point, the Kindle will try to sync your changes to the Server and will download anything that is pending (a subscription to a newspaper, magazine, or blog, usually).
7. After that's done, you can go ahead and leave WiFi ON if you have no problems with faster battery drain
      OR you can turn OFF the WiFi if you need to save battery power.

Again, and only if you'd rather not wait -- DOWNLOADING and transferring the Update via USB
US:  Go to the Kindle Software Update page (or to the UK page to get the instructions for the download for your specific Kindle eReader and to transfer the appropriate update file to your Kindle via USB:

---

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.

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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Kindle Tips: Kindle for IOS update version 4.5 mid Sept 2014 (and v4.5.1 yesterday) . Customer forum tips on handling oddities that may occur with iOS 7 and 8.x

 
The Kindle Forum has a recent announcement that Kindle for IOS, v4.5 has been ready for download.  Apple's problems with iOS 8 and then the abrupt recall of iOS 8.01 last week due to suddenly non-functioning features, for too many, appeared to affect apps.
  Apple's problems with iOS v8.01 update included loss of cellular and WiFi connectivity, lag, sync'g issues, and Touch ID not working for many.

  I waited for things to settle down a bit and am logging this Kindle for iOS update and adding tips and workarounds from customers and Kindle Forum moderators.

  As of a couple of days ago, Apple released iOS 8.02 Friday to fix the problems with iOS 8 and 8.01, but unfortunately, customers are still reporting both cellular call and WiFi problems as well as slowness, affecting several earlier iPhone models.  These will affect apps on the devices too, of course.

  PhonesReview requested feedback on v8.02 and it's not good news.  From the feedback, the problems seem worse for too many.

  But it's time I logged here what the Kindle for iOS update v4.5 has in enhanced features.  Customer and Kindle Support tips from the forum will be below the announcement by Amazon.  ((V4.5.1 was reported by one customer to have been received yesterday.)

 Here's a copy of the announcement (Any bolded emphases are mine).

' Initial post: Sep 18, 2014 01:56 AM PDT
Megan H. - Forum Moderator says:
(AMAZON) (AMAZON OFFICIAL)

We're pleased to announce the latest version of Kindle for iOS is now available in the Apple App Store.

What's New in Version 4.5?

Kindle for iOS Version 4.5 makes reading multiple books easier with the handy Kindle Today Widget. Customers also get the ability to copy passages from their books and paste them into text messages, e-mail, and other applications on iOS outside of Kindle.  Readers who encounter words or phrases in other languages can quickly comprehend the author's meaning with a convenient translation feature. This release also includes iOS 8 support, bug fixes, and stability improvements.

* Kindle Today Widget (iOS 8 only - Multi-book readers can now surf between books from anywhere on the device by pulling down the `Today' view and tapping on one of the three titles in the Kindle Widget. They can choose from their most recently opened library titles, like the `jump' function on a TV remote.

* Copy & Paste - Customers asked and we listened. Version 4.5 includes the ability to copy passages from your books and add them to the iOS clipboard for pasting into a text message, e-mail, social media, or other iOS applications outside of Kindle.

* Smart Lookup Translation Card - Authors often include phrases in other languages to add depth or meaning to a story. Readers can now get a full understanding by selecting the word or phrase and viewing the translation card. '

Re the Copy & Paste
Remember that, as with Notes Export, there's an alternate way for you to export notes and highlights from any Kindle book, not just the "Print Replica" textbooks.  Kindle-compatible device- or app owners have a personal, password-protected website that holds your annotations for each book.  You can view them by Your Highlights (which are grouped secondarily by book) or you can choose 'Books.'
You can copy (for emailing or personal logging) and print sections from these.

A few customer tips and feedback from Amazon's Kindle Community forum
The first report was that the app works fine with iOS 7.  Here are some responses of possible interest to readers here:

' Dorsie says
You press the word at the start of the section you want to copy.  When the highlight color circles appear, drag the right control to the and of the last word in the section.  It will allow you to drag to the next page if you need to.  The highlight control bar shows four colors and three b/w controls.  The b/w control third from the right and just to the right of the orange color looks like two overlapping pages.  Press that and the word Copied will pop up.

Now the whole section is in the clipboard and can be pasted into any other app when you press and hold in an input section and select Paste. This could be a word processor or e-mail or any app that allows text input.

~~~
LASoundCrafter says:
Great copy function.  Also, they kept the reading feature: I use the triple tap on the home button to turn on "voice over" and the "double swipe" down and Siri starts reading on and on ... The translation feature is very good.  Overall a very stable upgrade.

~~~
Cindy says:
No problems with 10000+ books on ipad air.

~~~
C. Petko says:
I just upgraded to iOS 8, have upgraded Kindle for ipad, and cannot see the widget for what I am reading today yes, I have two books started if that makes a difference

~~~
thebeartrack says:
The translation feature is not working on my iPad using iOS 8.  I have deregistered, deleted the app, many times to no avail. It works fine on my iPhone 5s.  Calling Amazon gave me no help at all.  They said it was an Apple problem......SOS

A call to Apple solved my problem.  I needed to restore as a new iPad and then restore my apps. Works like a champ now!!  I love the translation feature!!! Good job Kindle!!!

~~~
R. Thomas says:
I have an iPod, not an iPad, and I wasn't aware of this feature [Kindle Today Widget] until I read your post.

Here's how I figured it out on the iPod, which I just updated this morning.

Pull down the notification pane, the pull down menu from the top - school down and you'll see "edit" and I'm sure you can take it from there.

Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention. I nearly always have two or three books going at once , and this is a very nice feature. THANKS!!

~~~
lonbeehold says:
Go to the bottom of your notification list when you're in the Today tab on your home screen. You will see an edit button. Tap it to see the apps that you give the option to have a notification appear in the Today tab. Tap Kindle to turn the feature on.

~~~
thebeartrack says:
Does anyone have an iPad Air with the Kindle application?  This is what I have but the translation in the dictionary will not function.  It works just fine on my husband's iPad 2 and my iPhone 5s. I have deleted, reinstalled, de registered until I am blue in the face.  I also phoned Amazon and they just told me it is an Apple problem.  Any help out there in the ether????
[ No answer yet ]

~~~
KMH says:
In order to have enough storage space in my iPad, I deleted my kindle app so I could download iOS 8.
When I went to reinstall the app, it is stuck in an installing mode. I tried to delete it and start again but it won't let me delete it. It says "installing" and it's been like that for days. Help!!

~~~
Dorsie says:
If a simple restart doesn't help, try the hard restart done by pressing and holding both the power and home buttons until it turns off. It won't harm any data or apps. After about ten seconds press and hold the power button until it starts rebooting.

~~~
Gabriele says:
...ever since Ive upgraded, my app seems to not download new content.  It keeps saying 'downloading' but never actually does.  Then i'll try a bit later on and it works.  Sometimes i send new content to my kindle app and it doesnt even recognise that i've send anything.  My internet connection is fine and i've tried turning the phone on and off (I read everything on my iphone) but nothing changes.  I've NEVER had this issue before, the only thing i can think of is this upgrade maybe having a bug? Has anyone else had this issue? Any suggestions?

~~~
Anna F. Forum Moderator says:
(AMAZON) (AMAZON OFFICIAL)
Hi Gabrielle, I'd recommend removing the app and re-downloading it.  If you continue to experience delays in downloading, please contact us through this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/kindle-help.html?ref=cssoc_FM_CU_KIN

~~~
S. Kessler says:
I tried out the copy and paste function, and it's a little tricky to get just what you want in a passage, but once I tried a few things, I got it to work beautifully.  This is absolutely the best update feature.

~~~
shermie says:
...I have been told my older iPad would have difficulties with ios8 so not to update that at this time.

~~~
Sonja S. - Forum Moderator says:
Hey shermie, you'll need to have iOS 7 or greater installed. If you don't have iOS 8 installed you won't have access to some of the features, for example the Kindle Today Widget...

~~~
Ed says:
Yeah, observed the same distraction with page turn animation. Turned it off.
Library>settings>page animations.

~~~
Mary McManus says:
I am using the latest version of iOS7 on an iPad 3 and a mini.  Both of them have the latest Kindle update.  The Kindle app on the iPad3 seems to be working fine but on the mini is very sluggish with page turns, either tapping or swiping there is a delay.  I have flicked the app out of the recently used apps and then did a restart by holding the home and power buttons, but it's still slow.  Any suggestions?

~~~
Dorsie says:
Haven't heard of this one, but it could come from hidden copies of books caused by duplicate registrations. If you find you have to delete and reregister anyway, use IPad Setting, General, Usage and let it bring up memory use for all apps. Select the Kindle app and delete it with the Red Delete button. That will get rid of the orphan books/data too. Then use Manage Your Content and Devices and deregister the iPad and any duplicates from there. That gives you a perfectly clean slate at both companies to redownload and reregister the app...

~~~
Paul Gorman says:
Looks bad on the iPhone 6 Plus.  I expected to see the whole page like on my iPad mini instead it is an iPhone view.  Don't you know the 6 plus is an iPad micro? :-)

~~~
Dorsie says:
The Accessibility Zoom feature can help with this. It's super easy to use and the screen stays stable as you turn pages.

Here's the iOS 8 online manual.
http://help.apple.com/ipad/8/
The Accessibility options icon is the fourth icon up from the bottom with all the info on how to use the zoom.

I recommend in Settings, General, Accessibility, Zoom turning off the new features "follow focus" and "show controller and set it to "full screen zoom." Zoom remembers the last magnification you used so it's simple to just tap twice with three fingers to turn it on and off. To see any part of the screen clipped by the zoom, drag with three fingers.

Edit to add: The Zoom works identically on iPads and iPhones. Here's the online manual for iPhone iOS 8.
http://help.apple.com/iphone/8/

~~~
Hussain Ahmadi says:
I love the kindle widget on ios 8 it saves time as I can go directly in the book.

However, when I finish reading a book how am I supposed to remove it from the widget? Is there any option for that?

~~~
David O. - Forum Moderator says:
(AMAZON) (AMAZON OFFICIAL)
... Hussain: In Today view, you can jump directly to where you left off in your three most recently read Kindle titles.

[AB Note: I'd think that removing the Kindle book from the device would work also if the developers coded to include in the widget only the most recently read that are still on your device... but i don't know that they did.]

~~~
Paul Gorman says:
I am reading a user manual for a camera which has many diagrams.  Then I loaded a page I had been reading on my iPad mini the diagram was half on the page and half outside the border and the text was huge.

Things improved by making the text much smaller which made the whole page real estate bigger and the images fitted into the page. I guess the images are not scaled like the text can be. The application text is still huge as that is not affected by the text being displayed...

~~~
Mary McManus says:
If your camera manual is a pdf file, I would highly recommend that you open it in the GoodReader app for the iPad which is superb for reading most any type of file: Word, Pages, pdf, jpegs.  But it is especially good for pdfs.  When I was reading books about World War I, I had saved maps from the internet as pdfs and put them in GoodReader so I could refer to them while reading the books on a Kindle.

~~~
Ed says: [in a post dated Sept 29, Monday]
There's a 4.5.1 update for iPad and phones available. '

Forum Source

Kindle reading-app Update - Where?
Go to the page for download instructions.
  If you have iOS 7 or above, the normal steps listed there apply.
The page has an "Important" section for those who are still on iOS versions earlier than iOS 7.

---

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.

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Fire TV and Prime Shipping Tips: The Fire TV app selection has more than doubled, challenging Apple TV's, and Prime Instant-Video-ONLY categories have been expanded ... Amazon expands Same Day Delivery to more U.S. cities ... Amazon also offers a SLOWER shipping option to Prime members in return for a $1 Instant video credit.

Amazon's Fire TV's appstore has quickly become competitive with Apple's Apple TV offerings.

The Motley Fool, an investing site, reports today that "Amazon Fire TV Just Leveled the Playing Field With Apple TV."

  The article by Steve Symington draws our attention to Amazon's announcement that

' ... the Fire TV app selection has more than doubled, with "hundreds" of new services and games added since the media streaming device was launched in April.  Among Fire TV's new games are Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Dungeon Quest, Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse, and the official Flappy Birds Family -- the last of which is currently a Fire TV exclusive.  Meanwhile, new services include WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney Jr., MLB.TV, Animal Planet Live, and WWE Network.

If that wasn't enough, Amazon promised more significant Fire TV services to come by the end of the year, including WATCH ABC, WATCH ABC Family, NFL Now, A&E, Lifetime, Outside TV, Young Hollywood, North Face TV, Fashion TV, Green TV, and Dailymotion. '

The Apple TV box has been reviewed as slower than the Fire TV, with much less memory, and with less advanced gaming capability (although the Fire TV is not going to be the equal of an actual $300-400 gaming console).  Curiously, Symington writes that an Apple TV advantage is its full-screen mirroring functionality.  But not only does Fire TV have that (and it's very smooth, with no delays), the Fire TV also has "Fling" a feature that allows you to use your Kindle Fire HDX or HD2 or Fire Phone to send a video to the TV where it will be streamed via Amazon's Cloud and not take up processing power while you can continue to do other work on the tablet or phone AND get X-Ray'd info on who is in a scene you're watching with Amazon Prime videos.

Tips from other customers
You can browse the customer reviews for tips on how to minimize your Cable bill by using the Fire TV offerings.
 There's a search box in the customer reviews area that lets you search the customer reviews for words like "cable" etc.

Voice Search - Does it work for more than Amazon's videos?
Hulu Plus's is now included in the voice search, for the most part (they're building the database, and most of it is working).
  Netflix will be integrated with voice search control later.  From a recent Amazon press release, a quote from CEO Jeff Bezos:

'... innovative features like unified voice search, which we’re delighted is being adopted by so many new partners, including Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, Crackle and Showtime Anytime... '

  Anyone doing keypad searches knows how arduous searches can be.

Finding Amazon Prime Instant Videos Only
Searching for only Prime Instant Video -- This has not been possible but customers have of course been keen to have this capability, and Amazon has said, earlier, that they are working on making Prime Instant Videos easier to find on the Fire TV.

  As of mid-July, Amazon added more Prime-Instant Only browsing categories.  One customer review mentioned it's not a Search, but it's much more helpful than it was. (Note that Apple TV does not get Prime Instant videos.)

  On July 30, Amazon explained the new features in a reply to a customer review:

' The Amazon team says                           July 30, 2014

. . . We wanted to let you know that we made it easier to find your favorite Prime content with the click of your remote.   You can now browse many more Prime-only categories, including
  Top Prime TV,
  Top Prime Movies,
  Prime TV for Kids,
  Prime Movies for Kids,
  Prime TV by Genre, and
  Prime Movies by Genre. '

They don't mention a coming Voice Search that searches specifically for Prime Instant videos, and even then it would take forever to show results that included large segments of the 40,000 or so that are available for a search-results page.  The Genre category should be very useful, as long as Amazon doesn't limit greatly the number of videos that will come up.  You can of course search for a specific movie to see whether it carries a charge for Prime members or is included at no added cost.

HOWEVER, there's another way to view what is available for Prime members at no added cost:
  You can use your laptop, desktop, or even tablet, to go to the Prime-Only pages, by categories and genres or by a listing that's sortable, with details.

Generally, it would be faster to go through these on a computing device when so many items are involved.
  I've read that due to various Agreements that are for varying terms, a video can go in and out of 'Free' category, so that may be an additional reason to have fixed categories that include only Prime Instant Video content.

  Some are also just putting Prime videos onto their "Watch" lists and these will show up on that list on the Fire TV.

If you're new to checking out Fire TV, see earlier blog articles for much more detail on the features and how to use them:
1. Intro to Features of the new Fire TV - April 2, 2014
2. Tips from further exploration of my Fire TV - April 8, 2014
3. The amazing Frequency app - April 14, 2014.


Amazon expands Same Day Delivery to more cities
Press release details are cited in a story by Forbes's Jeremy Greenfield, who reports:

' Amazon has launched Same Day Delivery in six more major cities, making goods from baby supplies to textbooks available almost immediately for millions more shoppers.

The program, which initially launched in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle is now also available in Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
  For an additional charge of $5.99, Amazon Prime customers can have as many items as they want delivered to their doors on the same day they’re ordered.  Not all Amazon items are available for delivery same day and orders must be placed before noon.
. . .
It’s unclear from the Amazon release whether trade books — that is, books widely read by the general public like fiction, nonfiction, illustrated books, etc. — are included in the new program.  The release specifically mentioned textbooks, however: “Fill-up the back pack with things like pencils, glue, text books, lunch boxes and other supplies.”

Amazon has not yet replied to a request for comment. '

From the press release:

' ... Prime members pay only $5.99 for all the same-day delivery items they can order.
Pricing for non-Prime customers remains unchanged, with a $9.98 fee for the first item and $0.99 for each additional item. '

"Metro" areas:
I live across the bay from San Francisco but "the East Bay' (which includes Berkeley) is not considered part of the "metro" area of San Francisco, so it's not available where I am.  It's really rare that I ever need something in one day.  And I just received one item in 1 business day though it was estimated to take the usual two days.

  To view Same-Day eligible ZIP codes in select cities and see if your area is eligible:
    * East Coast & Midwest Cities
    * West Coast & Southwest Cities


In the meantime!
Amazon is encouraging Prime customers to opt for slower shipping if the item isn't needed in two days.
Cnet's Lance Whitney writes that Amazon is offering Prime members a $1 credit toward an Instant Video rental (usually costing $1.99 to $2.99) if they choose free "no rush" shipping.

It seems the expense of offering Prime benefits is having an impact on its bottom line, and this is one way to lower the costs for Amazon without having to raise the cost of Prime features any further.

  And it makes sense too.  Some commenters on news sites are saying that they can use their Prime to buy 3 separate items which will be delivered in slow motion :-) and get $3 toward video credits that way.  So far, it's being allowed.  Apparently some noticed that this option began to appear about 8 days ago.


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From the forums and a few more tips

TIPS FOR TODAY
Before I note a few things I saw on the Kindle forums yesterday, here are a few more Kindle 3 (UK K3) tips.

Whenever you see ghosting or faint remnants from a previous page
  Press the Alt-key and the 'G' key to do an Alt-G combo to refresh screen.

As with the Shift key for capital letters, you can do this in fast-sequence style instead, with one hand.
  This does a redistribution of black and white and can also leave your screen a bit lighter at times, for awhile.

Commenter Elmo Glick points out that you can also do this with a quick double-tap of the Menu button.  Many will prefer this easier method even if the Menu flashes up briefly.  Thanks, Elmo.

For faster Google website features
GMail: use http://bit.ly/g_mail
  This will keep the view to the mail listing while "Menu" is available at top left.
    It avoids tedious cursoring to the sides when having more material on the screen.

Google Reader: use http://bit.ly/g-reader
  Easy up-down reading of RSS feeds (from newspapers and blogs)
  Additions of feeds need to be done first on the computer with this one.
    As with the GMail link and its "Menu", you'll see "Feeds" at top left
      and can cursor up to it to click it for Feed options.

Typing Web Urls at the Home Screen
You can type web URLs at the Home screen by LEAVING OUT the "http://" and moving the 5-way button to the right and then clicking on "go to" which takes you right to the website.
  Note that you'll have to use the Symbol Key for "/" - an unfortunate loss from Kindle 2.

WEB feature reminder
A 6" e-reader screen, when presenting you with screens that look somewhat like the original website ones, will display text that is really too small to read comfortably.

1. You can use the Aa Text-key to rotate the screen display to Landscape mode, and this has more room for larger fonts, which the Kindle will automatically show in Landscape mode, making the screen text more readable.

2. You can go to mobile(phone) versions of the websites instead, which tend to show you less but with much more readable text.  Example:  m.cnn.com
  Notice how fast that loads, and how much easier it is to cursor through w/ the 5-way.

3. When you do choose an article to read from the many website options on a home page and it's not easy to read, press the Menu button and choose "Article Mode" -- this is a terrific feature.  It works mainly with non-mobile sites.

  When you're through reading the article in that mode, press Menu button again and this time choose "Web Mode" (which is the normal mode).

  (This works VERY well with Google Reader, by the way.)

FROM THE FORUMS
1. Amazon Customer Service replied. to a message thread on strangely unavailable books by Stephen King.

' Amazon Kindle Customer Service says:
 (AMAZON OFFICIAL)
There is currently a technical issue causing some books to be unavailable in the Kindle Store.  We are aware of the problem and are actively working to correct it.  We will have the books available for sale again as soon as possible.

Best Regards,
Amazon Kindle Customer Service '

2. Somewhat costly but useful idea for vision impaired children
By Dusty,
"The main reason I bought the DX [instead of the K2 earlier this year was the availablilty of larger-sized fonts.  I teach blind and visually-impaired children, and some of them are able to read books now on my Kindle without using a regular book with a CCTV.  I have really encouraged my students' parents to invest in Kindles for them!"

  My own caveat is that the DX's are somewhat fragile for that use.

3. To Reports of slower page turns when reading in sunlight
By heidiann
"To put things in perspective: according to a recent lawsuit, the iPad completely shuts down after 10 min in the sun.  My MacBook air slows to a snail pace in midday heat.  Modern electronics do have an issue with overheating, and slightly slow page turns is one of the milder consequences."

  On the other hand, several reported reading in sunlight for hours without slower page turns.

  As a side note, I'll add that the Kindle customer support advisories on optimal battery use warn heavily against leaving a Kindle in a closed hot car in high heat to protect the battery.  (Someone had mentioned this had not slowed the Kindle.)

4. When Text to Speech is used and the spacebar is pressed
The spacebar pauses the text.  A nice feature.  But it also freezes the keys, and people think their Kindles are freezing up.

By me
"That's a strange freeze.  But it's happened to me when I forget that I pressed the space bar to pause the speech while I leave the room.  Maybe sometimes that is done accidentally, but it freezes the keys on the machine when you do that and the only possible action (besides stopping the program or pressing the Home button) is to press the space bar again, which restarts the text-to-speech feature."

5. Actual freezes
  A.  If you can press the Menu key, select Settings and then press the Menu key again and then select "Restart.  That does a softer reset and closes what it can.

      ShirleyKat adds:
"If you have use of the keys, it's better to press Home before doing a restart. That should save your page number.  Leaving wireless on during restart might also keep the collections.  Has anyone tried that? If you lose them, most have gotten them back by de-registering and then re-registering."

 The last option:
  B.  If you can't press the Menu key, or wake it up,
    Don't panic.
    Move the power slider to the right and hold it there for about 20 seconds.
      Then go away.  After awhile it'll restart and put things back in order.
      The Home Screen files will show '0' for awhile but soon all will be fine.

6. Is the contrast really better?
This is just a forum message thread that some might find interesting.

7. UK customers give their verdicts on the Kindle 3
The Amazon UK store just opened its Kindlestore recently.  I enjoyed this message thread and learned a few new words too.  Time to make use of the new 2nd Kindle dictionary we have now, which is the Oxford Dictionary of English (not to be confused with the OED, but which costs $58 on Amazon in hardcover.

  Welcome also to the new UK The allKindle Forum.


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.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers. 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!