Free Kindle books - a few, mostly temporary + low-cost ones - 5/17/11 - UPDATE2

UNUSUAL, MOSTLY TEMPORARILY FREE, and under $1 BOOK OFFERINGS HIGHLIGHTED
These don't include previews or a few chapters only and are usually informational books that may be lost in all the larger listings you can see in the links-box below.  Under-$1 ebooks are included if they seem unusually interesting (to me).

Moon USA Travel Planner, by Moon's Handbook, 2 customer reviews, 3.5 stars

This is actually less a planner, from what one customer review said, than a way to become somewhat acquainted with various U.S. travel destinations in a less than methodic way as far as actual travel-planning goes.  Because it includes many maps and pictures, the size is about 50 times larger than your average novel (normally only text). Since it's new and currently free, and is informational I'm listing it (and getting it because I know so little about vacation spots in the U.S.

From the Product Description: "Moon USA Travel Planner is a sampler of top travel destinations in the U.S.  Excerpted from Moon’s Handbooks series, this eBook offers information on vacation spots ranging from Washington’s San Juan Islands to Florida’s Gulf Coast. Rather than providing in-depth coverage on just one location, this is a fun-to-browse guide that offers overviews of fifty-two individual cities, states, regions, and national parks and monuments—along with a trip-planning section, suggested itineraries, maps, and photos for each one..."

Stories of Ships and the Sea , by Jack London, no customer reviews

This is $7.99 in print form but published in Kindle format in 2008 with no reviews so far.  Nice cover, and it's a TINY collection of 5 stories filling only 48 pages, so it might make up for the huge entry above :-)  It's the #2 Kindle book in "Men's Adventure" so this would be for the guys or for those who might want to understand this type of guy ;-)  Well known collection.


There's a 99-cent version published by Bound Classics which promises illustrations where possible, editing by hand, and always a linked table of contents, and it's twice the size, which is still small.

Rex: A Mother, Her Autistic Child, and the Music that Transformed Their Lives, by Cathleen Lewis, 67 customer reviews, 5 stars - $0.71

From the Product Description: "How can an 11-year old boy hear a Mozart fantasy for the first time and play it back note-for-note perfectly-but struggle to navigate the familiar surroundings of his own home?"

"Highly recommended for all public libraries and academic libraries with autism and special needs collections." -- Library Journal, 11/25/2008

"The remarkable story of a mother's love and a child's indomitable spirit, told in a writer's style that riveted me to the page, is singularly the most important work ever written on the relationship between a parent and a child with disability.  For me, as a person who happens to be blind, the experience of reading Rex was an eye-opener I will never forget..." -- Tom Sullivan, author of Adventures in Darkness and Together


The Super Health Diet - The Last Diet You Will Ever Need!, by KC Craichy, 37 customer reviews, 5 stars, $0.99

With that dangling subtitle, I wouldn't ordinarily trust the book, but reviews are almost entirely positive.

"KC Craichy has written the most remarkable nutrition book of the twenty-firsty century. The reader will gain more information from KC's book than from other nutrition books currently available on Amazon.  This book is a must read for everyone who cares about their nutrition and preventive health." -- Dr. Richard Lippman, M.D., 1996 Nominee for the Nobel Prize in Medicine

eReadUps
eReadUps is run by Will DeLamater, the man behind EduKindle.
  eReadUps staff collects information from articles in the news, lists full sourcing with active links to those sources, and makes versions available for free for Kindle and for ePub e-readers.

...the Hunt for Osama bin Ladin
  "This free eReadUp download covers the operation that led to bin Laden’s death, and the forces behind it.  More to come as the world learns more about this extraordinary event."
  UPDATE - Well, the official story changed drastically after this was put together, so I'm hoping they will update this story very soon.
  UPDATE2 - This eReadUps story has now been updated with latest information.  More info to come.



 A couple of weeks ago, they featured downloads of a set for the Royal Wedding, an event which proved to be of greater than expected interest in the U.S.

For Kindles, you can send these non-Amazon books (called 'personal docs') to your Kindle. See Amazon help for that and maybe also something I wrote on this which I need to simplify eventually.

  With ePub, the default opens the book up in an epub-reader on the computer but you can choose to right-click and "Save Target to" or "Save Link to" your computer and move the books to your ePub reader.


As before, check the below whenever you can:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW: Last 30+ days  May 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular TIP: Battery-use advice from Amazon

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

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!

Amazon tablet family rumors grow, with 'Coyote' and 'Hollywood' code names

RUMOR: Amazon tablets with dual core and, later, quad core NVIDIA processors?

BGR (Boy Genius Reports) thinks so.  Following upon the AndroidandMe tablet-family rumors posted by Taylor Wimberly citing trusted sources a couple of days ago, BGR writes today that the one of the Amazon tablets is being code-named “Coyote” (probably entry-level, powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor used in the Motorola Xoom, T-Mobile G Slate and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1) and the other is code-named the more star-dusted "Hollywood," powered by NVIDIA's quad-core "Kal-E1" processor said by BGR to give a 500% performance increase over the NVIDIA dual-core Tegra 2 processer.

BGR says that a "tipster" told them that Amazon is planning on releasing "at least two before the end of the year," but there's no information yet on screen sizes.

Ad-supported version maybe and loaded tablets?
With the talk today that the new $114 WiFi-only Kindle 3 with Special Offers and Ads is currently outselling its other Kindles (at least while new), it would seem a good bet that this gives them confidence in going for an ad-supported Android tablet as well, to get lowest consumer pricing while coming with the ready Android app store and their Cloud storage and streaming video and music in place, the streaming features already working very smoothly from the start.

Expanding Lab126
Then Silicon Valley venture capitalist Dana Stalder tweeted about Lab126 "leasing LOTS more space in Cupertino...across street from Apple" and linked us to the Lab126 "our vision" page that I see has a final image titled "the next revolution" and I was interested in what they chose as a size, although I don't think it actually means that much.

Fulfillment Centers mushrooming everywhere
Amazon has been putting out calls for employees for Fulfillment centers all around the county in the last month.  Today's call is for two locations in Tennessee and mentions "Hiring for Hundreds of Full-time Jobs with Great Benefits"

What are they thinking of fulfilling in large numbers?  The last time I saw so many fulfillment centers hiring (with press releases announcing them), it was near the holiday season.

While the due date has been anticipated to be 'by the holidays' there is always the possibility that the first one could be by August-September or even before -- who knows?

The added production capacity assistance to EIH's HYDIS by CPT in producing FFS screen panels, mentioned in the Saturday's post about FFS technology, involved CPT already having "started development" in January.

Weakest rumor: In the Kindle forums, someone who has done some Amazon reviews mentioned that a friend of her fiance already had one in hand and was working on the graphic interface.  She was advised by forum members that if true, she should delete the posting due to non-disclosure requirements

Kindle e-reader + Amazon Android tablet(s)
As Bezos said in his interview with Consumer Reports reported Thursday, tablets would be supplemental to the Kindle e-reader line, and stressed, "We will always be very mindful that we will want a dedicated reading device."



Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

Free Kindle books - a few and mostly temporary - as of 5/16/11

UNUSUAL (TEMPORARILY) FREE BOOK OFFERINGS
The Forever Young Diet and Lifestyle, by Joan O'Keefe, nutritionist, and James H. O'Keefe M.D., 13 customer reviews, 5 stars

From the Product Description: "In a field plagued by miracle diets and sketchy information, The Forever Young Diet and Lifestyle presents a commonsense plan that improves satiety; promotes wholesome, fresh, and easily obtained foods; and reinforces a rational, holistic, mind-body approach to diet and lifestyle. The program is a complete package that can help provide a lifetime of energy and good health."

The Truth About Managing People, by Stephen P. Robbins, 7 customer reviews, 4-1/2 stars.

"A prolific scholar and writer, Robbins cuts through the research and theory to deliver immediately useful and essential insights for the effective management of people."
  Eric G. Stephan, Professor Organizational Leadership & Strategy, Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University"

Chips, Clones, and Living Beyond 100: How Far Will the Biosciences Take Us?, by Joyce A. Schoemaker and Paul J. H. Schoemaker, 44 customer reviews, 3-1/2 stars

"What a fascinating book! The authors have really mastered all the aspects (social, human, scientific, and business) of the biomedical revolution that is taking place this century. Awesome."
  Giancarlo Barolat,M.D., Director, Barolat Neuroscience, Presbyterian St. Luke Medical Center, Denver; formerly Professor of Neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia

"Wonderfully comprehensive, yet still digestible for non-scientist..."
  Patia McGrath, Global Director - Innovation and Strategic Connections, Corporate Marketing, General Electric
  Most customer reviews are around the 3-4 star range, with caveats having to do with the raves from some of the bigger-name reviewers.

How I Found Livingstone, by Sir Henry M. Stanley, 3 customer reviews, 4-1/2 stars

The Travels, Adventures and Discoveries in Central Africa including four months residence with Dr. Livingstone.

The one Kindle review on this says that the formatting is a challenge.

Are You Positive?, by Stephen Davis, 5 customer reviews, 5 stars

From the Product Description: "Ripped from the headlines of today's news, "Are You Positive?" is a fictitious courtroom drama in the style of John Grisham...
[it] raises serious questions about whether anyone has ever been properly diagnosed as HIV-Positive, and whether most AIDS victims are dying from the side-effects of the HIV medications prescribed by their doctors..."

Remote Control, by Cheryl Kaye Tardif, 3 customer reviews, 5 stars

From the Product Description: "Beatrice Fielding is Harry's hardworking wife. She holds down multiple jobs so her husband can laze about on his recliner, eating popcorn and drinking cola while watching his favorite shows. She has many wishes--some aren't so nice."

From About the Author: "Booklist raves, 'Tardif, already a big hit in Canada...a name to reckon with south of the border.' "

Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts - Interactive Menu, Index and Full Illustrations, by Girl Scouts of America, 2 customer reviews, 5 stars

There are countless versions of this Official Guide.  One that says "Latest Edition 2010" and is 99c but has no illustrations, and also a recent free one that gives no date but says it's edited by Josephine Daskam Bacon with a community of volunteers.

The Brothers Karamozov (mobi), by Stephen Davis, 75 customer reviews, 4-1/2 stars

Translated by Constance Garnett

eye of the god, by Ariel Allison, 25 customer reviews, 4-1/2 stars

From the Product Description: "eye of the god takes the fascinating history surrounding the Hope Diamond and weaves it together with a present-day plot to steal the jewel from the Smithsonian Institute."


As before, check the below whenever you can:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW: Last 30+ days  May 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular

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

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!

TV Ad series: Kindle Friends 2 -- Books In 60 Seconds

She's off to the bookstore for the new release	He has the new book already
She seems to like what she sees.	He seems to like what he sees.
Definitely interested	No interruptions wanted though.

Okay, I'm a fan of this apparently continuing-series TV ad.  It's very cute, and the acting's natural.  Whoever did the casting did a good job.

Here's the first ad in this series which came out in late April when they were introducing the Kindle "with Special Offers" and Ads.

Amazon seems to be focusing, finally, on the Kindle's features.  This one is about the downloading of a new book release within 60 seconds from wherever they're standing -- more easily done with the 3G Kindle (UK: K3) when not at home/office or cafe. (See differences between 3G/WiFi and WiFi-Only).

That makes sense because whenever I'm reading somewhere and people ask about it so I wind up showing them the features, they invariably want one.  The first reaction is usually to the font clarity though.

Kindle Blog Edition subscribers don't have video on the Kindle, so this one's for them.

However, to see the actual video on a computer or suitable gadget, click here or on the first image at the top.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones   Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers. UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones     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!

Amazon's Android Tablet(s) later this year - more on the likely display

The images at the left are from the HYDIS website's "Outdoor Readability" page for examples of their AFFS technology's display qualities as compared with Trans-reflective TN and and Conventional TN outdoors.

AFFS is HYDIS' signature TFT-LCD technology (thin-film-transistor liquid crystal displays).

 In 1998, FFS was patented by HYDIS and "exceeded conventional IPS (in-plane switching) technology by offering wider viewing angles and improved transmittance."  In 2003, FFS became Advanced FFS, "with a 180 degree viewing angle and authentic color."

According to HYDIS, "The AFFS technology applied in VIEWIZ tablet applications ensures perfect readability in any environment, even under bright sunlight, and allows you to enjoy the entertainment longer with low power consumption, high brightness, and a fast response time.  AFFS' outdoor readability is significantly improved through lowering the reflectance level of the panel surface."

On another page, they show a more realistic (to me) comparison with "Real pictures taken under sunlight" on their now AFFS+ page

Why is this of interest to some of us?
The May 3 Digitimes Systems article by Yenting Chen and Joseph Tsai has been much quoted as very strong indication that the Amazon Android Tablet is being made by Quanta Computer.
Digitimes reports, without cites, that Quanta has "recently received OEM orders from Amazon for its reported tablet PC, according to sources from upstream component makers.  The device's monthly orders during the peak season are expected to reach about 700,000-800,000 units."

  They add, "Quanta is expected to start shipping [this would be to Amazon and not to customers] as soon as the second half of 2011 with the orders to contribute more than NT$100 billion (US$3.5 billion) to Quanta's annual revenues in 2011, the sources noted.  In response to the report, Quanta declined to comment on its clients."

  It's been reported by a few that Quanta is the contracted manufacturer for RIM (Playbook, w/ RIM OS but runs some Android) and one of the Sony tablets (Android Honeycomb).   I've also seen reports that FFS technology is used in the NookColor's display and if true, that is excellent, as I have one for color magazines, and I've not seen a better color LCD display.

 Apparently the Samsung Galaxy 7" tablet also uses FFS.

  FFS again
  The Digitimes article on the reported Quanta Computer's Amazon order also has the following to say:

' The device is expeted [sic] to receive support from Taiwan-based electrophoretic display (EPD) maker E Ink Holdings (EIH) for supplying touch panel as well as providing its Fringe Field Switching (FFS) technology.  However, EIH declined to comment on the news when asked, saying it does not discuss clients with the media. '

HYDIS is a division of E Ink Holdings.  It was formerly known as Hyundai Electronics.

Production needs - Digitimes adds:

' EIH has also recently been in contact with a Taiwan-based small-to medium-size panel maker, aiming to obtain capacity to support Quanta, the sources said. Volume production of Amazon's tablet PCs is expected to allow EIH to gain more profit from the patents of its FFS technology. '

  Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT)
  Digitimes' Susie Pan, also has this, from January 21.

' Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) has started development of FFS (Fringe Field Switching) panels and expects to cooperate with E Ink Holding (EIH) and support EIH's Korea-based subsidiary Hydis' production capacity to fulfill demand.
. . .
Panel makers noted that IPS and FFS panels are not easy to produce, hence CPT will not be able to start mass production immediately.  Furthermore, capacity for wide viewing angle panels such as IPS is limited, and panel makers will need some learning time before going into mass production. '

If Digitimes is right, we have a pretty good idea of what the display will be like.
  Also, their sources told them that the Kindle "still has strong sales, but the e-book reader is currently still unable to successfully cut into the markets outside of North America and Europe;  therefore, Amazon internally plans to reduce Kindle's market price to attract consumer demand from the education and consumer market..."

Amazon TabletS ? More than one size or type?
Today, Android and Me's Taylor Wimberly headlines his column: "Rumor: Amazon has an “entire family” of Android devices coming this holiday"

  Wimberly writes, "This tip came from an industry insider with direct knowledge of the project.  The information was shared with me in a recent face-to-face meeting and I believe the source to be trustworthy. It was also confirmed by a separate source who has provided reliable information in the past.  As with most of my tipsters, they wish to remain anonymous."  He adds:

' Now most recently, I was told with a smile that there is not one tablet, but an entire family of devices in the pipeline.  This surprised me at first, but Amazon is placing a huge bet on Android so it makes sense for them to launch several types of devices and see what gets the best reception. '

He goes on to say that he couldn’t get any details out of his source about which specific devices will launch first and then speculates away.

In one paragraph, though, he appears to mistake the info from Digitimes about "Fringe Field Switching LCD display from E Ink" when he follows this in the same sentence with "but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently told Consumer Reports that color e-ink “is not ready for prime time…the colors are very pale.”

  FFS has nothing to do with "color e-ink" but the "from E Ink" may have thrown him.

  He adds that when Bezos "went on to say, "it makes a lot of sense for there to be a low-power, reflective color display...I think that’s something you could build a fantastic product around," Wimberly then talks about "my inside sources" telling him Amazon "would be using a Pixel QI display" (which has been hammered in reviews of the Notion Ink Adam tablet).  Then, apparently feeling that those inside sources are not necessarily right, he says, "my gut tells me" that Mirasol displays 'could be at the top of the list.'

  So the speculation is very iffy, even if Amazon does eventually wind up with more than one size Tablet and a later dedicated Kindle e-reader using e-paper color technology, which many have felt (hoped, actually) they certainly might.   Wimberly's article will likely be repeated quite a bit in today's news.

  In the future, after the Android tablet, Amazon would continue to look at both Mirasol and Pixel IQ, as well as other e-paper technologies, for its dedicated Kindle reader, depending on the phase of development.  At some point, the Pixel QI might have a more effective viewing angle and the Mirasol display (being shown this week at SID Display Week 2011 in Los Angeles) will likely have somewhat stronger colors.  Mirasol has hinted at a partnership with Amazon in the past, and on a dedicated e-reader (as opposed to a tablet), the more-muted-color technology with good battery life and video capability (for textbooks) seems a good bet.

At any rate, about 99% of news analysts feel that an Amazon Android tablet will be here in time for the holidays although the most optimistic report I read (one) thought it might be ready August-September.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

Google's Blogger (providing blogspot sites) back to life after a long stop

GOOGLE BLOGSPOT SITES PARTIAL OUTAGE FRIDAY
   Sorry for all the confusion on Thursday.  As many will have noticed, Google's blogger.com, which provides blog space and technology for hundred of thousands of  blogspot.com sites, had a rather severe problem and had to put all blogspot hosting sites on Read-Only (no posting, commenting or editing) for 20.5 hours from Thursday noon until 10:26 AM Friday morning.

Until then they had found themselves needing to remove all posts that had been made Thursday so that they could rebuild everything from the last stable point before a maintenance update had been made Wednesday night.  They were able to bring Thursday's posts back early Thursday evening and then found they had to remove Thursday's posts AGAIN, so it was a confusing time for blog-readers and blog-owners.

Even when the sites were finally allowed to publish blog articles again, after 10:26 AM Friday, they still had to slowly bring back the temporarily removed Thursday posts plus comments by blog visitors.

At 7:46 PM PST Friday evening, almost 30 hours after they had gone on Read-Only status, Google's probably exhausted staff announced that "Nearly all posts since Wednesday are restored, now bringing back comments from last couple [of] days.  We expect the comments to be back this weekend or sooner."

You can read Google's Blogger staff explanation in their status update explaining all this on their site.  They attributed the problem to "data corruption" while not explaining how that would happen.  As bloggers themselves, they were also affected, they said, and will "do our best to prevent this from happening again."

  This blog opened on March 19, 2009, and I've not been aware of any other noticeable down-time by blogger.com, which is an unusually good record.  But it was a frustrating day and it affected the Kindle-Blog editions also. 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. )
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Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

PageBot for Kindle - Assistive technology for access to Kindle reading

PAGEBOT FOR KINDLE
Origin Instruments, a global provider of assistive technology, announced today the first switch-based access to the Kindle eReader.  PageBot for Kindle enables convenient reading by people who cannot hold the Kindle or press its buttons.

Origin's solutions for Kindle DX and Kindle 2 are available now, and an additional PageBot model that works with all versions of the Kindle 3 will be available in June.

The CEO of the company is Steve Bain, long involved with the e-reader community on Twitter as KindleToday, keeping us abreast of developments in the e-reader world along with KindleZen (Joel Watson), who explains to us at the KindleZen website how, as a high-level quadraplegic and member of the team, he uses the PageBot, placed on a lapboard, to read on a Kindle.   Below is some information from the Origin Instruments site and from the press release.

Designed for adaptability, PageBot combines:
  . actuators for the Kindle's Next Page and Previous Page
      buttons,
  . a contoured frame for securely holding the Kindle, and
  . a universal mounting arm that can position the Kindle for
      convenient reading.

PageBot's switch interface accepts Next Page and Previous Page commands from:
  . one or two adaptive switches, or
  . a wired or wireless USB mouse device.

Origin Instruments provides more-detailed explanations at their PageBot webpage.  I especially liked their solution for the Kindle's time-out function, which requires having to power up the Kindle from sleep, via its power switch.  Some excerpts from that page:

' PageBot combines a secure and adjustable mount, dual integrated actuators for the Kindle Next Page and Previous Page buttons, and a built-in intelligent drive circuit that can directly interface to a wide variety of adaptive switches.

With PageBot, reading on the Amazon Kindle is accessible to people with motor disabilities that might result from birth defects, spinal cord injury, ALS, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, multiple sclerosis, stroke, arthritis, or repetitive strain injury.  PageBot provides a much more compact, reliable, and cost effective solution for long-form reading than legacy mechanical page turners for paper books.

PageBot integrates multiple interfaces for adaptive switches that can suit the preferences and abilities of individual users.

Standard mechanical adaptive switches with 3.5 mm microphone-style connectors, like the button switches available from Origin Instruments, can be plugged in directly.  Dual switches, like the Origin Instruments Sip/Puff Switch, can interface with a single stereo cable.

PageBot is also compatible with a wide range of adaptive switches that are available from other assistive technology suppliers.  In addition, a USB host interface is provided so that PageBot can be operated from the buttons of a wired or wireless USB mouse.

PageBot captures the Kindle in a grip of compliant foam that helps prevent scratches and enhances resistance to mechanical shocks.

PageBot is delivered with an adjustable mechanical mounting arm that is articulated in four degrees of freedom. [See their webpage for details]

PageBot has very low quiescent power consumption and can be powered from the standard Kindle power adapter or from an optional rechargeable USB battery pack.

PageBot includes an integrated Keep Awake mode with an automatic timer that can optionally prevent the Kindle from entering sleep after a period of inactivity. This feature eliminates the need to manipulate the Kindle power switch after a pause in reading.

PageBot is available in three different models.  PageBot for Kindle DX and PageBot for Kindle 2 are both available for delivery from the Origin Instruments online PageBot Store.

PageBot for Kindle 3 will be available in June 2011.  Amazon's Kindle and needed adaptive switches are available separately. '

The pricing of adaptive equipment technology, usually produced in modest-volume, is often extremely expensive.  These seem, relatively speaking, more reasonably priced to me.

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

Jeff Bezos talks about possible Tablet and concerns over adKindles

CONSUMER REPORTS TALKS WITH JEFF BEZOS

"Asked today about the possibility of Amazon launching a multipurpose tablet device, the company's president and CEO Jeff Bezos said to “stay tuned” on the company’s plans.  In an interview at Consumer Reports' offices, Bezos also signaled that any such device, should it come, is more likely to supplement than to supplant the Kindle, which he calls Amazon’s “purpose-built e-reading device.”

I'd prefer the words "would supplement" to "more likely" ... but he's likely being cagy with the "should it come" that Consumer Reports' Editor, Paul Reynolds, reports.

Bezos added, "We will always be very mindful that we will want a dedicated reading device,” he said. “In terms of any other product introductions, I shouldn’t answer."

There's a video of another talk with CR yesterday.   Pressing 'play' on it may not work.  If not, just move the pointer forward a bit.  I haven't listened to it yet.  Kindle-Blog edition readers won't be able to use this video link on a Kindle and will need to view it on a computer, smartphone with data plan, or tablet.
  It's a pretty lively conversation, from what I can see.

  Re the new ad-subsidized Kindle With Special Offers and ads of course, CR reports that Bezos said it shouldn’t be interpreted as a stepping stone to a future Kindle that’s more multipurpose or that allows e-commerce to intrude on the reading experience.

  Re Library Lending, Bezos didn't feel he could say more than “sometime this year” for when library lending would be available on the Kindle.  "But he did say that users should expect a lineup of titles that’s at least comparable to those available for competing devices that support library e-books."

 In Len Edgerly's conversation with Jay Marine the other day, it seemed that "by the end of the year" was brought up.  The last time I heard that phrase used (and it was for Kindle book loans between Kindle owners), it was finally announced as ready on Dec. 31, so I wouldn't count on it being any sooner.  It'd be nice to be surprised though.

  CR reports that Bezos said again that Color E Ink “is not ready for prime time…the colors are very pale.” And Reynolds notes that 'he added that “it continues to be improved” and “it makes a lot of sense for there to be a low-power, reflective color display.  I think that’s something you could build a fantastic product around.”

  Well, I don't think they can afford to wait for that before offering a color tablet.  Quite obviously they're working on one, and I'll be adding more on the possibilities soon.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

CONVERTER for Kindle, a new app from 7 Dragons - Update

Dragon 7 Group, which brought us Notepad, the most popular longer-time Kindle app, has just released Converter ((Easy Conversions for Kindle).   As with other Kindle apps, Amazon has not yet made them available internationally.

From the product description:
Converter is a simple utility that lets you convert between different units of measure on your Kindle and answers common conversion questions.  How many Cups are in a Quart and how many Teaspoons are in a Tablespoon?  Having trouble converting between Celsius and Fahrenheit while visiting a foreign country?  Quickly convert among 76 units of measure in these 11 categories:
- Angle
- Area
- Energy
- Length/Distance
- Power
- Pressure
- Speed
- Temperature
- Time
- Volume
- Weight

There is more in the description on the product page.

Update - Typing Numbers on the Kindle 3
The Converter tool explains numbers on the Kindle 3 but here's a general explanation so you'll be prepared.  The combo of the alt-key followed by the hidden number keys on the top row work best and they're shown at the bottom of the pages.
[End of Update]

I've downloaded the utility and it's pretty fast, more so when you learn some shortcuts, and I especially like 'b' for switching the From and To types.

Instead of just depending on Menu options and Menu Help, you can view, at Vimeo, videos showing the Kindle Converter and Kindle Converter Shortcuts as well as several other videos on using the Converter.  You can select them in the box at the right at Vimeo.  Those include Intro, Detailed Intro, Quick Look, and Converter pages.

For 99 cents, a very helpful tool!


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

The Kindle Chronicles interviews Amazon's Jay Marine re Library Lending, etc.

AMAZON'S JAY MARINE ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS IN THE KINDLE CHRONICLES FRIDAY PODCAST

  Kindle Director Jay Marine is interviewed by Len Edgerly for last Friday's podcast at thekindlechronicles.com.

SPECIAL OFFERS: some want these for older Kindles
  For each podcast, Len has a text summary with a description of what's covered in the various regular sections, and it's the most relaxing way to catch up with the week's Kindle news.

  They start out by discussing the new $114 Kindle with Special Offers and Ads (the Special Offers being a carrot for the currently low-key ads said to subsidize lower-cost Kindles).

The initial offers include:
  . $10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
  . $6 for 6 Audible Books (normally $68)
  . $1 for an album in the Amazon MP3 Store
      (choice of over 1 million albums)
  . $10 for $30 of products in the Amazon Denim Shop or Amazon Swim Shop
  . Free $100 Amazon.com Gift Card when you get an
      Amazon Rewards Visa Card (normally $30)
  . Buy one of 30 Kindle bestsellers with your Visa card
      to get a $10 Amazon.com credit
  . 50% off Roku Streaming Player (normally $99)

As more ads are bought by companies to be displayed on the ads-supported Kindle, it'll be interesting to watch the ratio of ads to special offers.

  While I've not been interested in this for myself, others who have Kindles already are asking, on forums, that the older Kindles get updated software to get the special offers too.  Of course, the ads would come along with those special offers.

  Marine is asked if Amazon has plans to do something like this for those wanting the special offers in a software update.  You can hear the answer at the podcast.

KINDLE LIBRARY LENDING
A question asked in the discussion of how the Kindle Library Lending will be run involved whether or not Amazon would use Adobe's DRM (digital rights management) process as Barnes & Noble, Sony, and Kobe do.

  In my article on how the Lending Library would probably function, vs how it's run for the other e-reader companies, I didn't think Amazon would be using Adobe's DRM.

  Marine confirms that they will not be using Adobe's DRM and that when you opt to borrow a library e-book that's available, you'll be able to have it within 60 seconds without needing to download any other software.  That's a big advantage.  And it means, to me, that Amazon will provide the download in order to track annotations and keep them for the users for possible future use.

  According to Marine, they waited until they could do it 'right' because their entire goal with the Kindle has been to make downloads seamless and fast.

  They discuss how it won't be ready right away.  Len asks some good questions during the interview.  He doesn't ask about the rumored Android tablet, he explains, since Amazon has a policy of not talking about possible coming products.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

Inside Apple - Fortune's report on ' how Apple really works' - $0.99 on Kindle. Update 3

INSIDE APPLE - From Steve Jobs down to the janitor: How America's most successful - and most secretive - big company really works, by Adam Lashinsky Sr. Editor at Large - Fortune (Kindle Edition - May 10, 2011).  That's a mouthful of a title!

Update - Amazon has changed the download date each day.  Release was to be 5/10/11, then it was 5/11, and today, it's 5/12.  One has to wonder why the holdup, not that it's that important, but it's strange.  Maybe Fortune didn't want it competing for first-days download when they'd want people to buy their own magazine app (for Apple devices only) to read the report, which makes some sense.  Also, as noted, Amazon's version has added-material.

Update2 - As of 6:15 am or so, 5/11, Amazon has made the download available for Kindles after all, and the Product Detail release date was set back to 5/10.  If you've pre-ordered it, it'll just show up on your Kindle now.

Update3 - It's quite a short, unsurprising article. I'm surprised they'd begin to call it a 'book,' and definitely it's not a long, meaty article even.

  No longer described as a 'pre-order,' the official release is dated 5/10/11 but not downloadable now until 5/11/11 5/12/11 for some reason.   Should be a fascinating read. $0.99 in the U.S.

From the Product Description:

' To Apple’s legion of admirers, the company is like a tech version of Wonka’s factory, an enigmatic but enchanted place that produces wonderful items they can’t get enough of. That characterization is true, but Apple also is a brutal and unforgiving place, where accountability is strictly enforced, decisions are swift, and communication is articulated clearly from the top.  Fortune takes you around 1 Infinite Loop, inside Apple’s management structure, and into a world where CEO Steve Jobs doesn’t tolerate duds. '

Not an exaggeration, judging from Sunday's news about how Jobs handled the MobileMe matter.  As noted, he did bring the company from near-bankruptcy to a hugely $-rich company.

  While the Fortune issue detailing everything is available as a download of the Fortune app for APPLE devices here, and that will get you the latest issue with the full report at $4.99, macstories.net updated their report by letting their readers know that Inside Apple is now available on Amazon as a Kindle Edition, adding:

' it’s undoubtedly the best way to get the full story (which includes several more details, facts and anecdotes than the ones summarized...) without purchasing the entire [Fortune] issue or subscribing to the magazine. '

  Furthermore, it's only $.99 as a Kindle edition instead of $4.99 for the Fortune app on iPad or iPhone, etc.

  In fact, many aren't aware that it's Amazon's policy that you don't need to buy a Kindle to read Kindle books.

  You can just download either the free Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac apps to download and read the Kindle version on your laptop or computer.  In addition, there are several other Kindle apps available for the various smartphones and tablets now, and they'll also be able to read this.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

Tips for new Kindlers on Mother's Day. Free Kindle books. Battery use.

Mother's Day greeting at left, is from the Manhasset Library.

Since many will be opening new Kindles today, I thought I'd mention a couple of things that can help with finding free books, to give it a workout, and do a reminder on tips for getting the most out of the Kindle battery.
  At the top of this blog's reference column, you can always find free books available at the moment (some are temporarily free due to promos).

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW: Last 30+ days  May 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, for now):   99c Notepad for Kindle,   99c CalendarPro

You can also get an idea of other sources for over a million free books as well as get some pre-set links for low-cost Kindle books, at the Free Kindle Books guide here

SPECIAL BOOK DEALS TODAY - temporary promos
The Amazon Kindle Forums often has message threads on discounted books that include some free books.

  Yesterday's included a tip on Kindle books from Rosettabooks that have tie-ins with movies, available at $0.00 today.  I've no idea for how long.  These include: A Passage to India, The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, and others.

  There are also some Dr. Vook TextVooks available for $0.00 today BUT BEWARE of any that are animated, with audio/video, as those features work ONLY on the iPad, iPhone, or iPod (Touch) -- they don't work on the Kindle or even the Kindle for PC app either.

    However, the NON-animated TextVooks are extremely "brief" (maybe 15-20 pages only) and said to be good 1/2-hour refreshers for some.  For $0, those may be worth a download for the Kindle.  I have to believe the product descriptions are thoroughly tongue-in-cheek, by a cheeky professor who says outfront that these are written by graduate students.  The "Did you know?" boxes can be fun, and the TextVooks are like more-filled-out outlines.

More from The Complete Works Collection
The blog entry just before this had to do with the Complete Works Collection offerings for $2.99.

  What I hadn't noticed among the sets was the Harvard Classics set, which my family actually had when I was growing up.  A lot of families did.  They must have been sold by radio or door to door.  This is quite a set though.

TIP 1 - for using Table of Contents to get to Chapters and back
I've read that some who jump to a chapter have felt that they must then page through until they can get the next chapter or another one they want.

  The trick is that if you want to go back to the LAST place you were when you 'jumped' by clicking a link, you just press the "Back" button and you're back where you were before the 'jump.'  This works for footnotes too, generally.

  For those who bought Shakespeare sets, some families might be interested in a not-free but much-praised Shakespeare GLOSSARY.  Warning: it's $12 but many feel it's well worth it while trying to read that old English :-)

BATTERY LIFE
The Kindle is known for its long battery life, but certain functions use a lot more battery power than others, and one involves a process that's a part of putting new books on your Kindle (UK: K3).

  Indexing - The Kindle allows you to do a Search on the entire device to find a key word or phrase that may occur in any book or magazine on the Kindle.

  In order to do that, the Kindle "indexes" all new text material that is placed on it, which means it makes lists of key words found in each so that they can be found when you decide to do a Search, either within a book (commonly done) or of all the text on the Kindle (less common and it takes awhile to get search results but this can be very useful).

  That indexing takes a LOT of battery life.  New Kindles seem to use a lot more juice than people had expected, and that's because they are usually getting a lot of new books on them, with a lot of indexing to be done.

  Sometimes, a book might not finish indexing for some reason, and that can cause slowdowns.
  TIP 2 - If you think the Kindle is being a bit slow and you want to check to see if a book has not completely finished indexing but should have completed (a day later, say), do a SEARCH on a nonsense word, such as "xwzq" and the search will end without finding that (normally!).  However, if a book has not completed indexing, you'll get a message to that effect.

  It shouldn't take more than an hour or 4 to do indexing, but I've seen that people put hundreds of books on right away, or even a thousand, in a couple of cases.  That will take quite a bit of time to index.

  If a book never finishes indexing (after a day or two), it probably became corrupted during a downloading session due to weak reception with the WiFi or 3G. I'd delete it and re-download it.

  TIP 3 - Plug in the charger when you're putting a LOT of books on it, because you can read while the device is charging.  That way, the indexing won't use battery power, and you won't be surprised by the battery being unusually low after you've added a great many books.  A few books, no big difference -- but as I say, some just download or transfer hundreds right away.

BATTERY ADVISORIES FROM KINDLE CUSTOMER SERVICE FORUM MESDAGES
I collected the ones that were made over a year ago, and they still hold.

  Essentially, no battery power is used for a screensaver/screensleeper or for any page of content, until something changes in that page. Kindle Team recommends you just let the Kindle go to sleep rather than power it down.  It takes more power to turn it on often, actually.

  TIP 4 - When you're through reading for a while, CLOSE the book by pressing the "Home" button.  This records the last-page you read so that you return to that page when you next open the book (or when you next open the book but you're using your smartphone which is sync'd with the Kindle - a nice feature).  Closing the book by pressing the "Home" button also saves, to a special file, your highlighting and notes, so it's important to do that.

  The type of battery in the Kindle shouldn't be brought down to Zero.  Amazon recommends you not let it get below 25% or so.  Leaving enough there prevents problems.  There's no harm in topping off, because there's no "memory" effect as with the older type of batteries.

  Read much more in the Battery Advisories from Amazon Kindle Customer Service.

That should do it! 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!

Special Kindle Illustrated, Commented Editions - Complete Works Collections - UPDATE

THE COMPLETE WORKS COLLECTION

  These are sets published this year, and I hear more attention is given to formatting with the newer ones.

  While I have the Complete Works of Shakespeare already, I wanted some of the features mentioned in the product detail.  Using the Shakespeare set as an example, the description is: "The Complete Plays of Shakespeare  (Special Kindle Illustrated and Commented Edition)  All of William Shakespeare's Unabridged Plays AND Yale Critical..."

  The set was "especially created for the Kindle" and is  "commented and fully illustrated," with:

' - Over 12 full color (color enabled device required) illustrations and photographs  [Well, THAT makes no sense, does it.  But the Kindle can deal with color photographs; it just shows them in black and white.  However, your Kindle for PC or for Mac and other Kindle apps can show them in full color] ...
- Over 300 pages of additional biographical and historical materials
- Over 14 critical essays from leading Shakespeare scholars from Yale University on various aspects of Shakespeare's life and literary legacy
- Fully Kindle enabled with fully interactive table of contents, Kindle MasterLink technology, Kindle Text-to-Speech ' (Audiobook) enabled, Kindle Lending Technology enabled

Note that sets of complete works, with illustrations, will be several times larger than a regular Kindle book.  In this case the file for the Kindle book is 6 times larger than the average Kindle book.

Here's the page listing all the Collections available.

These sets are probably, at $2.99 each or less, something students and families might find worth a look.

UPDATE - I perused my copy more closely. The illustrations I've seen so far have been in in the front and are small although putting your cursor on them and clicking on one zooms it to fill the screen but they're not in high resolution.

  There is also no explanation for these illustrations.   It's as if they're there just for atmosphere.  I don't see why they couldn't explain one was the Globe Theater.  For a set with a very good set of notes in the BACK of the book, the lack of information for the illustrations is pure laziness.

The Table of Contents: As promised, it's interactive, but the essays under "A critical Introduction to Shakespeare" by writers from Yale University, while linked under most circumstances, doesn't work if the would-be link winds up at the top of the page in some font-settings.  The workaround is to lower or raise the font size so it moves off the first line and then you can click on it.

  The essays start at Location 82864. (Good to bookmark it.)  Curiously, just in front of it is another illustration and this one is explained.  And there are others illustrations in the Yales essays section.

Chapters (to give you an idea of whether or not they'll interest you)
1.   An Outline of Shakespeare's Life
2.   English Drama before Shakespeare
3.   The Elizabethan Theater
4.   Elizabethan London
5.   Shakespeare's Nondramatic Works
6.   The Sequence of Shakespeare's plays
7.   Shakespeare's Development as a Dramatist
8.   The Chief Sources of Shakespeare's Plays
9.   How Shakespeare got into print
10. The Plays of the First Period -
      Imitation and Experiment 1587 (?)-1594
11. The Plays of the Second Period - Comedy and History
12. The Plays of the Third Period - Tragedy
13. The Plays of the Fourth Period - Romantic Tragi-Comedy
14. Chapter 14 - Famous Mistakes and Delusions about Shakespeare

Although the Complete WORKS by Shakespeare, via Mobile Reference does not have the voluminous notes/essays, its formatting is easier to read, as they use bold facing and more separation between lines.  They do recommend font size 2 to avoid odd line breaks but you can rotate the Kindle to Landscape to avoid that.  That set is $2.99 also and is nicely organized but has only a short biography of Shakespeare as an addition.  The sonnets and other poems are included in that set though.

  THIS set of plays uses small italics instead of bold facing (to identify the speaker) and less separation of lines.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

Forrester? or an ignorant column on "demise" of dedicated e-readers ?

Demise of dedicated e-readers

  It was pointed out to me in a comment today that not only will e-readers get ever less-expensive (as most certainly all have expected them to, as pieces of electronics), but we now have another column predicting the Death of dedicated e-reader devices.

  Forrester seems most to blame for the false reasoning used in this most recent wish-for-attention column (and they're getting it) because Forrester sees tablets and e-readers in a contest that e-readers cannot "win."

  Are simpler cars in ongoing contests with multi-featured cars that the simpler cars must "win" or "die"? Will they stop manufacturing sports car models because they are not as easy-to-operate and aren't able to carry families on vacation trips?  Will the sports cars "lose" to the family sedan?  Simplistic black & white thinking carries the day usually.

  I've no patience with wishful thinking based on not understanding different technologies nor reasons why one technology, predicted soon dead by the same experts mentioned last year, proved so popular in the last year during the time that the iPad certainly claimed hearts and minds.  Buyers knew the difference, if not some gadget columnists who think only in terms of 'appearance' (drab, plain, retro) and carry mainly the "cool kid" mentality as we saw for the last year and a half until many of them decided one type of technology actually DID seem "cool" to many hoping to just read books rather than flash around playing games and surfing the web at every chance (I'm one of the latter).

  I'm behind in blogging because I was away, but I will (b)log this one before the others that I've put on a todo-list because obviously there will be much written about the latest research opinions, as happened in 2010 when all predicting the end of e-readers by the end of the year often seemed to hope they were right.

  Inevitably, yes, if/when we can get color screens for dedicated-readers while keeping the relaxing quality of e-Ink effect on eyes that don't want LCD screens for reading novels, inevitably today's e-readers (or even today's tablets) will not be wanted or needed, even if dedicated e-readers are light to carry because they are dedicated to one activity.  Everything in life does change.

  I decided to blog the response I made to a note in the blog's Comment areas, which was a helpful link to the story (because e-readers WILL drop in price as was the comment-writer's focus, which is the good and obvious point of some of the researcher opinions).

  I'm still reviewing the news of an inevitable Amazon Android Tablet (which I initially blogged (August 2010) when a long-time Computerworld columnist reported receiving confirmation from his Amazon sources in August that there WOULD be an Android tablet from Amazon.

  The recent information on the technology involved in an Amazon order for tablets from Quanta Computer (with screen-panel properties licensed by E-Ink Holdings (for fringe field switching -- which is for LCD screens) has been vague and I'll write on that later today.  Since some columnists have interpreted the "2nd half of 2011" as "by the holidays 2011" because of the time to produce, test and stock these, I hadn't jumped on it yet as the news traveled fast on Twitter, Facebook and Kindle forums, where I was involved in discussions.

  Back to the column on latest expert research.  Here's my response (slightly modified for the blog-post) to the Huffington Post article on the 'demise' of the dedicated e-reader and its days "being numbered."   Catchy thought, no?

' Didn't Forrester and assorted columnists predict the end of the Kindle itself by the end of 2010 due to the popularity of the iPad and other tablets?

Also, never in a truly idiotic presentation of the premise for the death of dedicated e-readers does the article mention Forrester speaking to the issue of E-INK (which they may have! and it was columnist idiocy instead that produced the gist re the death of dedicated e-readers).

Or, it may have been Forrester's. The many studies done have been wrong about the popularity of e-reader devices before, when the iPad arrived, asking leading questions in their surveys.

I have [and enjoy] a NookColor and I intend to get the Amazon tablet if it comes, for the color magazine capability and for portable web-browsing but with Amazon features that I hope will be better done in software than is the B&N tablet-reader.

I would *never* give up the e-Ink model for an LCD tablet, for reading books. And there are voluminous notes on forums that say the same thing, by people who own tablets or semi-tablets along with their Kindles or other e-Ink readers.

If years from now they have non-LCD and e-paper-type capabilities for relaxing reading (eye care for many), along with color on a par with vibrant color in LCD tablets, then the dedicated e-reader may not be needed (though they'll always be lighter) -- but not mentioning e-Ink here at all is sheer ignorance when predicting demise of current e-readers due to interest in tablets.  It reminds me of the columnist who idiotically placed a picture of a tombstone at the head of his column last summer with the wording that the Kindle would die and be buried as of 2010 due to the birth of the iPad.  Experts want what they want.

There is a wish there that's just unseemly and speaks to a special kind of extreme love for electronic sleekness over everything else that has to do with their own disliking the "drab" or "retro" *look* of e-ink readers.  Actual functionality is rarely addressed.

But you're right in your own emphasis that e-reader prices will go down.  I thought most people have seen this with ALL electronics.

The FLIP camera? GOD. It has the same end result as a fine in-camera HD movie thing. It's not remotely like e-Ink vs color. '

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

Kindle to be available at Walmart. Is ad-supported Kindle a primary focus?

KINDLE 3 AVAILABLE AT 3200+ WALMART STORES STARTING THIS WEEK.

The Editors of The Kindle Daily Post (national or international editions), which is always clickable at the top right-hand corner of the Kindlestore, announced yesterday (all emphases mine) that "...starting this week, Kindle will be available in over 3,200 Walmart stores nationwide.  Most stores will have a Kindle on display so you can check out all the features before you buy.  Walmart stores will be selling both Kindle 3G and Kindle with Special Offers.

Walmart is the latest in a growing list of retailers offering Kindle, including Target, Best Buy, and Staples, among others."

  Note they mention "both" the "Kindle 3G" and "Kindle with Special Offers."
  But they don't mention a third possibility, the Kindle3 WiFi-Only Without Special Offers

  Is it possible there'll be no $139 WiFi-Only model at Walmart?

  That would be of interest insofar as the Non-Ad WiFi-Only Kindle may be getting less production interest.
  Or, it could be that the Kindle Post mention of 'both' Kindles was unintentional on the editors' part, but that'll be interesting to watch.  The latest Youtube video has emphasized the "from $114" price point.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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.

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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Best New $0.69 MP3 Songs for your Kindle or other mp3 player - Update2

Amazon recently lowered the price of several popular songs to $0.69, and it happens that these songs are still $1.29 on iTunes..

Update - Commenter Ross just reported that these downloads are restricted to the U.S., which I didn't know.  Apologies for not having warned those outside the U.S., then, who must be getting more frustrated over the geo/location situation with each new blog entry.

Update2 - Commenter mashadutoit writes: "What makes the amazon mp3 limitation doubly frustrating is that they allow you to go through the whole process of downloading their MP3 downloading software, and only when you try to use it right at the end do you get a message that this service is only available to US customers. :( "

  That is especially thoughtless of Amazon.   The only possible upside I can see in their allowing people to download the software with high hopes before they find out they're not even allowed to use it is that perhaps this is because they intend to find a way to enable mp3 downloads someday if they can get agreements with the music publishers internationally.  I have no idea though.
  If anyone at Amazon is reading, I hope you will say something somewhere about this double frustration for non-US residents.

Computerworld's Ed Oswald writes, "It's not clear as to whether the price drop was a blessing from the music labels, or if Amazon has decided to take a profit hit in the name of gaining market share.  It's no secret that some music industry execs would like to limit iTunes' clout in digital music, and may have given more favorable terms to competitors.
. . .
  These days, the $1.29 price point is reserved for special content (the Beatles catalog for example) or best-selling tracks from major artists.  But with Amazon now apparently undercutting iTunes by nearly half, Apple may be forced to answer back."

Some of the songs at 69 cents are, Oswald notes:
  Lady Gaga's hit "Born This Way" and "Judas," Taio Cruz's "Dynamite," Cee Lo Green's "Forget You," and The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling."

Check the list of $0.69 top songs at any time.  There are currently 204 of them.
  Some of them will of course also be found in the "Bestsellers in MP3" page, which has the "Top 100 Paid" songs alongside the "Top 100 Free songs."

Remember that the Kindle has a 'music' folder which allows the playing of mp3's (as background music while reading) over the not-very-loud Kindle speakers or via headphones.  But these mp3's play only in the order they are placed on the Kindle (or randomly on the original 2007 Kindle), although a favorite or two can be put in the 'Audible' folder which allows them to be Selected -- but you can't read a Kindle book while listening when using the Audible folder.

See the earlier mp3's on Kindle section for more information on how the Kindle handles mp3's.

  (The Kindle-edition of this blog can be searched for the words "mp3 files" because the 24 latest blog-articles are kept in each edition.  You can just type "mp3 files" to search the Kindle blog for this when you have it open for reading.)

  Also, if you haven't read about the new Cloud Player, you might also want to check out the first blog article on Amazon's new Cloud storage and music-streaming feature, which provides all Amazon customers with 5 free gigs of storage per year.  There is also a bonus upgrade available in most countries, to 20 free gigs total per year if you buy an mp3 album (there are 99 cent albums).  However, that storage-upgrade isn't available in the 27 countries listed in the table at the bottom of that first blog article.

It'll be interesting to see how well Amazon's lower pricing works out.  When I download an mp3, I can opt to put it into the iTunes library.


Reminder: Amazon is offering a $25 gift certificate with a purchase of one 3G Kindle (limited to one per customer) until Mother's Day.

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!

New useful app, USA-only for now (still) - Calendar Pro - UPDATE

JUST AN ALERT ON A GOOD CALENDAR APP FOR KINDLE - UPDATE

This was released April 28 and has 7 customer reviews, with 4-1/2 stars average.
No apps are available outside the U.S. yet, although Amazon has said they plan to make them available globally eventually.  Apologies to non-US readers who see the news but can't access the products yet.  I know it's frustrating.

  AND, as is happening with my current favorite-app, Notepad, people are giving low "1" ratings for an app if the app is not available yet in their country.  (I've not tried Calendar Pro yet.)

  AMAZON: Why don't y'all just *identify* protest-feedback about unavailable products (especially when the delay is on Amazon's side) as "Other" and treat them as what they are: not reviews of the product.  It's unfair to the authors and unfair to consumers trying to decide on products when we see ratings that are affected by protest-feedback that has nothing to do with the quality of the product nor even written by those who have the product.

  Protest-feedback should be identified and should not be counted in ratings against the product itself, since reviews are expected to be on products actually bought and used, and based on effectiveness.

  The protest-feedback could still show on the page, and customers interested in the product could read them, but the ratings really should not be made useless by Amazon's counting them in the actual review-ratings.

Back to Calendar Pro: it sounds good -- one caveat is that in this first update, it doesn't do recurring events, and Jujuba Software plans to add that in a future update.   In the meantime, other apps have been updated and submitted, but Amazon seems more than a month behind in reviewing the updates.

UPDATE: I've tried the app now and after initial confusion on navigation, its Help menu, available via the Menu button, clarified puzzlements, such as
1. using the 5-way button to go right, to get into Edit mode
      (rather than Return/Enter, which the Kindle navigation tends to use
2. first option to go to Today, or Agenda when 'Today' is not usually
      my first choice, and displaying no way to get to other views.

Using Help, you learn that you just press 'm' to get the month and 'y' to get the year. And there is usually context-help for every page via the Menu button.

My favorite thing: AGENDA. This shows you a text list of what is coming up for you, from your calendar entries.

REQUESTS:
1. I think Go to Month should be an option at the bottom (space permitting)
2. A Week-view option would be great
3. Recurring events - a must for wkly/monthly events + birthdays, etc.
4. A Search mechanism as is used in Notepad.

This'll be an app I use regularly.  It has a very clean feel and is easy to use once you get used to it. Also, it's very useful as a calendar that's always w/me that I can check and change easily for appointments.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    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!