Kindle Ready

The latest Kindle, unofficially dubbed the Kindle 3, has started shipping a couple of days ago and the reviews are flooding in.  Overall reviews are very positive, including Amazon’s own customer ratings and industry heavy weights, such as The NY Times, Wired and The Telegraph.  If you believe the reviews, the Kindle 3 is the best eReader that Amazon has produced and the strongest in its category.  There is no doubt that Amazon has taken an already good eReader and made it even better. Nevertheless the Kindle 3 is an evolution, not a revolution, so Kindle 2 owners don’t throw away your old Kindle just yet.

What are the new improvements that Amazon has brought to the table? After opening the Kindle packaging, the first thing that grabs your attention is the size and weight. The Kindle 3 is smaller and lighter than the Kindle 2 and a large numbers of eReaders on the market.  The new Kindle is only 7.5” by 4.8” while maintaining a 6” readable display. The new Kindle also weights in at 8.5 ounces.

Amazon  has made page-turn clicks quieter

Turning on the Kindle 3 also reveals another noticeable improvement, this being the increased contrast for the Kindle display area. A lot of people are wowing about the new Pearl eInk technology integrated into the Kindle, it definitely better, and has real value if you are viewing images and photos. Nevertheless, if you are reading text, the improved contrast falls into the “nice-to-have” category. 

A noticeable addition is that Amazon has added character sets, allowing books to be read in Russian, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.  Initial reviews for the Korean character set are not particularly positive, as can be seen in the Amazon “one-star” reviews, where you will quickly find that the Korean population is well represented. Hopefully, the other languages are better.

Kindle Backlight cover (sold seperately)

Perhaps the most significant improvement in the Kindle is the addition of wi-fi.  Wi-fi connectivity is a welcome addition to the Kindle 3 features as it.  While the browsing with wi-fi is a little sluggish it still provides a much faster browsing experience compared to the 3g.  The connectivity for the Kindle comes in two flavors, the Kindle wi-fi + 3g and the Kindle wi-fi ($139).

The question that remains is “should I rush out and buy a Kindle 3”. An eReader has a number of advantages and disadvantages when compared to normal books.  The near instant delivery of books to your device and the fact that you can hold up to 3,500 books is a real selling point.  However, some people simply like books. They like the way they feel, their smell and seeing them on their bookshelves.  If you need help making up your mind then read our article on whether an eReader is right for you. If you are ready to take the plunge, then look at the different eReaders available on the market in our eReader comparison article.

There is no doubt that the Amazon has improved an already mature product and offers a rich reading experience.  While the Kindle 3 has not produced a startling innovations, a large of small improvements has meant that Amazon has brought to the eReader market a product that is notable better than the Kindle 2.  If you are a Kindle enthusiast or a new comer to the eReader market then the Kindle 3 merits serious consideration as your next purchase.

Sony apparently bringing eInk and a touchscreen display to a store near you

Just when it was looking like the Kindle, and the Nook would be the last men standing in the dedicated eReader ring, along comes a rumor that Sony is stepping back for another round. If the rumors are to be believed, then Sony will be releasing a new eReader, the PRS-350 and the PRS-650. The later offering 3g connectivity.

Expectations are that it will be a thinner device, perhaps less than 10 mm in thickness and will have improved contrast, faster page turns, and increased memory capacity. The user interface has been reported to have been upgraded with the addition of note taking software.

While these new features don’t really capture the public imagination, Sony may be the first to release an eReader with touch screen technology with eInk. There are no official details yet, but rumors have it that the devices may be launched soon.

Needless to say that the price is unknown, but it doesn’t take rocket science to work out that it needs to be competitive with the Kindle and Nook.

The Kindle 3 - more an evolution than a revolution.

The announcement for the Kindle 3 is now official, and no doubt orders for the new eReader are piling up by the thousands.  For those of you who don’t know what a Kindle is; simply put, it’s an electronic book from Amazon which is about the height of a large novel and as slim as half a pencil.  Is all the excitement for the Kindle 3 merited or is it just the same old device in a new graphite case? Let’s look at what Kindle 3 brings to the table and what Amazon decided to leave out. However, before we do that we need to put some focus on the eReader market and what Amazon is trying to achieve with the Kindle.

Yes Amazon – it’s a jungle out there

It’s no surprise to say that Amazon is facing a very different world compared to when it first released the Kindle. The competition for the eReader market is getting crowded at both the budget end and the high-end.  Additionally, there has been a lot of talk about “kindle-killers’ which are looking to dethrone the Kindle king as the number one eReader. The Kobo eReader was released earlier this year, with a price tag significantly less than the Kindle at $149, and it will be news to nobody that Apple launched its attack into the eReader market with the media-rich iPad.

As well as a tough market, Amazon is faced with a strange situation where the implicit consumer demands are contradictory to the explicit demands. On the one hand, the unspoken implicit demands are telling Amazon that readers want an easy to use device that doesn’t distract from the reading experience. Something very “book-like.”  On the other hand, the explicit demands are requesting a new state-of-the-art device with multi-media functionality, with touch screen technology, video viewing, etc …

How has Amazon responded to these challenges? Firstly, they weren’t tempted to create an eReader which does everything and distracts from its main task; namely reading. The Kindle 3 has kept its simple interface and is still very “book-like”. Secondly, Amazon has counter-attacked the budget eReaders entering into the market by launching two versions of the Kindle 3. These being, a Kindle with 3G + Wifi ($189) and a Kindle with Wifi ($139). The Kindle 3G+ Wi-Fi device maintains the previous price tag of the Kindle 2 while adding a bunch of new functionality. The Kindle Wi-Fi undercuts a large majority of other eReaders on the market, while delivering a mature product which is backed up the Amazon book store with millions of titles to choose from.

Given the situation where Amazon finds itself, let’s look at what features they put into the Kindle 3 and what they decided to leave left out.

Kindle 3 – what they put in.

Amazon focused on improving the Kindle’s basic functionality, by letting the Kindle do what it does best: reading.

21% smaller body while keeping the same 6" size reading area

Amazon has improved on the readability of the device, which by all standards was already very good. They claim 50% better contrast than any other eReader, better readability on bright sunlight, and some new improved fonts to read your books with.

The physical device itself has also been improved. The size of the Kindle has been reduced while maintaining the same dimensions for the reading area. The battery life has also not been neglected. A simple charge can last up to one month.

The capacity for the Kindle 3 is now 3500 books which can be down loaded in under 60 seconds.

Wi-Fi is added to the 3G as a way of connecting with your Kindle so that you can browse the Amazon bookstore and the net with the new web-kit based browser.

Kindle 3 – what they left out

After the release of Apple’s iPad the expectations for the Kindle were sky-high. In a nut-shell people wanted an Amazon iPad. Now that some time has passed, the iPad is a slightly less attractive as a device for reading books. People are realizing it’s too heavy to hold for hours, and the display which is LCD is not easy on the eyes over long periods of time.

A lot of people were predicting color screens for the Kindle 3.  There was a lot of sense with this, as there are currently a lot of eReaders coming to the market that have color. A non-color device next to a color device looks quite dull in comparison. However to include color is not as easy as first thought. This would involve leaving the e-Ink technology behind which is responsible for the “book-like” text on the Kindle display. A possibility is that the eInk technology could be radically improved to incorporate color into the display, but Amazon and there R&D teams are not there yet. Another alternative is to use LCD technology as found in the iPad, but then you increase eye-strain over long reading periods and the inability to read in direct sunlight.

Touch screen technology was another rumor that was circulation for the Kindle 3. It seems logical that readers can flick through the pages of an eBook by swiping screen of their device. Earlier this year Amazon brought Touchco, a New York start up that, which specializes in … yes you guessed right… touch screen technology.  It seems that Amazon is moving in that direction, or at least investigating the possibility to include this type of interface in the future.

No flashy features, but a good reading experience

Lastly, another conspicuous absence is innovation. Amazon was 100% right to focus on the core features for the Kindle. However, it could have added at least one innovative feature to the device. The eReader market is no longer a side-show; it’s a central part of Amazon’s strategy and sales volumes. Ebook sales have passed hard-cover sales, and the CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos, recently predicted that eBook sales will exceed paper backs in the next 12 months. Given the importance of this market and the resources to develop these products, it is not unreasonable to expect the unexpected. A possible example of a new innovation might be to develop the social networking functionality for the Kindle. The Kindle has integrated networking with Facebook and Twitter, however there exists a lot more scope within the social networking for people who are passionate about authors or subject areas and want to share their thoughts about what they read. Another example could be location based services, where content is delivered to your Kindle depending on where you are in the world. These are just a couple of examples, which may not be even practical after a “real-life” analysis has been conducted, but they do show that the Kindle could think out of its new graphite colored box, and get more creative.

Kindle 4?

The Kindle 3 has successfully improved on an already mature product, in response to increasing tough market conditions and growing consumer demands. While the Kindle 3 will not surpass expectations, it nevertheless provides an improved reading experience that will not disappoint.  Jeff Bezos recently declared that the Kindle is in for the long haul and that he expects that there will be dozens more generations of Kindle ahead. Let’s hope that the Kindle 4 will do that little bit more than the Kindle 3.

Amazon didn’t waste any time in responding to Barnes & Noble’s price cut of Nook e-reader to $199.  Amazon dropped the cost of its Kindle to $189, which is $70 off from the previous $259. The new price brings it in $10 strategically less than the Nook which has silmilar functionality. Both devices are 3G-enabled wireless devices that use a cellular connection to download books, periodicals, and other content. Kindle and Nook users don’t pay monthly fees for 3G service.

The lower-priced Kindle and Nook e-readers come into the sub $200 ereader market which includes Borders’ $150 Kobo and the $199 Sony Reader Pocket Edition. Despite heavy competition, the Kindle and the Nook keep their competitive edge, as neither the Kobo nor the Sony Reader Pocket Edition has wireless connectivity. Both require a wired connection to a PC to download eBooks.

The drop in e-reader prices has been predicted for a long time. A 2009 report by Forrester Research suggests that e-readers would need to cost $50 to $100 to be able to have wide-spread market acceptance. “Device makers should partner with companies that have incentives to subsidize the device in exchange for a content subscription (newspapers like the Detroit Free Press) or service subscription (mobile carriers like Verizon, which already has a similar model for mobile phones and now netbooks),” the Forrester report states.

While Amazon’s Kindle price reduction was no doubt motivated by Barnes & Noble’s Nook cost cut, there is also a lot of pressure from the high-end market from tablet devices such as the Apple iPad. With the multi-use iPad starting at $499, analysts have been predicting that it was only a matter of time before Amazon brings down its prices. No doubt we will also soon be seeing a new price tag in the Kindle DX.

For a long time the Amazon Kindle has been the preferred eReader due to its ability to read a book in direct sunlight, its long battery life, and its “whispersyncing” with Amazon content. However, despite all these advantages, for a casual book reader, buying a Kindle doesn’t make much economic sense.  An investment of $259 for a Kindle 2 is well behind the needs of someone who only reads a few books a year. With the Kobo coming to the market this may change more than a few peoples buying decisions when deciding whether to buy an eReader or not. The Kobo eReader has a starting price of $150

So should we get excited about yet another eReader? The Kobo eReader is more or less what you would find in similar devices. It has with two typefaces and five font sizes available, as well as the ability to navigate through chapters and so on.  In your Kobo eReader library you can carry up to 1000 eBooks at once, which offers greater organization functionality found in the Kindle.  It is 7.2 inches (18.4cm) by 4.7 inches (12 cm) with a thickness of less than half an inch.

Despite the fact that the Kobo has a rich feature set there are still a few down-sides. To start, it does not have a 3G connection. To load an eBook onto a Kobo eReader you will need to transfer the book through a USB or Bluetooth connection. Also page load times are slightly slower than other available eReaders. Also there are 8 levels of gray scales, whereas other eReaders, such as the Kindle offer 16 levels.

With the Kobo you also get access to the Kobo international store with other 2 million titles. The Kobo supports EPUB & PDF formats.

Overall, the Kobo eReader is a back-to-basics device that provides a good reading experience which will be of interest to price sensitive consumers and casual readers. It appears to have trimmed down the right features while maintaining a good reading experience.

Beyond the strengths and weaknesses of the Kobo device is that of the Kobo strategy. The Kobo strategy is not about creating a super eReader. Instead it’s about building branded software and delivering branded e-book stores for others, including manufacturers (e.g. Plastic Logic), and booksellers (e.g. Borders). This content can be delivered to a wide range of devices other than the Kobo eReader. It already has its software developed for the BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, Mac, and PC, and they are currently working on an iPad app.

The Kobo eReader can be pre-ordered at Borders bookstores and will be sold nation-wide this summer for $150,

For more information on this topic than visit the official Kobo eReader site.

Once you’ve had time to spend a while with your new Amazon Kindle 2 you really begin to appreciate the enjoyable reading experience provided by this great device. If you’ve had a chance to download some e-books into your Kindle 2 you also have enjoyed an additional benefits of a great audio book listening experience. But, your Kindle 2 is capable of so much more! Here are five cool things you can do with your Amazon Kindle 2:

Tip #1) – Checking your Gmail account. You’re spending a relaxing afternoon reading an e-book on your new Kindle 2 e-book reader and the thought strikes you – “I need to check my e-mail to see if I’ve heard back from my daughter!” Now normally that means that you have to stop reading, put down your Kindle, and check your e-mail account on your computer. But, if you have a Gmail account you can read and respond to e-mails right on your Kindle!

First, go to your Kindle’s built-in basic web browser (Home > Menu > Experimental > Basic Web). Next, make sure that Javascript for your Kindle’s browser is turned on (Browser > Menu > Settings > Enable Javascript). Finally, go to the Gmail Internet address (Browser > Menu > Enter URL > Gmail address – see below), enter your Username and Password.

IMPORTANT – use the standard Gmail URL and not the Google URL provided by default in the Kindle’s bookmark folder. If you try to access your Gmail from the URL provided in your Kindle you will be prompted to load a Google Gmail application. Applications cannot be loaded onto your Kindle so this will fail – you need to use the URL provided above to be able to use your Gmail account.

Tip #2) – Twittering. Are you a Twitter user? If you’d like to send a “Tweet” to your friends and followers about the great new book your reading on your Kindle you can do it right from your Kindle. This popular microblogging service offers a mobile version that works great on your Kindle.

Go to your Kindle’s built-in basic web browser (Home > Menu > Experimental > Basic Web). Next, make sure that Javascript for your Kindle’s browser is turned on (Browser > Menu > Settings > Enable Javascript). Finally, go to the Twitter Mobile URL (Browser > Menu > Enter URL > [http://www.m.twitter.com]), enter your Username and Password.

IMPORTANT – The standard Twitter URL is too complex for your Kindle to display properly. Use the URL above for best results on your Kindle.

Tip #3) – Sharing a Page. Have you ever wanted to “save” a page you were reading to share with a friend? The Kindle has two different ways to do this. The first way is to take a screen shot of the page you wish to share. To take a screen shot hold down the and the keys then press the “G” key. You will notice that the Kindle screen will “flash” showing that the Kindle created the screen shot.

The screen shots are stored in your Kindle’s “documents” folder as image files with a .gif extension. You can get them by plugging your Kindle into your computer using the USB cable that you got with your Kindle. Open “My Computer” and look for the Kindle drive icon. Double click on the icon to open up your Kindle and then double-click on the “documents” folder. Look for files that end with .gif and you’ll find the screen shots you just made.

To share them with your friends you can save the files to your computer and then attach them to an e-mail message. You also can print-out the screen shots by opening them in a graphic program such as Windows Paint or Windows Internet Explorer. The quality is not great – but is certainly acceptable for sharing several pages.

Tip #4) – Using Clippings. There is another way to capture and share passages from Kindle e-books. When you highlight passages from Kindle e-books and make notes your Kindle saves them to a file in the “documents” folder called “My Clippings.txt”. You can open this file with a program like Windows Notepad and copy your highlights to save in another program or share.

To do this, go to the passage you wish to share. Move the Kindle cursor to the beginning of the passage you want to save and click the navigation button. Now move the cursor to the end of the passage you want to save and press the navigation button again once all of the text is highlighted. This will save the highlighted text to the “My Clippings.txt” file.

Plug your Kindle into your computer then look for the Kindle icon in “My Computer.” Double- click on the Kindle drive icon then double-click on the “documents” folder. Locate the “My Clippings.txt” file and double-click on it to open it in Windows Notepad. Find the text you highlighted on the Kindle. It should be at the bottom of the file. You can copy the text and paste it into a program like Microsoft Word to save it. Or you can copy and paste the text into an e-mail message.

Tip #5) – Enlarging Graphics. Up to now we’ve been talking about text – now let’s talk about graphics. If you haven’t noticed, your Kindle 2 offers the ability to enlarge graphics so you can actually see them! To do this simply move your cursor over the graphic and it will change to a magnifying glass. Press the navigator button and your Kindle will zoom-in on the image so that it fills the Kindle’s screen.

This is very handy when you are reading books with technical graphics or screen shots. The Kindle 2′s screen is enough better quality that these graphics are worthwhile reviewing as you read through your books. To return to the original page view, press the button or the button.

Congratulations! You now know about five cool things you can do with your Kindle 2. You can use your Kindle 2 to check your Gmail and send “Tweets” with Twitter, take screen shots to save or share, save or share passages from Kindle e-books, and make graphics in your e-books more relevant by using the Kindle’s “zoom” feature.

While the talk of the town is all about the Apple iPad, and what this will do to the Kindle, there is a new kid on the eReader block. Maybe there is a lot less of a fanfare than the iPad, but the Alex eReader brings a new device to the market with a rich set of functionality and a price tag of $399
The Alex is a dual screen reader. The upper screen, a 6″ EPD screen, offers a reading experience similar to a paper book, as can be found with other eReaders that use e Ink technology. Text size is adjustable and can be viewed on the upper and lower screen simultaneously with the “touch & extend” functionality. The lower screen, a 3,5” LCD screen, provides a web browser with complete access to the Internet, and other handy applications, such as, streaming video, music player, and access to your email. No doubt Amazon will be paying attention to this type of functionality with future releases of the Kindle.
One of Alex’s key selling points is also its build in Wi-Fi. Currently it is shipping with WiFi 802.11 b/g access. In summer, WiFi 802.11b/g + EVDO/CDMA and WiFi 802.11b/g + HSPA/GSM will be available in other models.
Another plus with the Alex eReader is the long battery life. You can read for up to two weeks without recharging the battery.
The Alex eReader comes with capabilities that support eBooks in EPUB, PDF, HTML and TXT formats. You can use the to Google’s bookstore that has over one million available titles to find your favourite eBooks.
Whether or not the Alex eReader is a little late coming to the market is up for debate. We will see with time, whether this device with its functionality and usablility merits it $399 price tag, which is clearly positioned between Barnes and Noble’s Nook and Apple’s iPad.

For the last two years the ereader market has been dominated by Amazon’s Kindle. There is a lot of talk with the upcoming release of the iPad that the tide is about to turn.  Putting the two products head to head, may be a little unfair. The Kindle is a dedicated ereader while the iPad is a multi-function device which is a cross between an iPhone and a desktop computer. However, the comparisons are there, so Amazon will have to deal with it.

So should Amazon be afraid?

The short answer is yes. To start, the Kindle cannot match the functionality and full color interface of the iPad.  As with all of Apple’s products the emphasis on design and elegance is not absent in the iPad.  EBook readers have become accustomed to the readability of the e-ink interface commonly found on ereaders, such as the Kindle. However, first reviews of the readability iPad indicate have proven to be very positive. Indeed it seems unlikely that the Kindle can match the iPad’s beautiful, full color user interface, but it does not need to.  Amazon simply needs to provide user interface elegant and simple and people will love it even if it lacks flashiness.

So what should Amazon do with this new challenger?

An obvious starting point is to bring the price of the Kindle. With the Kindle DX at $489 compared to the iPad’s starting price of $499, this consumer choice becomes a no-brainer.  Bringing the price down for a Kindle 2 from $259 to $159 really would mark the Kindle with a price of a reading device and not a multi-function tablet.

Another easy win would be to incorporate a full-blown browser into the device. The Kindle’s current browsing experience is quite poor. It’s good enough to check your e-mail, post to Twitter or read a simply website, but it doesn’t handle images or more complex web apps particularly well. Word has it that this is one of the current improvements axes that they are focusing on.

Finally, a make-over of the user interface would be appreciated. The Kindle is touted as a device for serious readers, but is missing functionality for book management and won’t have the same ease-of-use as the iPad.

There is no doubt that Amazon is coming up with innovative ideas for ereader of the future. Let’s hope that the Kindle 3, like Apple’s iPad, sees them coming to fruition.

Look who's coming to town

Amazon announced yesterday that it has finalized a deal with two major publishers that resembles a pricing structure simlar to the iPad. The two publishing giants will be expecting to price new-release books up to $15 .

This is in an about-turn from Amazon’s previous system of pricing e-books, where it had policy of not selling books for more than for more than $9.99. However, they has given into to pressure earlier this year when the publishing firm Macmillan complained about the price ceiling.

So much for competition. As you have well guessed the loser in the end is … the customer.