The Kindle Blog

Your access to sports tickets

the kindle blog — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:11:31 +0000

For Sports Tickets, you have to sign up with a company which offers such unlimited access to buy and sell tickets. After you are done with a reservation, you can check for other events as well by taking a look at other pages and events by answering certain questions related to the concerned event.

At Seatwave, once you have visited their services you’ll agree on one thing, yes, it’s simple and lots of fun to confirm your reservations real quick.

Freed From the Page, but a Book Nonetheless

the kindle blog — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:16:29 +0000

PRINTED books provide pleasures no device created by an electrical engineer can match. The sweet smell of a brand-new book. The tactile pleasures of turning a page. The reassuring sight on one’s bookshelves of personal journeys.

But not one of these explains why books have resisted digitization. That’s simpler: Books are portable and easy to read.

Building a portable electronic reader was the easy part; matching the visual quality of ink on paper took longer. Read more …

Amazon Kindle Vs. Sony Reader

the kindle blog — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:27:36 +0000

“Is company X disruptive?” Whenever we’re asked this question–and we’re asked it often–we run through a simple mental checklist that looks at the target customer, the solution, the business model and the competitive landscape. In this issue, we use our “Disrupt-O-Meter” to analyze Amazon’s new e-book offering, Kindle.

In November, Amazon.com (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ) launched Kindle into an e-book reader market that already had a front-runner, the Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) Reader Digital Book. Both devices use the same E Ink technology, but their business models differ radically. Read more …

Broadband’s Kindle Paradigm

the kindle blog — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:02:23 +0000

Written by John Roese, Chief Technology Officer, Nortel Networks

A year or so ago, I began talking about how moving toward the 4G world of WiMAX and LTE (and UMB at that time) would enable a broad range of new devices to be connected economically to the mobile Internet. I speculated that the economics of 4G – at roughly 3X capacity (based on spectral efficiency improvements of OFDM-MIMO) and one-third of the price (based on system simplification) – would likely result in the cost of connectivity dropping by an order of magnitude. Read more …

Loaning the Kindle

the kindle blog — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:39:19 +0000

Loaning the Kindle (by libraries) is a violation of Amazon.com’s terms of service!

Kindle Makes Electronic Books A Reality, Without the Web

the kindle blog — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:46:45 +0000

A colleague of mine who is an avid reader of books (the analog paper kind) is very excited about her new Kindle from Amazon. She was kind enough to bring it in for me to play with over lunch last week; here are my observations.

The Kindle is Amazon’s first foray into launching a big time consumer electronics product. Read more …

Amazon’s Kindle Recalled Due to ‘Small Risk of Fire’

the kindle blog — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:45:37 +0000

Seattle, WA — Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos today announced a recall of the company’s ‘Kindle’ ebook reader, due to what he described as a “very small risk of fire”.

“The Kindle has so far been a blazing success,” said Bezos at a hastily-arranged press conference, “which has sparked people’s imaginations and re-ignited interest in reading books. Unfortunately, we have learned that for a very small number of users, the Kindle itself may actually burst into flames.” Read more …

Kindle for Consultants

the kindle blog — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:43:16 +0000

I just saw a video by one of my business heroes Mr Guy Kawasaki where he discusses the new Amazon Kindle. I have been looking into this for some time now and, I have to be honest, I want one!! I really want one! I know what the iPhone groupies went through last year now!

This, to me, is more then a “no-brainer” as Guy puts it, it is a fundamental part of my travel / tool kit from this year forward. My problem… is that right now I live in the Middle East and NOT the USA so RIGHT NOW (when I really want it) I can’t have one!!

Seriously though, I think this is going to provide untold value to consultants, and for a range of reasons. Read more …

Amazon’s Kindle Is Taking the World by Storm in 7 Ways

the kindle blog — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:41:08 +0000

Kindle caught the people by surprise, but it was a very pleasant entry. In fact, it was welcomed with open arms that, until today, Amazon still has to advise their customers to wait. There are no more left for anyone to enjoy.

What makes Kindle tick? Read more …

How to Create Custom Screensavers For Kindle

the kindle blog — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:51:53 +0000

Kirsten on yahoo kindle group - kindlekorner -have recently posted a set of step-by-step instructions to set up custom screensaver on kindle. Thanks to Kirsten for this effort. I’ve just reproduced the instructions here for everybody:

1. Attach the Kindle to a computer using the USB cord.
2. Using Windows Explorer (or whatever you use to see individual files/folders) , you should see a new drive called Kindle under My Computer. Go to that drive. (Or if you have an SD card in your Kindle, you can go to the SD drive.) Read more …

Hacking the Kindle part 3: root shell and runtime system

the kindle blog — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:18:46 +0000

After I downloaded and extracted the root fs image, I quickly ran the /etc/shadow file though John the Ripper. In a moment it displayed the root password: “fiona” (which is the codename for the Kindle, by the way). Alas, it didn’t work when I tried entering into console. Also, adding “init=/bin/sh” or “single” to the kernel boot arguments didn’t work either.
So I started to poke around with the firmware update and after some time was able to run a script which mounted the read-write part of root filesystem and dumped the /etc/shadow from it. Unsurprisingly, it had a different password hash. Apparently the root password is changed somewhere before shipping to the end user. So I quickly adapted the script to replace the shadow file on the device with the original one. Read more …

Kindle Field Test Part 3

the kindle blog — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:18:07 +0000

I’ve spent a few hours reading on my Kindle and I’ve now read the User’s Manual and some websites done by hackers who “Reverse Engineered” the Kindle and found all kinds of cool, completely useless (to me) stuff buried in its code. Read more …

Kindle Report

the kindle blog — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:08:05 +0000

I read two Stuart Woods mysteries (fluff — but I read a lot of fluff — I’ve read everything he has written) on the Kindle today — and I love it. I can’t recommend it enough; the text is clear, there is no strain on the eyes; it is just plain terrific! — and imagine getting on an airplane with 100 books in your napsack (to go with the 1,000 songs on your iPod or iPhone). Beam me up, Scotty!

The main negative (if it is a negative) is that it is extremely easy to “impulse buy”. Read more …

6 Steps for Publishing your Books on Amazon Kindle

the kindle blog — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 06:43:39 +0000

1. Create your eBook.
- Formatting: Amazon’s converter does a pretty great job at converting any type of format such as a Word Doc or PDF into a Kindle-readable format, but its recommended that you submit HTML. If you only have a Word doc, try the “save as HTML” function.
- Links: Your links won’t work on the Amazon Kindle, so make sure you spell them all out.

2. Test your eBook
- Test it on the Kindle: According to a user review on Amazon, “if you eMail your content to YourKindleName@kindle.com it’s converted and downloaded into your Kindle for 10 cents. But if, instead, you eMail your content to YourKindleName@free.kindle.com it’s converted and a link to the converted file is eMailed to your registered eMail address at NO charge. You can then download it and use your PC’s USB connection to transfer the content to the Kindle.”

3. Sign up to publish your eBook: http://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin

4. What you’ll need to give them:
- A product image: TIFF or JPEG at least 500px on the longest side, with a recommended size of 1200px.
- Keywords: This is how users will find your books, so pick them carefully. You can add more after it’s published but it may take another 12 hours before they work.
- Price: Many authors/publishers have chosen to price their books MUCH lower than they do elsewhere, and that’s up to you. This is because the books are only tangible on the Kindle, and the overall feel is that users are not willing to shell out big money for a Kindle edition of anything. However, the publisher only recieves 35% of the published price, so price at your own discretion.
- Categories: There are multiple categories with tons of sub-categories, which makes finding them somewhat difficult. If you only have one book, this will still likely be the most time consuming part. If you have many books, this will definitely be the most time consuming part.
- The obvious items: ISBN, Title, Description, Publisher, Authors, Editors, Illustrators, etc.

5. Upload your book: This is very simple and uploading is relatively fast, with constant feedback on upload time. When it’s done, you are able to view an on-screen preview of your Kindle book. Be prepared, because if you have not formatted it correctly, this can be disturbing. Especially if you chose to convert from a PDF.

6. Hit “Publish” and in about 12 hours it will be up on Amazon ready to be viewed and reviewed.

Download Amazon’s Quick Start Guide (PDF, 9 pages, 229kb)

Amazon Kindle Features and Specs - The Future of Reading

the kindle blog — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:05:04 +0000

Electronic books are a wonderful idea in theory. It makes perfect sense that in this day and age of high speed information exchange via the internet, why should trees have to suffer just so we can read the latest bestseller? Read more …

Stephen King: Books With Batteries — Why Not?

the kindle blog — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:38:20 +0000

What did I do during the holidays? Read a good book, of course. It was called In Pale Battalions, by Robert Goddard. Goddard’s British, and his tales of suspense and mystery have recently been reissued in America. I’d never read him. Now I’m glad I did. Set mostly during World War I (but with a leisurely framework that allows the story to stretch comfortably all the way to 1968), In Pale Battalions is a story of sex, secrets, and murder — all the good stuff, in other words. What makes it especially riveting is the malevolent demon-woman at the novel’s center: Olivia Powerstock’s greatest talent is making those around her suffer. Read more …

BookGlutton’s Kindle Competitor Launches Public Beta

the kindle blog — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:26:07 +0000

via mashable

Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader Digital Book Head to Head

the kindle blog — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:20:17 +0000

A head-to-head comparison, looking at screens, navigation, buttons, contrast, and the book buying experience by GBM InkShow

The Passion of Steve Jobs

the kindle blog — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:59:56 +0000

Even more than when he’s performing on stage, Steven P. Jobs’s passion for personal computing comes through when he talks about the years he spent cajoling his designers to build what he presented today as the world’s “thinnest” computer.

Along with David Pogue, the Times technology columnist, I spent a half-hour with Mr. Jobs after he introduced the MacBook Air this morning at the Macworld Expo. And as is frequently the case with Apple products, he pronounced the three-pound aluminum-clad portable to be one of the best things his company has ever designed. Read more …

About Kindle:

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he [Steve Jobs] said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

Igniting Interest in E-Books?

the kindle blog — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:56:12 +0000

I’ve found e-books intriguing for a while now, as they could be easier to tote, easier to store, and easier to read than their paper brethren.

The concept of Sony’s Reader, the first significant contender in this market, was solid, but its hardware didn’t impress me. Though Amazon’s Kindle design is even less splashy, its usability touches are enough to make me consider using an e-book reader. Read more …

In another article in the same issue (Feb.) of PC World entitled “Today’s Most Innovative Products”, out of 25 the Kindle is number 5.