Corrupted Kindle?

I was trying to transfer some books to my Kindle by connecting it to a computer with the USB cable. I tried this on 3 different computers with 3 different operation systems (Vista, XP, 7) and all 3 wanted me to format my Kindle. A friend of mine suggested to reset the Kindle. It's done by holding the button on the top for 20-30 seconds and it takes a minute or two.

The good news is that after the reset I was able to transfer my books to my Kindle.

The bad news is that I lost my collections. All my books are on my Kindle but not organized in any way. I will update if I find a way to get them back.

Early Adopters Remorse

Amazon has announced the release of a new much cheaper Kindle a few days ago. And they are selling it for only $139 at the time of this post. The major difference between this and the Kindle 2 is that it comes in a version that is Wi-fi only. What does this mean?

Wi-fi only means that you will only be able to connect to the Amazon store on the Kindle if you have a wireless network setup in your area. Most workplaces and homes have a wireless network nowadays. In fact, even coffee houses such as Starbucks offer free wireless access as well. Even hotels include that in their feature package.

The 3G option uses the network cellphones use, most specifically Sprint in the case of the Kindle or AT&T for the Nook. The advantage of 3G is that it requires no setup at all. Wi-fi connections are usually secured so it will require some configuration in order for your eReader to be connected.

Besides the price and the 2 different versions here is the highlights of other differences between this generation of Kindle and the previous:

1. Smaller while keeping the same size reading area
2. Lighter
3. Longer battery life (up to a month)
4. More storage (up to 3500 books)
5. Faster page turns
6. More font choices

Looking through the list there is nothing there to compel me to replace my current Kindle. I haven't come close to the 1500 book limit of mine, battery life of about 2 week is fine with me, turning the pages is fast enough, etc.

Now if Amazon finally enabled borrowing from libraries, then I'd be all over the new Kindle.

Kindle Update 2.5

I'm a little late posting this but Amazon has come up with a new version of their software for Kindle 2.

One major improvement in this upgrade is the ability to organize your books finally! The widely requested folders are here and they are called collections. One book may be placed into multiple collections and it is pretty easy to do. It will take a few minutes to a couple of hours to organize your books depending on the size of your collection but finally it will much easier to maintain your reading material.

Other highlights of this software update:

• PDF Pan and zoom.
• Password protection.
• More font sizes.
• Sharing passages from books to Facebook/Twitter

The update is supposed to be done automatically but I myself was too impatient to wait for it and chose the manual option.

If you also choose the manual option these are the steps you need to do:

1. Download the proper version of the update file to your computer (the choices are towards the middle of this page: Amazon Kindle Software Update Page)
2. Transfer the file to your Kindle's root directory via the USP cable.
3. Disconnect your Kindle from your computer then navigate to the Home screen then press Menu>Settings. Here you press Menu again and Update Your Kindle.
4. Wait for the upgrade to occur. It will take about 10 minutes. After it's finished it will restart the Kindle. Do not be alarmed if during the restart it seems for a few seconds you lost all your books.

I am very happy with this software upgrade. Now if my Kindle would allow me to borrow from my library I'd be in heaven!

iPad vs Kindle vs Rock

IPad vs Kindle vs Rock

This image has been floating on on the Internet and I just had to include it in my blog. :)

Permanently Deleting Books

In the past books you have purchased via Amazon.com always remained on your account. That meant that even if you deleted a books from your Kindle, it did not go away completely. I myself did not have a problem with this but for various reasons it was one of the features requested from Amazon. Now you can delete books permanently from your Kindle library.

1. Log into your Amazon.com account
2. Click on the Manage Your Kindle link in the Digital Content section.
   
3. Scroll down and find the My Orders section.
4. Click on the + (plus) sign in front of the item you want to delete.
5. You should see the Delete button in the details of the order.
   
6. Click Yes to confirm that you really want to delete this item.
   

Permanent deletion means you will have to repurchase it again if you want the deleted book back so be careful with this new option.

Kindle's Answer to the Nook

Amazon released a firmware update for the Kindle 2 and DX. It will be loaded on your Kindle within the next few weeks if you leave the wireless on. You may also do this manually if you follow their instructions.

It has a few cool new features:

1. Native PDf support. You don't have to convert your PDFs anymore!
2. Manual Screen rotation. By pressing the Aa button you can rotate your screen.
3. Longer Battery life. I haven't tested this yet but according to Amazon you can use your Kindle WITH the wireless on for up to a week - as opposed to the few days prior to the update.
4. New Screensaver Pictures. It's not so exciting but you get a couple of new pictures.

While this firmware update is exciting I am still waiting on a couple of new features:

1. Folders! Please give us some way to organize the hundreds of books we have on the Kindle.
2. Lending. How wonderful it would be if I could loan out my books like I could do it with my paper books?
   

Unusual Uses of the Kindle

Obviously most of the time people use the Kindle for reading. However, the Kindle can be useful in other ways as well. For ideas I am going to list a few in this post but with a little creativity and imagination, you may come up with your own interesting means of taking advantage of this nifty little device.

• MP3 player. You may load your mp3 tracks via a USP cord to the device and you can use either the built-in speaker or plug in earphones to listen to the music.
  
  
• Cookbook. Put your Kindle in a ziploc bag and use it as a cookbook. You can load your own recipes on it, use its browser to navigate to allrecipes.com or purchase a cookbook in Kindle version.
  
  
• Craft Patterns. A friend of mine loads her knitting patterns on her Kindle to use as a resource while knitting.
  
  
• External Storage Device. You can load any files on the Kindle. Even if they will not show up on the screen, you can still use it as a temporary holding device while transferring files from one location to another. Use it like a flash or thumb drive.
  
  
• Shopping List. You can either create a text file on your computer with your shopping list and transfer it on your device. Or you may use an empty text file to which add notes as your shopping list.
  
  
• Editor. Load your articles or homework on the Kindle and use the text to speech feature to listen to it and to discover mistakes and typos that otherwise you may have missed.
  
  
• Check e-mail. It may not work with all e-mail accounts but with the built-in browser and Whispernet you can even check your e-mails.
  
  
• Phonebook. Create a text file with important phone numbers and load it on your Kindle via USP.
  
  
• Dictionary. The Kindle comes with a built-in dictionary. In fact, that's one of the features I love the most about this e-Reader. I frequently come across unfamiliar words while reading and this way I can easily look them up.
  
  
• Play Games. Kindle has Minesweeper loaded on it. Just press Alt+Shift+M.
  
  
• Picture Viewer. Create a folder called "Pictures" on the Kindle then organize your images there in subfolders. Subfolders will show up on the Kindle as books. When you click your "books" you will see your pictures. It's only black and white of course but they still look great.
  
  
  

Please comment with your own ideas! I'd love to hear them.