SOFTWARE VERSION v3.3 IS READY for delivery to all Kindle Keyboard / Kindle 3 models. This is for the physical-keyboard model (Kindle 3 U.S. [UK: K3]) first released August 2010 and not for the coming Kindle Touch devices nor for the new $79/$109 Kindle Basic (which recently got its own update) This update for Kindle Keyboard models includes the following changes, which I'll quote from the Amazon page.   Here's Amazon's info page for the v3.3 software update.   Kindle Keyboard Version 3.3 Overview Some of the features included in this update are: Download your archived Personal Documents on Kindle Keyboard: You can now view and...

From the Amazon Kindle official blog: We're excited to tell you about some new features coming to the latest generation Kindle and Kindle 3G: -- Public Notes - This feature lets Kindle users choose to make their book notes and highlights available for others to see. Any Kindle user - including authors, their fans, book reviewers, professors and passionate readers everywhere - can opt-in to share their thoughts on book passages and ideas with friends, family members, colleagues, and the greater Kindle community of people who love to read. This is a new way for readers to share their excitement and knowledge...

Writing this article might be illegal. Reading it is probably just as bad, so consider yourself warned. With that said, it’s only right – morally, if not legally – to let the sophisticated buyer know of Kindle alternatives. So here they are… the good, the bad and the ugly… for your reading pleasure. 1. Hanvons – 5 inch display Hanvon has been hammering the penny-pincher market (read: folks like me) for over a year now. It must have been fruitful, because now they’re rolling out four new low-cost models with screens ranging from 5 inches to 9.7 inches. The new models will even include...

Our own Joanna sent me this email her sister sent to Amazon and I thought it worth sharing with you. Some personal information has been deleted. Joanna said something interesting, herself, in her transmittal to me: I liked the one about allowing users to somehow coach or over-ride the text to speech; I too have had issues with proper names being mispronounced. She told me she is getting her daughter, who struggles with reading, to put in more book time with the Kindle using the text to speech feature; I think this is definitely a niche market untapped by the ebook...

From the press release: “It’s still October and we’ve already sold more Kindle devices since launch than we did during the entire fourth quarter of last year—astonishing because the fourth quarter is the busiest time of year on Amazon,” said Steve Kessel, Senior Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Readers continue to choose Kindle for its all-new electronic ink screen with 50 percent higher contrast, readability in bright sunlight, long battery life of up to one month, light 8.5 ounce form, flexibility to read their books across all major LCD devices and platforms, and low $139 price. It’s clear that this is...

There are already customer reports, at the Amazon Kindle Community forums, on the new early preview of Kindle 3 software update v3.0.3. Changes that were noted: 1. Those who are using screensaver 'hacks' will see no changes in that the screensavers they installed will still work. However, the update prevents installation of new screensavers, for now. That usually happens with new Kindle software updates and then a fix is created in a day or two. Amazon Kindle support has said in the past that these are ok but that people do anything at their own risk. I'm...

 Amazon's not standing still.  They recently officially released Kindle 3 Software Upgrade version 3.0.2, and last night they began requesting feedback on the "Early Preview of Next Version 3.0.3" for Kindle 3. Thanks to Golf11 (Randall), who alerted us to this one as he did the last one. As before, this is offered so that "Customers who want to try this early release of the software and provide feedback can download the update" from their servers. This update will also be available wirelessly in the next few weeks. Amazon explains that this update includes general performance improvements. 'After installing this update,...

I was reminded today by commenter Joaquín Avaria about some features that many don't realize are available, as one of them I mentioned some time ago worked well for him. One day, while at the Amazon forums, I saw a tip from a customer whose Whispernet on his new 3G Kindle-2 model (Global) wireless had suddenly stopped working in that he could not connect to the Internet . Because he was not in the U.S., he couldn't easily call Amazon voice support w/o charges to his phone. (U.S. residents, on the other hand, can always call Kindle Customer Support...

I'm re-posting this original assessment (Sept. 19) of Kindle 3 software update version 3.0.2 that was first put on the Amazon servers as an early-preview Beta on Sept. 18, as it did resolve early problems that some Kindle 3 owners had.  The original title was Kindle 3 software preview release v3.0.2 improves performance.  Collections. To download the official release, if you'd rather not wait for it to come over Whispernet, see the instructions originally pointed to and described at the time of the software update announcement if you have a Kindle 3 and want to install it yourself. ORIGINAL POSTING...

 On the left is an excellent video on the Amazon cover with light. BEAM N READ 3-Led light, made by ASF Lightware Solutions. I'm including a couple of photos below to show light coverage on my Kindle 3 with the Amazon cover with built-in light and when using my new favorite light for the Kindle, by BEAM N READ. This is worn around the neck and has a light, adjustable strap.  The light is said to last about 120 hours, and I've been using it for weeks and it's still going.  The 3 leds are the type that will likely go for forever, as long as there are batteries...

The recent blog entry on the free, downloadable web-bookmarks file explained the updates needed due to different links recommended for the Kindle 3 (UK: K3) models, as accessing of some websites that had been doable with all the earlier Kindles was sometimes problematical for the otherwise surprisingly-capable Kindle-3 WebKit-based browser. Be sure to read first the earlier blog entry if you haven't already, as it has some important details, about the Bookmarks file, that I'm not including in this blog entry. Oddities we saw Attempts to download the file I wrote about brought out...

The early preview release of software update v3.0.2 for Kindle-3 models has worked well for almost everyone reporting in, with regard to page-turn slowdowns outdoors, and there are also reports that the web browser is also faster and quite a bit smoother.  Others mention improved battery performance as well.  The Kindle software engineers have been very responsive and effective, and definitely the Kindle customer support team too. See the Amazon Kindle Community message thread for the feedback so far.  I noticed one person was still seeing a 1-second page turn, which...