What is E-Ink

E-INK Devices

Amazon really helped to make E-Ink popular with their Kindle Readers but  E-Ink is really taking off with the advent of devices that allow you to use a pen to scribe notes onto the electronic paper screen and store your notes, drawings, etc.

What is E-Ink?

E-Ink is a display technology that simulates the appearance of printed ink on paper. The screens are basically a black and white display that can be used as a straight reading device or can have added attributes to give you more workflow-oriented capabilities.

It wasn’t until 2207 that E-Ink really took off. Amazon presented a device called a Kindle that had an 800 x 600-pixel display capable of showing four grayscale levels. The contrast wasn’t great, but it allowed you to carry an entire library of books wherever you go.

This technology has come a long way and is extremely popular for reading digital documents including books. Many companies came out with their own variation of this device so that they could sell the books (DRM’d of course) to all of us voracious readers.

E-Ink vs. E-Paper

Before I continue, I must tell you the difference between E-Ink and E-Paper. The two may sound the same, but there are some differences you should consider.

E-Paper is any type of display that emulates the appearance of paper. Typically, E-Paper displays are reflective rather than emissive, which means they rely on external light sources rather than emitting their own

A wonderful explanation of how E-Ink works can be found What Is E-Ink? How It Works & Why Every Ebook Fan Needs It

The reason I started this article was to give you a preview of what E-Ink technology so that when I begin comparing some of the digital paper device I have recently worked with that you will have some sense of what technology I am talking about.

Amazon offering kindle versions of “100 Books You Must Read Before You Die”

I am big into “reading” and I do so mainly digitally. Whether I use my Kindle, Tablet, or switch to audio, I hardly ever touch a real, physical book anymore. So if you haven’t read what are considered as the books you must read for your bucket list, Amazon is giving them away free for your Kindle device.

This looks like a good collection of public domain novels, in Kindle format.  It's volume 1 of a 2 volume set. Here's volume 2.

This is a great way to get started, but don’t forget the Kindleunlimited option that you can purchase which costs $9.99/month for basically unlimited reading. You can borrow up to 10 titles at a time and you can consume most of these either in text or audible formats. This is a really nice option especially for me consuming 8-10 books a month.

If you have Prime, there is also Prime Reading option that comes with that subscription. There are quite a few books and magazines available through this service as well.

Kobo Aura One

Where was this device a few years ago. I have had some issues over the years with electronic devices finding their way into our pool. This new Kobo Reader gets rid of that issue with its waterproof design. This eBook reader is a little larger than most of the ereaders in this category of devices sizing out to 7.8 inch display. The unit is no thicker than an iPhone 6s and not much heavier than the 6s Plus. The Aura One is rated to 6 feet of water resistance, I’ll have to keep it out of the deep end of the pool, which normally shouldn’t be an issue unless you are floating in the deep end.

The number on eBook company that Kobo is competing against is Amazon with their kindle products. With Amazon’s deep source of books to purchase and borrow you have almost any book that you could desire available to you. It’s ability  to also play back audiobooks for those of us that are deep into their Audible Library, is another boon.

Kobo however has deep ties into the the US Lending Library system with Overdrive. So this feature is part of their system. That gives you access to books for free if available from your local and regional libraries that you are a member of.

The cost of this device in the US is going to be around $229 and it should be available in early September.

Review at theverge

Kindle/Audible-New WhisperSync Capability

WhisperSync will now link an Audible audio book with it’s Kindle counterpart file. You can try if for free on the link list to the left. You will need a Kindle and the free audible app. You can listen on audible for iPhone, Android or on the Kindle Fire and read with any Kindle E Ink Reader, Kindle Tablet or Kindle reading app. If you have the latest generation Kindle you can read and listen on that device at the same time.

The free trial is for some of the old classics that you probably remember from when you were growing up.

It appears that the cost for this is only going to be about $3.95 or less to add the audio book to your library. Both files show up in their respective libraries so you can listen or read individually or together. Your choice. This will go over big in my house because I am an avid audible book listener while my wife would rather read it on the kindle. Now we can have the best of both worlds.

Amazon also announced 3 new kindle fire’s in 7inch, 8.9 inch and an 8.9 inch with LTE priced from $199, $299 and $499 respectively. All of these devices will allow you to use the new Whispersync voice option and kindle book at the same time on the same device.

Amazon launches ‘Send to Kindle’ feature for Google Chrome

Amazon has created an extension for Chrome that allows web content to be sent to any device that has the Kindle App installed. It provides a single click process that will send blog posts, stories and other Google Chrome displayed pages to be sent to your favorite e-reader device. Amazon’s Whispersync technology synchronizes between devices so that you can start reading the content on one reader and seamlessly pick up where you left off on another device.

The extension, "Send to Kindle for Google Chrome," allows users to send the entire webpage or just selected text to the device.

To get the extension for yourself, head on over to Amazon's Send To Kindle download page. Confirm the download on the Google Chrome Web store and sign in with your Amazon account. When you click the button, the content is formatted for the Kindle and then sent to your device a few minutes later. Amazon has said FireFox and Safari will get support "soon" but there was no mention of Internet Explorer.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Tab the Android Tablet Standard?

IDC stated that in Q2, 2012 the iPad was certainly the leader when it comes to the overall tablet market.. With 17 million iPads shipped during this period the next nearest competitive tablet was the Samsung Galaxy Tab that reached 2.4 million units during the same quarter. That means that iPads are outpacing its next nearest competitor by a ratio of greater than 7 to 1. Amazon shipped 1.2 million units in this same quarter. It will be interesting to see how the Nexus 7 fairs this quarter in the mix.

In the fourth quarter Microsoft is going to be jumping into the fray as well with their Windows Surface RT tablet and that is going to make it that much more interesting as well. The question is whether we are going to see that many more tablets being sold or whether one or another will start eating into each other’s sales.

What do you think?

Kindle Cover that Charges Your Kindle

I use my Kindle primarily around the pool and a company called SolarFocus has created a cover with a built-in solar panel on the front. So when you have laid your Kindle down and jumped into the pool, you can recharge by having the panel collect those wonder solar rays and boost your battery. If you just have the case with Kindle laying around it will help add up to 3 months of extended charge or 50 hours for it’s include LED lamp.

The SolarKindle is scheduled to be available on January 15th priced at about $80. Pretty neat! A fully charged reserve battery requires only eight hours of direct sunlight and provides up to 80% of backup power to the Kindle. That’s almost three days of use time for each hour of charging!

Amazon Prime - A Potent Differentiator for Amazon

Amazon's Prime Program was originally set up to provide Amazon Members a service that gave them free 2 day shipping. Amazon has evolved this service into far more. The addition of free video streaming for Amazon Prime Members was an interesting addition and when compared to Netflix's streaming service while maybe not having as large of a library is still favorable. Netflix streaming costs about $95/per year, compare that with Amazon's $79. Now with the addition of the free lending library where you can get one book per month, compare this with a cost of $9.99 per for purchase that you are saving $119/year on average this service provides comparable $200's in services for just $79 with the added benefit of free two day shipping on the hard goods that you order. Makes me think of this as a one of those services that area really good value!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Kindle Indie Bookstore

While this isn’t new News, I ran across a saved pointer that drew me back to this site that was started up in August. It is called the kindle indie books site and is a place to explore for and find “unique”, “cool, creative, and different” is classified as “indie”.

The Kindle Indie Bookstore is a unique experience in the literary world, a place to discover the next great authors and their books.

There are over 950,000 publications here now. This section is curated by machine and by human and contains a selection of popular indie and self-published titles.

Kindle Indie Bookstore

The Kindle Indie Bookstore on Amazon.com is a convenient way for readers to explore and browse for top selling, popular and high quality books from independent authors and publishers who publish using KDP. Below are answers to a few commonly asked questions regarding the Kindle Indie Bookstore.
How can I become a featured author?
Our editorial team selects authors to highlight in this area based on criteria that we believe will best serve the interests of Kindle readers. At this time, we do not accept submissions for this placement.
How can I have my books featured in the Kindle Indie Bookstore?
We use a combination of automated techniques and editorial activities to select books based on criteria that we believe will best serve the interest of Kindle readers. At this time, we do not support any specific requests for placement. The likelihood of appearing within the Kindle Indie Bookstore is higher for highly rated, popular and top selling books.
How often are the top selling books updated?
The top selling independently published books are located on the right side of the Kindle Indie Bookstore page and are updated hourly. Books that are featured in the top KDP genres are updated in real-time.
How many genres are featured in the Kindle Indie Bookstore?
Currently we feature books from 7 popular categories in the Kindle Indie Bookstore.
Why do you only feature a select number of genres in the Kindle Indie Bookstore?
We chose seven categories that our Kindle readers look at frequently. Periodically we will review our top selling categories and add to the Kindle Indie Bookstore so that readers can enjoy more variety of great indie books.

Promoting indie books in a separate location is a beneficial step for independent/self-publishing authors. The Kindle Indie Books page rotates 4-5 authors, so if you’re featured, visitors may not see you. It also rotates the order in which various genres are shown.

The page also has a Kindle Indie Books Bestseller List, Top-Rated Indie Books, New Indie Releases and several other indie promo features.

If you are a supporter of self-publishing authors, you may wish to take a look at this site. Remember, there is little screening if any of the titles that are self-published so be a little careful of what you are downloading. Because the books are shown by their popularity, the more popular titles are probably the safest bets. That is of course, that a whole bunch of people didn’t get hornswoggled, Good Reading..

Amazon adds Lending Library to your Kindle Devices

Amazon has announced another new feature for Amazon Prime subscribers, the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. If you are a member of Prime, and you own a Kindle, Amazon now offers thousands of books that you can borrow to read for free. They are including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers.

Choose from over 5,000 titles, including more than 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers, to read on your Kindle.

So how does this work:

Kindle E Ink

The following screens show how to borrow on Kindle E Ink devices.

Kindle Fire

This is only available for Kindle Device owners. So you won’t be able to get these free books on you Kindle Apps on devices like your iPad, iPhone, iTouch and Android devices. You are also limited to just one pick per month so be careful what you pick cause you only get one choice each month. It will probably be a lot easier on the touch screen Kindles but the older “Classic” versions have a few menus that you have to pop through to get where you need to, to make your choice. Have Fun!

Amazon introduces new HTML5-based eBook format

The HTML5 format got another technology boost with Amazon announcing a new HTML5-based e-book format called Kindle Format 8 (KF8). This will allow publishers to create content with rich formatting and advanced design elements tailored to the company’s tablet and e-reader products.

The current Mobi 7 standard doesn’t quite provide the rich formatting capabilities that HTML5 promises. Where will we see the benefit? Amazon is hoping that publishers will take advantage of these new features for adding products that require richer formatting such as children’s picture books, comics and graphic novels. You may also see these new features be taken advantage of in technical and engineering books, cookbooks and school books.

We’re pleased to announce a wide range of new features and enhancements – including HTML5 support – coming in Kindle Format 8 (KF8). KF8 is the next generation file format for Kindle books – replacing Mobi 7. As showcased on Kindle Fire, KF8 enables publishers to create great-looking books in categories that require rich formatting and design such as children’s picture books, comics & graphic novels, technical & engineering books and cookbooks. Kindle Format 8 replaces the Mobi format and adds over 150 new formatting capabilities, including fixed layouts, nested tables, callouts, sidebars and Scalable Vector Graphics, opening up more opportunities to create Kindle books that readers will love.

The list of new capabilities in Kindle Format 8 can be found here.

Upcoming enhancements to Kindle Publisher Tools will make it easier and faster for publishers to create high quality Kindle books. KindleGen 2 (available soon) creates Kindle content from a wide variety of sources including HTML, XHTML, and EPUB. Kindle Previewer 2 (available soon) provides an easy way for publishers to preview how titles will look on Kindle devices and apps so they can be confident that their Kindle books look great.

The next question is whether EPUB3 which also boasts HTML5 and some CSS2.1/CSS3 features added will win out over this new format. The EPUB format has been the standard bearer for the eBook industry and has a lot of momentum in this arena. But Amazon is one of the forerunners delivering electronic media to consumers. It will be interesting to see which format will win out.

New Kindle Family Priced from $79-$199

If you haven’t jumped into the eBook reader environment yet then maybe one of these new Kindle products will entice you to finally make the leap.

Amazon’s new ad subsidized Kindle for $79 has dropped the keyboard, shrunk the overall size, still has Wi-Fi and a faster processor.

• Lighter, More Compact Than Ever-Less than 6 ounces.-Lighter than a paperback, fits in your pocket.
• Holds 1,400 Books-Carry up to 1,400 books-keep your library with you wherever you go.
• Most Advanced E Ink Display-Kindle's high-contrast E Ink display delivers clear, crisp text and images.
• Read in Bright Sunlight-Kindle's E Ink screen reads like real paper, with no glare. Read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.
• One Month Battery Life-No battery anxiety - read for up to one month on a single charge with wireless off and a half hour of reading per day.
• Books in 60 seconds-Find a book and start reading in seconds with our fast, free wireless delivery.
• Built-In Wi-Fi-Connect to Wi-Fi hotspots at home or on the road. Includes free Wi-Fi access at AT&T hotspots across the U.S.
• Simple to Use-Kindle is ready to use right out of the box - no setup, no software to install, no computer required to download content.
• Adjustable Text Sizes-Read comfortably with eight different sizes and three font styles.
• Faster Page Turns-Kindle's powerful processor is tuned for fast, seamless page turns.
• PDF and Personal Documents-Email personal documents and PDFs direct to your Kindle to read and annotate on-the-go.
• Massive Selection-Over 1 million books, newspapers, and magazines, including latest bestsellers, Kindle exclusives, and more.
• Low Book Prices-Over 800,000 books are $9.99 or less.
• Free, Out-of-Copyright Books-Millions of free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 titles such as Pride and Prejudice are available.
• Free Book Samples-Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
• Borrow From Your Public Library-Borrow Kindle books from your public library and start reading on your Kindle.
• Free Cloud Backup-We automatically back up your library in the cloud, so you never need to worry about losing your books. Re-download wirelessly anytime for free.
• Buy Once, Read Everywhere-Kindle books can be read on your Kindle, iPhone, iPad, Android devices, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, Mac, PC, or web browser with our free Kindle Reading Apps.
• Whispersync-Our Whispersync technology synchronizes your last page read, bookmarks and annotations across your devices so you can always pick up where you left off.

Most of these features flow through to all of the new Kindles. Their mid-range unit has a touch screen and still no keyboard. It is priced at $99 for Wi-Fi only and $149 with 3G. The older Kindle unit has the keyboard and is priced at $99/$139 for Wi-Fi/Wi-Fi 3G respectively. The Kindle Fire has a color Screen, is Wi-Fi only and is priced at $199. Battery lengths vary from model to model and if you are concerned about this you may want to take another look at the specs on this page: Kindle Specs. The Kindle Fire only has an 8 hour continuous reading spec compared to 1 and 2 months for the entry level and mid range touch units.

The Kindle Fire also supports playback of movies as well as apps, games, music, reading and more. It is also using the Amazon cloud-accelerated web browser which may not work with security type connections on the internet.

Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Amazon's revolutionary, cloud-accelerated web browser

• 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books
• Amazon Appstore - thousands of popular apps and games
• Ultra-fast web browsing - Amazon Silk

• Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content
• Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle
• Fast, powerful dual-core processor
• Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows

Quite a few choices. Let me know what you think.

Amazon rolls out Kindle lending support | ZDNet

Free Public Library Support is about the only major difference between the Nook and the Kindle now that Amazon has begun rolling out the capability to lend a book to a friend. It all has to be done through an Amazon Web Page but at least it is available now. You can now offer books up for lending and the recipient has seven days to accept, and they can borrow the book for up to 14 days once they accept the loan. While the recipient has the book on their Kindle device you will not be able to access it. You can check out the Amazon Help page on how to do this here…

Amazon rolls out Kindle lending support | ZDNet

Calibre Provides a Formatted Presentation of News Feeds

A one stop solution to all your eBook needs. Calibre is meant to be a complete e-library solution and thus includes library management, format conversion, news feeds to eBook conversion, as well as eBook reader sync features and an integrated eBook viewer. I am using this product to capture information for several news feeds and have them aggregated into a ePub format that is then pushed to my iPhone.

Originally I looked at this to give me the ability to convert PDF’s to either ePUb or Mobi format so that I can access and use them on both my iPad and on my Kindle. This is a really convenient function but as I looked more closely at the product it has some really good additional functions that I could use as well.This is really worth a look if you are interested in grabbing content and have it available when and where you want it.

Will the $139 Kindle finally entice you to become and eBook user?

August 18th is the release date for this new version in the Amazon Kindle product line. This new Kindle will only be WiFi enabled but most of will not be unhappy with that. It is purported to have better contrast, up 50% over the current models. The unit is physically smaller and lighter but still sports the 6-inch screen. And if you are a speed reader the screens are turning 20% faster as well. Storage has doubled, and battery life is said to be good for up to an entire month. They have even included new custom fonts that should make the work and letters more crisp and natural looking.

Click to read more ...

How to Stay Connected

I talked a little bit about how I pick the devices that I use, in this post I want to talk about the what I am using to accomplish this. First, let’s go down the list of devices that I use both for the office and my own entertainment. At the office I have an i7 Workstation with dual 19 inch monitors in the traditional square or 4:3 format. At home my primary system is again an i7 but I am using a 32 inch TV/Monitor as my secondary monitor and a 22 inch widescreen for my primary screen. I also have three mobile devices, an 10.1 inch Acer NetBook, an iPhone 3gs, and my newest acquisition an Apple iPad.

Click to read more ...

You'll be looking at a new Kindle owner

Well, after reading about the new updates to the Kindle 2 this morning I decided that it was about time to get back into the game and " git me one of those..."

It is kind of funny that I have held off so long when I think about how leading edge I used be, first with the eRocket units and later using palm pilots and computer screens to read books. Finally the technology has come around that makes all this so much easier to read, easy to acquire and gives you some extra capabilities to help make your business life so much richer and maybe a little more functional.

Has the Kindle reached it's highest peak. No, it is still missing some key components that would make it the perfect device in its category. Many of the new systems are now communicating with your local libraries allowing you to access books that they have in their virtual shelves without any additional cost. This is one item that is now on my new wish list.

The ability to loan a book to a friend or family member, much like you would do with a traditional physical book, is now a limited feature of some of the other eBook competition. Hopefully Amazon will continue to respond to competition as they add more features to their product.

It is going to be interesting to see where this all progresses to. So next week I will begin this new adventure using by new eBook reader and I will let you know how it goes.

Update available for Kindle 2

Amazon has announced two updates to its latest generation eBook reader.  Jude and I were discussing last night how we wish that the Kindle supported PDF file format natively.  For me one of the biggest uses with the Kindle is to have all my books, manuals and white papers available to me on the device.  Up until now you had to send your file to Amazon to have it converted from native PDF to a format that could be used on your Kindle.  The Kindle DX already had this feature in it.

The earlier versions of the Kindle will get this an update through Whispernet. You will be able to add PDF Files to your Kindle via connection to your PC using the USB port on the device. This update will also provide programming changes to make better use of the battery to give the Kindle better battery life. This appears to be in direct response to the newly releasing Barnes & Noble Nook eBook Reader that offers native PDF support in 10 days of battery life without using wireless connection.

Regarding the battery life boost, Amazon states, "Battery power management for portable wireless devices is a complex technical area, and the battery life improvement announced today is the result of a six month firmware improvement and testing program." With 3G connection active on the Kindle, users can enjoy reading books for up to a week.

Remember, sometimes dreams do come true!