eReader News and Reviews

I’ve been playing with the Kindle Fire for a couple of hours now, and thought I’d share my first impressions.

Things I like:

1. I can thumb type without it being too awkward. I always felt the iPad was an awkward size to type on.
2. It’s small enough that I can fit it in even my smallest purses (a qualifier – I have a penchant for larger purses; none of those tiny clutches or wristlets here).
3. Evernote! The Evernote app on the Fire is awesome. To be fair, most of the Evernote apps are awesome, but the fact that I can just hit return when creating a list and a checkbox will automatically appear is amazing. I’ve been writing shopping lists and checklists all morning.
4. Pulse – This is a neat app. I’m still customizing my pages, but I like the look of the app and the fact that I can send articles right to Twitter, Facebook, or my beloved Evernote.
5. Long-form typing is a lot easier than on an iPhone (my usual mobile device of choice). In fact, I’m writing this article on the Fire right now on a train on my way to work.

 Things I don’t like:

1. It’s alternately not sensitive enough or too sensitive. I find myself accidentally double tapping the space bar and finding random periods in my sentences. On the other hand, I feel like I had to hit the Save button three times in an Evernote note before it saved and took me back to the main page.
2. It’s heavier than I expected. Granted, I probably should have looked at the specs first, but due to its size, I had expected a lighter device.

I’m sure I’ll have more feedback after spending an extensive amount of time with it. Stay tuned.

Setting up your email couldn’t be easier, but it does require some knowledge of your email provider’s information.  In my experience, the Fire tries to get that information automatically, but it’s not always correct.

• Tap Apps in your homescreen.
• Then select Email to open the Email app.
• From there, it’ll prompt you to add your first account, select your provider – the popular ones (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL are provided, as well as other) [For this example, I'm using Gmail]
• Once you tap Gmail, it’ll ask for your username and password.  The Fire will utilize this information to try to figure out your mail server’s settings.  (That sounds overly complicated, but it’s just how the device connects to your email.
• The next screen asks if you’re using POP3 or  IMAP - if you’re not sure which you’re using, check with your IT friendly folks.  IMAP is the way to go these days.
• Once you’ve selected which connection you want, the next screen will ask you for your server information, which it’s determined from the username/password connection you just gave it.  Chances are, this information is correct, however you may need to add your full email address as your username, depending on your email provider.
• Click Next once you’ve filled in all of the settings.
• If everything works correctly, you’ll then be asked for your outgoing settings, which should also be correct.
• The last step asks for your Name and Account Name, the name is what will show on your outgoing messages, and the Account Name is how you’ll identify mail on the Fire.

Now that you’re on Wifi, you’ll probably want to put some tunes on your Fire.

You’ve got two options, and we’ll walk you through both:

1. Use Amazon’s Cloud
2. Use your computer

Once you’ve registered, you can upload your music directly from the website.

Upload Screen

Simply select the files (as many as you want at once) to upload.  The system will process each of them in order. And then they’ll become available through the “Cloud” section of your Music folder on the Fire.  You don’t even have to put the files on the Fire.  They’ll play right from the cloud.

Use Your Computer - Using your computer, you can put music files directly onto the Fire. When you plug your Fire into your computer, your PC or Mac will treat it as a new hard drive.

Just open that drive, and locate the Music folder.  Drop your music in, and voila.

Keep in mind that the Fire can only play certain types of Non-DRM protected files.  Specifically MP3s.  So if your entire music library is encoded for iTunes, you’ll need to utilize a software application to convert those files to MP3, so your Fire can play them.

When you first booted up your Fire for the first time, it should have asked you what Wifi network you wanted to connect to.  If you skipped that screen, or aren’t able to connect to that network anymore, you can still connect to a different network.

• Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner of your Fire, by the Wifi signal and battery bar.
• This will bring up your Wireless Networking screen – also where you’ll turn Wireless off for airplane flight.
• Your available networks will be displayed there.
• Simply tap on the one you want, and enter the wireless password, if applicable.

Not to be outdone by Amazon (though they definitely are in this category), Barnes & Noble announced yesterday that they’re releasing their own tablet device in time for the holiday season.

Coming in at $249, the Barnes & Noble “nook tablet” (clever name there Barnes & Noble…) seems like a decent table.  Certainly cheaper than an iPad, but a bit more expensive than a Fire.

Specs: 

• Height: 8.1 inches
• Width: 5.0 inches
• Depth: 0.48 inches
• Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Screen: 7 inch touchscreen, color, 1024×600, 16 million colors.
• Flash: Yes.
• Wi-fi: B/G/N
• Processor: 1GHz TI OMAP4 (dual-core) processor with 1GB RAM
• Battery life: 11.5 hours of reading or 9 hours of video without recharging with wireless off (supposedly)
• Memory: 16GB (10,000 books)
• Built-in apps: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora® internet radio, Chess, Crossword, Sudoku, Media Gallery, NOOK Friends™, Email

Amazon made a pretty major announcement today – Amazon Prime members who have an Amazon Kindle or Amazon Fire (releasing later this month) will be able to borrow books from the Amazon Kindle Library.

The Amazon Kindle Library contains around 5,000 books currently, with plans to add more over the next few months.

To borrow a book from the Kindle Library for free, you have to have a Kindle or Fire device – you can’t borrow books using one of the Kindle apps for your computer or mobile device; just another reason to get a Kindle or pre-order a Fire and an active Amazon Prime membership ($79 per year, but also includes free two-day shipping and unlimited video streaming.)

It’s available today, so just head to the Amazon Store on your device and look for the new link for “Kindle Owner’s Lending Library” to see what books are available.  You can borrow up to one per month.

Towards the end of the Amazon media event today, they announced their new Kindle Fire, a full color tablet.

• Millions of songs, apps, millions of books, thousands of movies/TV shows
• No cable syncing required
• Free Amazon Cloud storage
• Delete content and restore it at any time.
• Start a movie on your Kindle Fire, and resume watching on your TV.
• Whispersync will work with TV and Movies as well as books.
• Listen to music while reading (just thinking about this makes my brain distracted)
• Has a dedicated browser (Amazon Silk) which will use cloud computing power, taking some of the strain off the hardware itself

The Amazon Fire is a 7″ display, full color, will weigh 14.6 ounces, multi-touch, with a Gorilla Glass screen at 169dpi, and 16 million colors.

The Amazon Fire will cost $199 is available for pre-order today, shipping on November 15th.  Be sure to pre-order yours for the holiday season today!

There was no mention of 3G, onboard storage space or resolution.  Stay tuned for those details as they become available.

Amazon had a media event today to discuss the newest member of the Kindle family, the Kindle Touch.

A full color tablet, the Kindle Touch comes in one size for $99.

The Kindle Touch will be available for pre-order today, and will begin shipping on November 21st.

Kindle Touch, in addition to being a full e-ink touch display, will also have a ton of other really cool features:

• Grey color
• Reorganized touch screen sensors for menu navigation
• Phrases, historical figures, events in each book are downloaded along with books, no Wi-Fi necessary so you can look them up right from the book
• Faster page turns

The Touch is available for pre-order through Amazon today, be sure to get in line, they’re sure to sell out before the holiday season, as most of the other Kindles in the past have.  Preorder Kindle Touch here

In other news, Amazon has announced that a new version of the regular Kindle (sans touch, built-in Wi-Fi, Whispersync, Amazon Cloud storage) will be available for  $79 and ships today. Order a Kindle

A new, and free, service called “KindleToDo” (http://kindletodo.com/) lets you have Kindle friendly to-do lists, formatted for and written from your Kindle.

Just visit the site from your Kindle, and some behind the scenes magic automatically creates a Kindle specific to-do list just for you.  Enter to-dos, view existing ones, and even view via a calendar.

It’s primitive, but is certainly a step in the right direction as Kindle does not have a to-do list of its own at all.

Amazon announced yesterday that it had rolled out a new service called Kindle Cloud Reader.

The new service is essentially built to get around Apple’s new policy about in-app purchases going through the Apple store, and them taking a percentage.  Meaning that sales through the iPad or iPhone Kindle apps would have to pay an additional fee to Apple, which Amazon would like to avoid – for obvious reasons.

It’s reported to work in Google Chrome (Windows, OS X, Chromebook, and Linux), iOS (iPad and iPhone), and Safari (Windows and OS X).

Cloud Reader, more or less, is a web browser based version of the Kindle reader app that’s available for your mobile device(s).  It allows you to use your device’s browser to read your books.  And, like all the other mobile device apps, it has whispersync to keep all of your variety of copies synced together.

Here’s the Kindle DX Welcome Guide, viewed through Chrome on OS X Lion.

Kindle Reader