Amazon Kindles my Life (3rd generation)

Taiwan time at 12:27 on August 27, 2010, while my cell phone was ringing due to a short message informing the credit card was charged NT. 7300 dollars or so, and I knew Amazon was ready to kick off the shipment. Then less than 12 hours, my Kindle 3 was submitted to the hands of DHL, indicating the launch of the official shipment.

		Location	Event Details
August 30, 2010	10:59:00 AM	TAIPEI Ta	Delivered
August 30, 2010	09:04:00 AM	Taipei TW	Out for delivery
August 30, 2010	07:49:00 AM	Taipei TW	Arrival Scan
August 30, 2010	12:51:00 AM	Taipei TW	Departure Scan
August 30, 2010	12:47:00 AM	Taipei TW	Arrival Scan
August 29, 2010	11:37:00 PM	Taipei TW	Completed customs clearance process
August 29, 2010	11:12:00 PM	Taipei TW	Arrival Scan
August 29, 2010	05:52:00 PM	Hong Kong HK	Departure Scan
August 29, 2010	05:28:00 PM	Hong Kong HK	Arrival Scan
August 29, 2010	04:45:00 PM	Hong Kong HK	Completed customs clearance process
August 29, 2010	04:41:00 PM	Hong Kong HK	Arrival Scan
August 28, 2010	05:57:00 AM	Cincinnati Hub OH US	Departure Scan
August 28, 2010	05:42:00 AM	Cincinnati Hub OH US	Arrival Scan
August 27, 2010	08:42:00 PM	San Francisco Gateway	Departure Scan
August 27, 2010	07:59:00 PM	San Francisco Gateway	Arrival Scan
August 27, 2010	04:56:00 PM	Sparks NV US	Departure Scan
August 27, 2010	04:56:00 PM	Sparks NV US	Arrival Scan
August 27, 2010	11:20:00 AM	Sparks NV US	Shipment received by carrier

Tossing and turning not too long, on August 30, sooner after running into a Kindle 2 in the morning during the mass rapid transportation, the Kindle 3 had been delivered to my house. I had no chance of witnessing and even signing the alleged affidavit for importing goods. Moreover, as for the tariff, as long as the original order was placed with the Import Fees Deposit prepaid, there’s no need to worry about it. If the tariff is not actually charged, the fees will be returned.No one needs to compensate even if the duty charges more than expected. That’s the courteous treatment a consumer buying a Kindle 3 deserves.

Appearance 

▲ Instructions shows in the state of shutdown without an additional printed guidelines.

▲ Volume control, headphone, microphone, micro USB port and power slide bar from left to right.

▲ When purchasing, please remember to select the U.S. version which comes with the white option and the US power adapter applicable in Taiwan."International Shipment" is to facilitate the users to buy a non-US power adapter with discounts. Both versions are basically the same.

▲ As a rule, all Kindles start from here.

▲ It’s courtesy for the CEO to attach his signature.

▲ After booting, the first thing is to thank customers, very basic but easily forgotten.

▲ Not only a dash of pedantry but also more leisure are exposed via the monthly fee-free 3G access.

▲ Landscape mode looks pretty good.

▲ The 3G data module is manufactured by AnyDATA DTP-600W, supporting 3.6Mbps DL and 384Kbps UL. Surfing Internet is such a trifle that there’s no need to bother setting on Kindle 3.

▲ In a residential area near the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, continuously testing the 3G connection speed produces fairly stable results.

▲ Compared with laptops, Kindle 3 with Atheros AR6102G installed fails to reach the expected wireless transmission performance. Over a line of bandwidth 10M/1M, only half of the bandwidth or so is fulfilled. To make matters worse, performance degrades easily along with the increase of the distance from the wireless station or some other obstructions.

▲ Successive tests, though not satisfying but acceptable.

Internet Surfing 

Maybe it’s stimulated by Nook that Kindle 3 finally equips a Webkit-based browser, making Internet surfing no longer tasteless and leading to a perfect commensalism with the monthly fee-free 3G roaming.

▲ iGoogle, a typical web page filled with Javascript and AJAX, is displayed with little effort.

▲ The current browser does not support opening new windows. A expedient alternative is to directly enter the URL.

▲ Sure enough, the full version of GMail works as desired but the mobile version is more efficient in practical uses.

▲ Google Maps aerial photographs are displayed fully, but Street View is missing because of the lack of Flash plug-in.

▲ In addition to PDF and Amazon’s proprietary formats, ebooks in the cloud are also a piece of cake for Kindle 3 to read.

▲ Simplified Chinese characters may not show properly in the form of boxes on the title bar.

▲ Google Books mobile version might be better for practical use.

▲ Awesome on Kindle 3.

▲ Apart from e-books, how could Google Reader be absent on Kindle 3?

▲ Google Reader mobile version and Kindle 3 are simply a perfect match.

▲ While eslite bookstore is good to read, Kindle 3 is much better for reading.

▲ Since AJAX is no problem, Javascript menu works fine for sure.

▲ Read without facebook? No way!

▲ Time to Plurk.

▲ Classic Chinese novels rendered in the vertical text direction.

▲ Kindle 3 layouts with ease, leaking no trace of disorder.

▲ Finally, of course, don’t forget to return to Mobile01 to linger on.

▲ No matter how many images are in a web page, Kindle 3 is able to display the whole.

▲ Some elements unrelated to the content in a web page are inevitably eyesores. It’s time for Kindle 3 to switch on the Article Mode.

▲ More readable to the eyes.

▲ Unfortunately, the Article Mode can not be applied arbitrarily.

▲ The expediency is to tell Google Mobile to transforming the web page into a mobile version for Kindle 3.

▲ Even if the site does not provide a mobile version, Google Mobile could take it over.

▲ Flash and Java are blacklisted by Kindle 3, not to mention HTML5.

▲ A good boy should not download unknown files. Only AZW, PRC, MOBI and TXT are allowed.

Internet Surfing Tips 

• Read with an RSS Reader.
• Mobile version is preferable.
• Transform web pages with Google Mobile.
• View the full version directly.

Hardware 

Screen: EInk Pearl with black and white contrast ratio of 10:1 compared to 6:1 of Kindle 2. It’s not a borderless design and vulnerable to dust.
Battery: LICO S11GTSF01A 3.7V 1750 mAh lithium polymer, replaceable with extra effort.
3G module: AnyDATA DTP-600W, 3.6Mbps DL and 384Kbps UL.
WiFi module: Atheros AR6102G, 802.11 b/g.
Microphone: no application available.

Kindle Store 

Perform a keyword search test as follows:
Keyword || Kindle Store || B&N || SONY
cloud computing || 61 || 28 || 30
self-stabilization || 3 || 0 || 0
linguistics || 5287 || 896 || 4409
Chinese || 1528 || 2068* || 1302

The search results show the number of Kindle ebooks is rich indeed while B&N with an alliance with Google books counts the sum of both. SONY, though allied with Google books, doesn’t mix the results and in general has more records than B&N.

The Bottom Line 

• the pioneer adopting EInk Pearl, very eye-friendly
• clear even under the sun
• monthly fee-free 3G roaming for Internet access and ebook download
• WebKit-based browser
• authentic English text-to-speech
• essential PDF support: adjustable contrast, highlight, lookup, and conversion
• personal document conversion service with free delivery via WiFi
• annotation synchronization with different devices
• long battery life and fast recharge with only 2.5 hours
• returnable within 30 days

• the default Chinese font has some characters missing while the other is complete but has lighter contrast
• impossible to read the Daily Prophet
• the scree is vulnerable to dust
• weak in the dark
• not stable enough and restart sometimes
• unfriendly audio playback and support only mp3
• the browser fails to open a new window
• the browser rejects to download PDF documents
• expensive covers

About the future 

The main differences between e-readers and other general-purpose tablets lie in the following:

• lack of color: limited types of publication
• long refresh time: limited operations and applications

Major e-reader technologies include EPD(EInk and Sipix), IMOD(Qualcomm's Mirasol), ChLCD and IPE, the first two fo which go mass production with high possibility. Qualcomm Mirasol is the most promising for its improved screen refresh time and the mass production cost is worthy of concern. On the other hand, the technological innovation based on LCD and going mass production is only Pixel Qi. But the power consumption and available view angle still fall behind at a higher price.

Then what if the electronic paper overcomes the bottleneck, is an optimistic future prospective? Not necessarily, because the electronic paper suppliers have not been exclusive for device manufactures, general-purpose tablet devices also have the right to apply the technology, which means that the hardware market segments appear more vague, leaving only differentiation in software and services. Amazon's service has been taking the lead with customer purchase analysis and monthly fee-free 3G roaming in the industry; by contrast, those vendors selling smartphones and general-purpose tablets at prices several times higher than Kindle seem always busy running after maximal profit rather than beef their products and services up.

However, when it comes to the competitive advantage on software aspects, AmazonKindle is simply acceptable as a dedicated reading device but inadequate as a general-purpose tablet for two reasons:

• the proprietary platform and a relatively small number of applications
• keyboard-based operations are not intuitive while the existing user interface is not applicable to touchscreen

Hands down, MeeGo or Android should bring more competing power proved by Nook. While it is so easy to inherit existing applications, third-party support for a variety of media formats, such as ePub and ogg is also a piece of cake so that users no longer need to wait for firmware update beyond reach. As a matter of fact, what’s essential for Amazon to develop and maintain by itself are merely the proprietary format AZW and the annotation synchronization. If Amazon could dedicate more effort on the integration of educational applications and resources instead of distractions with unfamiliar software development, the chances are that Kindle 10th, or even 20th generation will come true and reading the Daily Prophet is not a dream.

How is the 3G transmission charged?

As long as the relationship with AT&T is not broken, monthly fee-free 3G roaming spans dozen of countries. As for the traffic flow, Amazon has clearly defined traffic outside the United States exempt from the fees are:

• books, single periodicals, purchased archives
• browsing Kindle Store
• using the browser

Fees charged outside the United States include:

• weekly newspaper, magazine, and blog subscriptions
• personal documents converted by Amazon

How does Amazon amortize the fees for 3G roaming outside the United States?

In addition to the aforementioned items charge according to the actual file size, the ebook price are added at least $2 if the customer’s IP address is outside the US. Beseides, free Kindle books are not available for users with Kindle address set outside the US. Anyway, the extra 3G transmission fees would be ignored as long as the Kindle address belongs to the US. Once the transaction succeeds, Amazon will not charge anything no matter how the book is downloaded. Be warned that Amazon seems to check if the purchaser’s IP address belongs to the US and tolerates a fixed times of transaction when the IP address mismatches the Kindle address. The case covers downloading a free chapter.

What differs between sending files to "name"@free.kindle.com and "name"@kindle.com?

The former accepts to download via WiFi only free of charge while the later allows to download via WiFi or 3G depending on the connection. The 3G transmission charges $0.15/MB inside the US and $0.99/MB otherwise. What’s more, if the fees exceed the limit, the document will be forwarded to the "name"@free.kindle.com for WiFi download.

What is the difference between annotations and Clippings?

There are three types of Kindle annotations:

• Bookmark that marks the entire page
• Highlight

Clippings is a simple text file where all the annotations are copied. You can modify, back up or deleted it without affecting the original annotations. It is purely created for users to review such that there’s no need for synchronization.

What does Whispersync synchronize?All the following are synchronized among different devices :

• Annotations
• Bookmark
• Highlight
• Furthest page read

What does kindle.amazon.com serves?

After login with the Kindle account, users can view the reading progress and highlights of all the books purchased (personal documents are not applicable).Statistics of popular highlights from other users are also gathered. Moreover, cues to review a book read are displayed at random.Reading

PDF Capabilities 

• Vertical Full Page View
• Landscape
• Zoom and Pan
• Text Search
• Dictionary Lookup
• Bookmark
• Notes
• Single Column Text Highlight
• Multiple Column Text Highlight
• Highlight Social Share
• Autocrop Margins in portrait mode
• Autocrop Margins in lanscape mode(fit content to page width)
• hyperlinks
• Table of Content
• Text Reflow
• Page Split Layout

Early before the prevalence of electronic readers, PDF documents have already spread all over the world on the demand to make sure of the exchange of files consistent with the original layout and format. However, whether the reader is able to share the same reading experience and comfort with the editor depends on the terminal display’s size and resolution. In other words, PDF is not designed so much for the optimal reading experience as for retaining the format integrity. As a result, as long as the display of the mobile device is smaller than the document in size and resolution, it is inevitably required to zoom and pan.Let’s look at the actual performance on Kindle 3:

▲ Full page view of multi-column text.

▲ Select the scaling percentage.

▲ Select the zoom area, pressing Shift + 5-way controller to adjust in tiny scale.

▲ Scaled display where the 5-way controller can be used to pan.

▲ No problem with Chinese, but the default font contrast may be too light.

▲ Press AA to adjust the font contrast.

▲ Mixed text and tables is a piece of cake.

▲ Want to highlight multi-column text?

▲ Forget it, just pain.

▲ Single column of text can be highlighted with ease. In addition, dictionary lookup shows the result of the word near the cursor.

▲ Wherever the cursor is, notes can be directly input and share on Facebook and Twitter.

▲ Prior to posting on social networks, be sure to set up the accounts on the settings page.

By and large, Kindle 3’s support for PDF on the document level is fair. Except multi-column text highlight, it should be acceptable for most documents to be viewed in the landscape mode without zooming and panning. However, due to the lack of table of content, it’s a hassle to jump to a desired chapter.Fortunately, Kindle 3 is capable of memorizing the location of the last page read so as not to cause troubles when the book is read from beginning to end.

It is a proprietary format with DRM that only the Kindle device or software reader with the account registered to the one who places the order is able to open. Compared with the zooming and panning of PDF viewing, what replace them are settings of font size, line spacing, words per line, text-to-speech and reflow which are more suitable for ebooks without being confined to the mapping of physical book pages. After all, ebooks are not designed for printing initially.

If there is anything worth mentioning is probably the personal file conversion service, which converts files sent as an attachment to "name"@free.kindle.com or "name"@kindle.com into AZW so that Kindle can automatically download.The difference is that the former allows only WiFi download while the later makes it possible to download via WiFi or 3G depending on the connection.Downloading the converted document via 3G roaming may charge extra fees.Currently the following file formats are supported:

• Microsoft Word (.DOC & .DOCX)
• HTML (.HTML, .HTM)
• RTF (.RTF)
• JPEG (.JPEG, .JPG)
• GIF (.GIF)
• PNG (.PNG)
• BMP (.BMP)
• PDF (.PDF): since PDF can be opened natively, conversion service requires the email subject start with “convert.”

In addition, the files to be converted can be compressed into a zip attachment, but the size before compression must be less than 50MB and the files inside the archive will get converted respectively into AZW. In other words, even if the archive contains a pile of images, Kindle will eventually receive the corresponding AZW for each image file. 

Last but not least, personal file conversion service is not perfect. Users had better compare the results with the original file if the document includes a large number of mathematical notations, symbols, special characters and tables.Nevertheless, it just works for general use.

▲ After conversion, Amazon will send a notification to Kindle.

Dictionary Lookup 

Besides the built-in two English-English dictionaries, you can install additional ones, but only one of them can be specified as the main dictionary for lookup in reading. Instant lookup shows the first definition of the word near the cursor, not necessarily the suitable explanation in the context. If the word to look up is a derivative, you may need to press "⤶" to find out the term in the definitions of the root word. For example, looking up gambler will list the definitions of the word gamble, you have to navigate for gambler in the explanations. Some other dictionaries probably enumerate derivatives as single terms. Instant lookup still works when you are reading the definitions.

Text-to-Speech 

Page turns automatically when Kindle is reading to you. The speech rate and speaking voice can not be changed till the text-to-speech is on. Press the space bar to stop or resume. Not applicable to dictionaries.

▲press to open the file AA menu, you can start reading TTS.

▲press read again AA to change the reading speed or change male and female voices

Voice Guide 

It is a extension of text-to-speech. The guide appears whenever the option or menu item is changed. It seems that you can not switch the voice. Furthermore, with the combination of text-to-speech and voice guide, Kindle allows you to “read” regardless of dark conditions.

Active Content 

Also known as the Kindle App. Currently there are several free active contents such as the Shuffle Row, the Every Word and the Mine Sweeper. High quality paid active contents by professional game companies like E.A. are also available.

▲ This is a game.

▲ From the above letters spell a word as long as possible.

▲ waiting for you to challenge the score.