To see the latest version of the below tips, jump on this Wave.

First impressions

• It’s thin and light
• The screen is crispier than I hoped
• Page turns are quicker than on my Sony Reader
• The cursor’s ghost-like effect compensates for the display’s low responsiveness

Non-US issues

• Kindle store checks for country before completing purchase. Users who change their address to a US one, will not be able to purchase without contacting the Kindle customer service.
• There are more items in the US store.
• (the browser now works with a Danish account!)

Kindle-friendly websites

• Most mobile-optimized sites are Kindle-friendly.
• For a start page linking to longer, Kindle-friendly articles, try www.mortenjust.com/kindle
• To detect a kindle, look for “Kindle” in the user_agent (full string is Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Linux 2.6.22) NetFront/3.4 Kinde/2.1 (screen 600×800)

Feeds

• KRead accepts a feed URL and displays that feed, Kindle optimised
• Feedbooks creates an actual Kindle book with the contents of the feed(s), and even allows updating from within the book
• Instapaper offers sending directly by email to your Kindle when you add to Instapaper. Downside is that Amazon charges 1 USD for non-US transfers.

Desktop software

• Calibre converts almost everything to Kindle (and Sony, etc) format. It also transfers and enrich with meta data.
• Mobipocket Desktop 6.0 (and not older) also recognises the Kindle, however, Calibre is generally recommended
• Books can be transferred simply by dragging into the Documents folder when the Kindle is mounted.
• Rumors today (Oct 23) have it that Amazon is readying a desktop reader for the Mac

Free books

• Some books in the Kindle store are free. However, there’s a transfer fee outside of the US.
• Feedbooks offer a Kindle book with links to actually download and install free ebooks over the air.
• More free books to be found at Munseys
• Munseys also have a kindle-friendly mobile site with direct downloads

Paid books

• The amount of titles in Kindle store varies from country to country
• Users can download from other Mobipocket-compatible sites and read those books on Kindle. How and why.

Digitising paper books

• FineReader is quite impressive.
• An easy way to do this is with a digital camera, one spread at a time.
• Approximately 1 page per second.
• Some cameras can shoot in intervals.
• Combine that fact with a tripod and you’ll have a home digitising studio.

Amazon Web resources

• Media library. This is for all Amazon downloadable media, including Kindle
• kindle.amazon.com. Supposedly a place to manage bookmaks and notes (mine don’t show up)
• Manage my kindle. Lets users send media to other (owned) Kindles and iPhones.

iPhone app

• Not available yet in some countries, including Denmark
• Personal documents, magazines, newspapers and manually transferred books can not be sent to the iPhone app

Screensavers

• So far I haven’t seen two of the same. Are they stored online?
• Now I have. Don’t think they are.
• I’ve seen a custom screensaver extension

Emailing documents directly to the Kindle

• 1 USD. Emailing documents to (your.name)@kindle.com will send the converted document directly to the Kindle through Whispernet
• Free. Emailing them to (your.name)@free.kindle.com will reply to your email with the document. Use USB to transfer to Kindle.

Third party extensions

• Savory lets users convert from PDF to Kindle format on the device. It’s using the conversion engine from Calibre
• I read about one that allows changes tothe screensaver. URL?

Other web sites

• Kindle forums on Mobile Read
• Hacks and easter eggs
• Beginner’s guide to Kindle content

Speech

• I find the female voice sounds more natural

Troubleshooting

• If you get no connectivity bars, try resetting (switch and hold power slider until screen blanks, then turn on again)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 11:37 pm and is filed under guide, kindle, wave. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.