For anyone interested in manga, there is a free, open source software available called Mangle.  Manga is a series of Japanese cartoons or comics that cover all genres such as action, comedy, romance, sports, science fiction, fantasy and others.  Manga has become a huge hit in Japan and worldwide.  Usually the comics are printed in black and white, but there are a few color versions floating around.

Mangle was created by Alex Yatskov several years ago for the older generation version of the Kindle.  This software works really well with the Kindle 3.  Click here for downloading instructions, and for images of software demonstrations.

The Kindle 3’s improved screen makes graphics much easier to read.  Graphics have been a common complaint among Kindle users, but that seems to be improving.  You can zoom in or out and rotate the images as desired.  Manga pages in the physical books are small, but there are a lot of them.  More pages take up space, so transferring them to a digital format solves that issue.

The other cool thing about providing manga in a digital format is that it attracts an audience who might not like to read regular books.  Some people just enjoy reading a story through graphics rather than words.  It would be awesome if this option could be provided on all of the Kindle platforms: PC, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad.  When I think about it though, the black and white aspect of manga might just be a better fit for the Kindle device itself.

There is a good selection of manga available in the Kindle Books section on Amazon.  A lot of them seem to be either in the romance or horror category.   Anyone know of any particularly good novels they would recommend?  I have been introduced to the world of manga, but would like to hear about what great titles are out there to check out.

The Kindle 3 and Kindle DX will soon be offered at Staples (NASDAQ: STPS), an office supply chain.  Staples joins Target as the second retail store to sell the e-reader.  This is a good marketing strategy for Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) because they don’t have their own store to let customers try before they buy.  Both Target and Staples offer in store options to try out the Kindle before purchase.  Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) previously had the edge with the iPad and Nook on this strategy because they have their own stores.

“Staples is not just bringing this incredible product to our 1,550+ US stores, but we are offering customers a chance to discover first-hand Amazon’s revolutionary reading device,” said Jevin Eagle, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing at Staples. “As part of our efforts to offer customers a wide range of top technology products and services at amazing values, the new Kindle is a natural fit.”

The new Kindle has had rave reviews.  The screen is 50% better, has twice as much battery life as its predecessor, is about 20% smaller and has faster page turns.  The quicker page turns is one thing that I’m glad to see improved.

Staples is a great store.  They sell really good quality products for good prices.  I bought a desk there a few years ago and love it.  This is a good place for the Kindle to be sold, considering the store’s technology focus and their commitment to good customer service.

Staples will offer:

Kindle Wi-Fi – $139

Kindle 3G – $189

Kindle DX -$379 (Will be available late Fall, 2010)

I haven’t been able to find much information on how well the Kindle has been doing at Target.  By putting the e-reader in stores, Amazon is reaching out to the casual readers and cautious consumers not willing to risk purchasing anything online.  Target is a major chain in the United States, but Staples has a global presence.  For now, Amazon is targeting U.S. readers, but the international avenue is open to pursue if they decide to do so in the future.  In terms of sales strategy, Staples is at an advantage because it will be putting the Kindle in its store just in time for the 2010 holiday season.  For Amazon, having the Kindle in two major retail stores instead of one will be a big sales boost.

As many of you will remember, the original Kindle design was a bit heavier, a bit clunkier, and had a small screen next to the main one for utility.  Well, in 2006 Amazon(NASDAQ:AMZN) filed for a patent on the design.  A mere four years later, it has been granted.  At first glance, given how much the modern Kindle has evolved, this seems like it would be almost worthless.  The text of the patent, however, gives rise to some concerns for the competition.  The exact text includes this section:

“A handheld electronic device comprising: a first display for presenting visible representations of content, the first display comprising an electronic paper display; and a second display positioned alongside the first display, wherein the second display includes a plurality of graphic elements that correspond to portions of the first display, and wherein the second display is responsive to user input to one of the graphic elements to perform at least one action on content shown in a portion of the first display that corresponds to the one graphic element.”

This alone would seem to bode ill for fans of the Barnes & Noble(NYSE:BKS) nook if taken by itself, as many people reporting on this seem to be emphasizing.  I’m admittedly a layman in patent interpretation, but with later sections indicating that “the second display includes a cursor that is positionable alongside the portions of the first display” and “the second display is responsive to tactile commands entered using a scroll wheel.”, it seems to me thatthe functionality is so clearly different that B&N has little to worry about.  Still, will Amazon try to bring it to court and see what happens?  We’ll have to wait and see.

Check out the Full Text of the Patent

On Wednesday, Discovery Patent Holdings LLC filed a lawsuit against Amazon(NASDAQ:AMZN) over the use of technology related to the distribution of, and securing of, digital texts that Discovery feels falls under their patents.  It is worth pointing out, at this juncture, that this is not, precisely, a new lawsuit.  In March of 2009, Discovery Communications filed a similar suit against Amazon (with Amazon suing Discovery back shortly after) with regard to these patents and the more recent one is simply a reflection of Discovery’s choice to move the patents to a separate corporate entity as they continue proceedings.  The main question on peoples’ minds, of course, is what this will mean for the future of the Kindle platform.

While I’m not intricately familiar with patent law, it would seem from an intuitive standpoint that the Kindle is safe.  As far as I, or seemingly anybody else covering the topic for that matter, recall, there was no effort made previous to these suits(at least that managed to achieve public recognition) by Discovery to defend their rights in the matter. Given that the patents in question were assigned in 1999 and 2007, it would seem rather late in the game to expect results on this front.  Again, I’m no expert and don’t claim to have the only, or even the best, interpretation of what the outcome will be.  All I can say is that I’m not terribly concerned for my Kindle.

HMSHost, the company that runs any number of airport shops you might encounter as you travel the country, has just acquired exclusive rights to sell the Kindle in the aforementioned airports!  So, what does that mean for you?  So far, they have announced that Kindle devices will be sold in a number of stores to begin with.  Specifically, the Simply Books and Authors Bookstores in Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, John Wayne in Orange County, Charlotte/Douglas in Charlotte, Salt Lake City, Dallas Fort Worth, San Diego, George Bush in Houston, Miami, Tampa, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.  These stores will be selling pre-charged Kindles ready to go on a moment’s notice for anybody who desires one.

Let’s face it, an eReader is practically a vital accessory for any regular traveler these days.  The ability to keep a variety of entertainment material on a 10.8 ounce package with only very infrequent charging needs is a perk that simply cannot be beaten on the long flights and even longer layovers that plague the lives of many.  Now that the Kindle can be found in the middle of travel without the hassle or delay of ordering and shipping, there’s simply no downside or hassle remaining.  The HMSHost Slogan says it all in this case: Making the Traveler’s Day Better.

This is a great step for Amazon that should have been done long time ago. More than a year ago I blogged about my Kindle being bricked on an airplane. I was in the middle of long transatlantic journey with multiple connections. All I could find in terms of eReaders back then were Sony PRS readers which were of little use to me since I didn’t have my notebook with me to create an account and buy books. Being able to but a eReader and start using it right away is a great perk.

Unfortunately I don’t plan to visit any of the mentioned airports any time soon. However if you do, please drop me an email or a comment. I’m very interested what Kindle airport buying experience is like. Specifically it’s interesting how would they handle buyers who don’t have Amazon.com account yet.

While they are still in the market for a vendor and making efforts to arrange matters of budgeting and potential purchase bundling discounts, Clearwater High(Clearwater, FL) has made known its intent to move the student body over to the use of the Kindle as a replacement for the traditional textbook collection that students have always known and “loved”.

The intention is to supply all 2100 students with a Kindle that comes preloaded with every book they will require for the academic year.  Students will not be given the ability to purchase further books on the school property, but it seems likely, given the fact that students will have internet access, that there will be the ability to transfer privately acquired eBooks as desired.  In order to reduce parental concerns and school liability somewhat, all students will be required to sign a form agreeing to avoid accessing inappropriate material on their eReaders via the internet browser.

There is no guarantee that this move will save the school money.  It is intended more as a way of connection with a student body far more at home in front of one electronic device or another than behind a book. With luck, giving these students just what they’re used to in non-academic settings as a component of their learning will increase interest and focus on what they need to do.  The recent addition of Facebook integration probably won’t hurt much either, sadly.

Tuesday, at the annual Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN) shareholders meeting, Jeff Bezos made some comments about the state of the Kindle and what we can expect for the future.  While it may come as a surprise for some, the goal is consistency and refinement rather than revolution.  Many feel that the Kindle should be making every effort to become some sort of eInk iPad in order to survive, but Bezos emphasized the presence of the Kindle as a device for “serious readers” and insisted that this is not meant to be a multipurpose device so much as a specialty tool with a distinct purpose.  Future plans for Kindle development may include the color screen that some have been pushing for, but certainly not the next model, to judge from his comments about what a complicated technology it is to get right.  While it would, of course, be simple to make a device with a color LCD display, it would run counter to the purpose of the device; namely to create a reading device for those who love reading.

So what can we expect from the new Kindle?  It’s pure speculation, but I’d say we can look forward to a more refined UI, faster refresh rates, a lighter form, and a better screen-to-frame ratio.  Let’s not dwell on what gimmicks and alternate purposes we might want to add in and focus on what matters.  Namely, that the reading experience be as clean, immersive, and enjoyable as possible.

A while back, as some of you may remember, we mentioned the news that Barnes & Noble(NYSE: BKS) and HP(NYSE: HPQ) were teaming up to offer the B&N reader software as a prepackaged tool in many new HP computers.  Well, it looks like Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN) has taken the cue and moved with it.  Today we got a press release announcing that, in the near future, Kindle software will come pre-installed on many ASUS models including the 1005PE line of Eee PC Netbooks and their UL Series of notebooks.

This isn’t necessarily quite as pointless as it seems at first glance.  While there is no doubt that preloaded software isn’t a new concept, the implied partnership in this area bodes well for upcoming months; rumors that the upcoming Eee Pad tablet device will be unveiled by the end of this month lend some weight to this development.  In spite of the shortcomings compared to an e-Ink display, these devices are useful and well-regarded as reading tools. Having an existing partnership for users’ ebook consumption needs addresses a key point in the obviously inevitable comparisons to the iPad that consumers will have to be making.  There is some hope, it can be hoped, that a valid competitor is about to enter the market.

A day after Amazon’s May 10 announcement regarding plans to offer Kindle for Android, Amazon announced updates for its Kindle for PC application.  The article from eWeek suggests that Amazon’s recent actions might be in response to increased competition from the iPad, Nook, Sony E-reader and others.

Kindle for PC’s new features include the ability to edit notes and marks, change background color, adjust screen brightness control and includes a full screen reading mode.  Amazon’s Whispersync technology transfers notes, bookmarks and “last pages read” between a PC, smartphone and the Kindle.  By adding these adjustments to the application, Amazon has made it much more user friendly.

Jay Marine, Director of Amazon Kindle wrote: “Kindle for PC lets customers enjoy more than 540,000 books in the Kindle Store even if they don’t yet have a Kindle, and it’s the perfect companion application for the millions of Kindle and Kindle DX owners.” Amazon seems to be heading into the predicted direction of gearing their market towards software, despite solid Kindle device sales.

Amazon also recently announced plans for a new update to the Kindle and Kindle DX called Version 2.5.  In this version, users will be allowed to share passages with friends on Facebook and Twitter.  It will also include Collections, which categorizes books and documents on the Kindle into different sections based on the subject, and Popular Highlights, a passage from a book or document that the Kindle community finds the most interesting.  Content sharing is “the big thing” right now.  It will be an interesting trend to watch in terms how how the Kindle will work with it.

In a fairly timely manner, given the recent impressive nook functionality update, Amazon gives the Kindle a few new features that are actually something to get excited about for once. And a couple that aren’t of course.

One of the more exciting new additions is simply a long overdue organizational concern.  Users will now be able to define collections of books.  I don’t know when this became something people didn’t expect an eReader user to need, but it’s about the only thing I missed when I made the move from the PRS-500 to my Kindle.

Password protection, going down Amazon’s list, is simply a useful new feature.  Not exciting, per se, but anything that adds a sense of security to this otherwise almost scarily portable device I like to take out in public with me is a good thing.

In terms of functionality, we get the ability to Pan & Zoom on PDFs, and some font enhancements.  I’m on the fence about the PDF thing.  It seems like a great idea, but until we see the actual implementation, it might end up being about as useful as the note-taking feature for all I know.  Sharper fonts, as well as larger font options for those in need of them, can’t help but be a plus.  Anything that makes reading even more pleasant gets my vote.

The most hyped part of the update, however, is about Facebook and Twitter integration.  At very least it gives you (and Amazon) the ability to advertise to people that you’re reading on a Kindle right this minute and show off what your book of the day is.  Depending on how functional this social highlighting would be it can turn out to be quite useful. I read several periodicals and blogs on my Kindle when I’m on the go. I highlight and clip interesting articles and paragraphs so that I can later get back to them or share with other people only to forget about them five minutes later. The problem is that although Amazon let’s you view your notes and highlights online so theoretically you could conjure up a web-service that would email them to you, this functionality doesn’t apply to periodicals and blogs. Hopefully with this update you could tweet your interesting highlights and then read your own tweets so they are actually not forgotten.

Anyway, this one’s going to be a fun one, especially for those of us with huge collections.  Bringing some order to the chaos that is my ebook shelf is going to be a huge relief.

Target Gift Card

It looks like Amazon is taking a page from Sony and Barnes & Noble’s book by offering the Kindle in a retail outlet.  The Kindle will debut in Target Stores April 25.  The good part about this strategy is that customers will finally be able to test a Kindle before they buy them in a secure environment.  According to this article from Wall Street Journal, Amazon previously recruited volunteers to go to public spaces such as coffee shops and showcase their Kindles.  However impact of these activities was limited. More than two years of what everyone believes to be stellar sales have passed and as I use my Kindle in public places some people still ask me “what is this” having no clue about Amazon Kindle specifically or eReaders and eInk in general. Clearly Kindle needs more public exposure.

Until B&N Nook came about much later, Kindle was the only device that could work without PC at all. So technically one could by it like a cell phone, have store associate set up amazon.com account with payment information and then read books without ever having to use a computer for that purpose. This way Amazon would be able to pick up some customers who never shopped online before. It’s a win-win situation all around. Why did it take Amazon 2.5 years to finally get there is a total mystery to me.

However, don’t rush to your nearest Target tomorrow. Chances are you will not find Kindle there. The plan is to pilot this in a limited number of stores with broader roll-out to follow sometime later.

Though Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad are touted to be arch rivals in the e-Reader segment, it hasn’t stopped Amazon from building a Kindle app for iPad. Amazon previewed the Kindle iPad app a couple of weeks ago and yesterday, the app made its way to the Apple iTunes Store. The Kindle app for iPhone has been around for a while now and is very popular amongst iPhone users. The iPad Kindle app is a logical extension of the iPhone Kindle app and its release was on the cards after Apple announced the launch of iPad on April 3. However, there’s one major limitation of using Kindle on iPad – Books bought through Kindle app must be read within the app itself. These books will not be viewable in Apple’s iBooks app.

The Kindle app for iPad lets people enjoy the best of both worlds – easy to use Kindle app interface and supreme performance of the iPad. Further, it gives the users a choice to read books from either Amazon or Apple. Customers always want more choices and e-Readers are no exception to this rule. I’ve come across many voracious readers who are addicted to kindle interface and therefore, they are reluctant to try out the iPad. The Kindle app for iPad is welcome news for all such readers.

While a lot of people have been debating the fortune of Amazon Kindle after the launch of Apple iPad, I believe that Amazon will emerge as the major e-Book provider for iPad. Since iBooks is not pre-installed on Apple iPad, many users might prefer to install Kindle app for iPad as compared to iBooks.

I’ll publish a review as soon as 3G-capable version of iPad hits the stores that I intend to get for myself.

In welcome move, Amazon has decided to open up the Kindle platform to authors who are situated outside the US. So now authors from all over the world can sell their works on the various Kindles. This ensures a win-win situation for everyone involved — Amazon, Kindle users and the authors/publishers.

A lot of good literature gets published outside in the US. In fact, if you look at popular fiction genres, you will see that many of the world best sellers come from outside the US. I mention works of fiction mainly because those are the ones that sell the most. And with those facts in mind, it is easy to see why this would benefit Amazon. Amazon has really ushered the era of eBooks by making the Kindle and tying it up with the Whispernet platform. With this new move, they ensure that there is a steady supply of fresh material that is much greater in number than their current competitors. The great diversity that the Kindle Store will gain as a result of this will be really good for Amazon’s business.

For the average user, this means more choices and that is always a good thing. Plus it will also mean that you can finally carry your favorite non-US author on your Kindle, in addition to having the printed editions. With better choices and more diversity, you will probably end up buying even more books on your Kindle and less from physical bookstores. And that is exactly what Amazon wants.

As for the Authors, this basically means a new market has opened up to them. Book sales have been down for a long time now and they have been getting worse. But eBooks are gaining momentum by keeping the print media relevant. So many of them will undoubtedly see the great opportunity that it is for them and jump right in.

Instapaper lets you bookmark online content through a handy little bookmarklet that sits in your browser. Then you can log on to their website later or use their iPhone App to read the full articles in one place.

Their connection with the Kindle is simple — they have a service by which your recent articles are emailed to your Kindle or Kindle DX. You get charged $0.15 by Amazon for each email but in the end it is worth it to be able to read it on your favorite e-text reading device.

But there is a problem with this service, the emails do not reach the Kindle users every time they are sent. This is in all likelihood a technical problem between the Instapaper’s service and Amazon but it is taking its time getting fixed. So the Instapaper developer thought up an alternative solution.

Instapaper now allows you to download your 10 most recent articles to a .mobi file that can be transferred to your Kindle. You cannot go more than 10 articles per file for now but you can probably save multiple such files. Syncing is via USB, so it is not completely hassle free but it has three distinct advantages for now.

One is that you get to use this service for free. You will not be paying for the emails that Amazon relays from Instapaper to your Kindle. The second advantage is that you are guaranteed that the sync feature will work all the time. The third is that it works for International users as well. The email feature was only for US users. It is still in beta, so you might run into problems but those who use the Kindle with Instapaper know that it is a fantastic service to have. It adds to our already great Kindle experience.

The Kindle 2 International continues on its path to global coverage, this time reaching Canada. The International Kindle, with its free global roaming wireless connection has attracted a lot of international buyers and Canada was one of the many countries where the launch of the device is highly anticipated.

Amazon declared earlier last week that Canada is now amongst the countries that they officially ship to. While Amazon’s delay to support a nation so close to the US has raised a few eyebrows, it has to be understood that international trade laws can be pretty stringent. So finalizing business deals sometimes takes an unnaturally long time, which is lamentable but unavoidable in certain situations.

Now the wait is finally over for Canadians and Kindles have already started being shipped up North. If there was ever an eBook reader that a large number of international customers wanted, it has to be the Kindle. And this fact is not lost on Kindle’s competition.

Sony has followed Amazon to Canada and has started shipping their own eBook readers there. But till date Sony lacks the kind of content that Kindle readers have easy access to with each and every Kindle. So it doesn’t look like Amazon will be threatened by Sony’s readers anytime soon. But that does not mean that Sony will not do anything about it.

As it turns out, Sony is planning its own online store, called Sony Online Service. Their primary target is iTunes but it is likely that they would want to provide content for all their devices and that logically should include Sony’s eBooks readers. However, if their content is as limited as their eBook reader and as unimaginative as their online service name, Amazon will have the last laugh on this one.

Amazon recently added the reading aloud feature to the Kindle and now the device will be able to read books out aloud so that e-texts are more easily accessible. This step has generally been appreciated by everyone except the National Federation of the Blind. As a result, educational institutions participating in the Kindle pilot program have refused to go ahead with further rollouts.

Although NFB’s rejection might seem counter-intuitive on the surface, it actually is’nt. The NFB does not have a problem with the feature itself (and probably does appreciate it) but they do have a problem with the menu system that contains the feature lower within the menu tree. As a result, users have to go through multiple button presses to get to it. Hence, visually impaired individuals are likely to find if extremely difficult to turn on the read aloud feature without sighted assistance. The NFB also suggests that the menus themselves should be read out aloud to the user for better universal access.

The participating universities – University Of Wisconsin-Madison and Syracuse University, New York – have declared that they will not implement the Kindle on a larger scale before it becomes more universally accessible.

Even though this is a hurdle for Amazon, it does prove that Kindle is still the only eBook reader that has made significant forays into classrooms. And this hurdle is not likely to last very long either. The demanded universal access features will no doubt be added soon because they are already commonly found in devices.

Kindle currently has a bright future in the education field if the corporation behind it plays all its cards right. And so far, the steps taken in this direction have been quite fruitful. If Kindle is fully integrated into the education system, it will probably be the beginning of a mini-revolution that will change the way education is imparted.

Big Brother

In the swarm of controversy around Amazon’s book-deletion, Amazon managed to mostly finish cleaning things up with their customers.  One thread left unresolved, however, had been the the lawsuit. A student began a suit against Amazon when the deletion of 1984 and Animal Farm from his Kindle resulted in losing the notes for his homework.  The suit has now been settled and Amazon owes $150,000.

This amount obviously won’t hurt Amazon.  The company probably avoided the pursuit of a larger, class-action settlement by preemptively offering $30 refunds to everyone effected.  The amount is what was settled on as appropriate for the plaintiff’s specific damages.

My favorite part about this story has to be the plans of the law firm.  This kind of litigation has a reputation of being simple money-grabbing, but that’s not the case here.  The lawyers seemed to be involved simply because they didn’t agree with the actions Amazon took.  As such, they are donating all of their earnings from this suit to charity.  They launched the suit jut to tell Amazon something, and I think that they were successful.

The Lost Symbol Bestseller

The Kindle edition of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol seems to be outselling the Hardcover edition of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol as was first discovered by Kindle Nation Daily. At the time I’m writing this, the Kindle version is still ahead on Amazon’s sales charts.

The main thing to take away from this is the growing power of the Kindle and other eReaders.  Having the Kindle sales best the physical sales is the latest step in publishing’s gradual move towards digital media.  If more books follow suit, and the gap between digital and hardcover sales widen, digital versions will slowly begin to take precedence over printed ones.  I’m going to guess that hardcovers will be the first victims of eBooks, eventually being limited to small, collector-oriented runs.

Of course, the Kindle edition’s success needs to be taken with a grain of salt.  Amazon sales charts are updated frequently, so whoever hasn’t necessarily sold more copies overall.  In this case, preorders for the hardcover started earlier than preorders for the eBook, somewhat skewing the results.  I’m not saying that this means the Kindle version didn’t sell more, but it is something to consider.  Also, hardcovers never sell anything close to paperback numbers, which may be much higher than the Kindle sales once they become widely available.

But, at least for now, the Kindle is dominating in the Amazon book store.

Another interesting thing about The Lost Symbol is that it has been made widely available by pirates in ePub and PDF forms. But this didn’t stop the eBook version from outselling the hardcover. This proves my point that people would follow the path of the least resistance. In the case of Kindle buying is easier than stealing so they buy. Back in the time of Audiogalaxy.com it was far easier to download the newly released album (without leaving your home) several days before it hit the stores (that you have to visit in person or wait for several more days before it’s delivered) so people pirated like crazy. Therefore the ease of purchase that is central to Amazon Kindle is the strongest form of DRM.

In the wake of the controversy surrounding Amazon’s deletion of George Orwell books the Free Software Foundation is readying a petition against remote deletion and DRM.  This news is somewhat significant, as the Free Software Foundation is an organization that has some weight in the world of software activism.  Most famous for the GNU Project(and the related GPL license), the foundation can be thought of as the de facto head of the open source and free software movements.

The Free Software Foundation has acknowledged Bezos’ apology, but feel that it isn’t enough.  The petition will ask that Amazon completely relinquish the ability to make changes to users’ Kindle libraries.  One interesting point up is how the technology could provide a tool for censorship, especially as the Kindle enters new markets.  This argument is likely inspired by other companies.  For example, Google has taken criticism in the past for how it has assisted China’s government in censoring the internet.

For good measure, the petition will also ask Amazon to reevaluate the use of DRM.  I have to say that this seems unlikely.  Amazon’s view towards DRM is completely irrelevant: if the Kindle didn’t have DRM, the major publishers would stop supporting it.  While DRM has its downsides, Amazon doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

Still, the petition has gotten some notice.  Once signatures have been assembled and the Free Software Foundation presents the petition, it will be interesting to see how Amazon responds.  So far, Amazon has been pretty good about responding to their customers, so it is possible that they will try to listen to the petition (except of course the DRM).  Then again, Microsoft has ignored the Free Software Foundation for decades and it hasn’t really been that difficult for them.

Amazon received a lot of flack when they reached into their customers’ Kindles and, without any real warning or prior notification, deleted copies of George Orwell books.  The reasons for the deletion weren’t entirely Amazon’s fault, but it provoked nothing but outrage nonetheless.

Although Amazon issued a sort of PR apology/promise, it was hardly enough to satisfy all of Amazon’s angry customers.  Now, CEO Jeff Bezos is trying to make amends by issuing a full out apology on the Kindle forums. The full text of his apology is as follows:

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com

This is actually a really smart move by Amazon and, judging by user comments on Bezos’ thread, is receiving a positive reaction.  I’m glad Bezos is saying that he sees what people don’t like and Amazon won’t do it.  Period.  No PR speak or dancing around the subject.

As a side note, the post made me notice Bezos’ Amazon profile, and it was kind of fun seeing his reviews and what books he wanted to buy.  He gives good reviews to milk and cookies products, but only 1 star to The 13th Warrior.  I guess even Bezos doesn’t endorse everything Amazon sells.

UK Kindle

Amazon will soon have a UK launch date finalized for the Kindle, according to British mobile phone trade publication, Mobile Today.  Although its not currently clear when this date will be, the launch should occur in time for the holiday season.

Of course, just because Kindle has been slow to leave the US doesn’t mean that Amazon’s competitors haven’t already cracked the European market.  Part of Amazon’s strategy will now have to be winning away users who already have experience with other eReaders.

What may be the Kindle’s largest selling point is also the reason for the delay: Whispernet.  The reason Kindle isn’t yet sold in the UK is because problems arose in finding a wireless carrier (Orange and Vodafone, 2 major cellular companies in Great Britain,  are working on their own wireless-enabled eReaders with Vodaphone planning to release as soon as this fall).  Qualcomm has taken over negotiations for Amazon, and has apparently found a solution to the wireless problem.

One question on my mind is how the UK Kindle’s will work in the US and vice versa.  Most likely it will not be possible to use wireless connectivity outside your own country. In order to make this a reality Amazon will need ot install universal wireless chipset that would support both CDMA (Sprint) and GSM (european operators). This will incurr extra cost while not making a great difference for 99% of the users. I may be wrong though. We’ll see…

Kindle support is being added to Blackboard, a leading Course Management System (CMS).  They’re an important ally for Amazon to have, since Blackboard software is widely used by schools at all levels of education as the primary means of supplying course materials online.  Even at the university level, Blackboard (along with their competitors) is used to distribute notes, quizzes, lectures, etc. online.

Kindle support is being added by the release of a new “building block” for Blackboard.  All that a school’s web developer needs to do is add the block to their Blackboard server and presto, Kindle owners can now download their class materials directly to the device.  Little work for the school, and no effect for students that don’t own Kindles, but a small, nice benefit for the Kindle users.  This is the type of educational use that has the potential to be, at least for now, the most successful on the Kindle and will avoid any potential legal troubles.

It looks like Amazon is rallying business partners (another example being Microstrategy support for Kindle) to create an eco-system around Kindle as it’s starting to face increasing competition.

Advertising

Amazon has applied for two patents: On-Demand Generating E-Book Content With Advertising and Incorporating Advertising In On-Demand Generated Content.  Essentially, the patents are for adding content-generated ads to Kindle products, in a manner similar to Google’s AdSense program.

The patents specify a number of hypothetical advertising practices that seem like many readers’ worst fears.  One example:  “If a restaurant is described on page 12… [then] page 11 or page 13, may include advertisements about restaurants, wine, food, etc., which are related to restaurants and dining.”   In addition to full page ads, the patents also describe adding ads to the margins of a book and fitting in extra ads if the book has larger margins.

It’s interesting to imagine what long-term goals of Amazon this may reveal.  Since the Kindle and the books read on it are already purchased up front, I can’t imagine very many consumers would be happy about ads.  It seems unlikely that ads will be added anytime soon, as Amazon is already getting bad press for this and wouldn’t want to lose its customer base.

One possibility, actually mentioned in the first patent, is for Amazon to create some sort of two tiered bookstore in the future.  In addition to the current, ad-free books, Amazon could start offering discounted, or even free books that rely on advertising revenue.  Another thing to consider is the use in newspapers and periodicals.  Papers are already primarily ad-supported anyway; Amazon could be hoping to license their ad service as news makes the transition away from traditional print media.  Any paper being published to an eReader format could mostly shop between Amazon,  Google, and others to choose an advertising provider.

Another possibility is that these patents are defensive move meant to keep Google with their successful ad-based revenue model out of digital books while Amazon itself has no immediate intention of putting ads into books.

Jeff Bezos With Kindle DX (by TimYang.Net)

Amazon Chief Executive, Jeff Bezos, has made clear the company’s intention to bring the Kindle’s eBook store to more devices.  Apparently, Amazon views the Kindle and the bookstore as two separate ventures, and is not afraid to let competitors access the same library that the Kindle does.

Currently, the only non-kindle device with access to the book store is the iPhone, through the Kindle for iPhone app.  I would guess that some of the new devices getting Kindle support would have to be the iPhone’s competitors, most likely Palm, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile.

But the most strategic platform to cover would have to be Android.  If Amazon hopes to compete with Google’s upcoming bookstore, it would make sense to first push their own books onto Google’s mobile OS.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like Amazon has any current plans to share their eBook format with everybody.  I’m guessing this will at some point be a necessity, however, as eReaders and competing bookstores become more prominent.  Sure, extra support for mobile devices will help the Amazon bookstore, but it won’t affect the buying habits of a Sony eReader user.  Eventually, Amazon will need to open their bookstore to all eReaders unless it wants to lose business to someone like Google.

Gerrit van Dyk from Shaping Libraries reports that his interlibrary loan office approved pilot program for loaning Amazon Kindles to faculty staff. The idea is to serve book requests that would otherwise be cancelled because book in question is either new and not yet available in paper form in the library or too popular with all copies checked out. Roughly 10% of such books are currently available in the Kindle Store.

Currently the way it’s implemented is rather rudimentary and involves a lot of manual manipulations with Kindle devices and accounts because:

a) Amazon accounts are limited to 6 Kindle devices per account that can be registered at any given time

b) Before sending the Kindle out library staff de-registeres the device to prevent people from accidentally buying books under library account.

Wouldn’t it be great is Amazon were to set up a turn-key digital library solution in a form of special account that would allow hundreds of devices to be registered but would limit number of books checked out to this devices according to the number of books purchased. Instead of accessing Kindle Store, devices would access library catalog with the option of increasing number of book licences on-demand so if some customer absolutely doesn’t want to wait for the book to become available he can purchase one for the library at a fraction of the price (with remainder of the price to be paid by library).

However such system would require different Kindle device with either WiFi, Bluetooth or just wired connectivity because as library would loan out the same book again and again having to pay 12 center per megabyte transferred via WhisperNet would make such system unprofitable for Amazon.