I did some more tweaks to the website in an effort to make it faster. So once again I ask you, my regular visitors to comment whether blogkindle.com website became faster, slower or about the same as of publishing of this post (5:48PM PST October 3rd, 2011)?

On the 12th of August I did some tweaking to my web hosting. Here’s a question for those of you who visit blogkindle.com on a regular basis. Would you say that website loads faster than usual, slower or no change?

If you are interested in getting a G+ invite – drop me a comment here and I’ll send one your way.

Since it seems that I’m deep into this hobby. I’ve set up a separate astrophotography & astronomy blog that will eventually be extended with astrophotography targets database to simplify selection of targets for your imaging sessions.

Recently the speculation on the potential for a Kindle tablet has gone from considering it a good idea to considering it an inevitability.  All the signs are certainly pointing that way, and it fits in with Amazon’s established business model so far.  The only real question right now is that of what the particulars will be.

Now, we know that Amazon doesn’t really get too into the whole traditional hardware competition mindset too well.  Their only entry so far, as far as I know, has been the Kindle.  While it’s great at what it does, the functionality has always been limited to doing one thing very well rather than adding in all the bells and whistles.  It is safe to assume that the same will be true of any tablet that they bring out.  Affordability and ability to consume media are almost certain to be highlighted over any numerical comparisons of hardware superiority.

As far as software goes, the new Android store and the recent updating of the Kindle for Android software to allow for better tablet PC support via Honeycomb are both indicative of Amazon’s interest in this system.  We’re going to be looking at an Android 3.0 device.  As a result, right out the door the device should have a great selection of apps ready to go, even excluding the Kindle book apps.

One thing that I’m wondering about is whether or not it will be a part of the Kindle line or a new branch of Amazon hardware.  For the most part people have been assuming that it would just be the next generation of the Kindle.  Something along the lines of a Kindle Color to compete directly with the Barnes & Noble Nook Color.  The more I think about this, the less likely it seems.

Amazon is making their money in the Kindle Store, not on the Kindle itself.  Hardware is not what makes this so amazingly profitable for them.  The same will be true of any tablet they might come out with.  By offering their own device with a predetermined source for app purchases, they should be able to lock in that much more in terms of software sales.  The image of the product is likely to reflect this.  Just as the Kindle is advertised as having the best selection of eBooks anywhere, the predicted tablet is likely to be sold as a method to have easy access to any app you could ever need.

When you think of apps, is the first thing that comes to mind the Nook Color?  For me, not really.  While it makes sense at first glance that the smart move would be to capitalize on the Kindle brand in order to jump-start sales, I would say it’s at least as likely that Amazon will try to start off a fresh hardware line without the existing B&N rivalry to anchor this in customers’ minds as a reading device. If they’re going to try to take on the iPad, the best way to approach isn’t with direct comparisons to another product that doesn’t compete on the same level.

This year’s CES selection has been really interesting to follow for me.  Everything from Three Dimensional Printers to Smart Grid Homes has come up.  It’s loads of fun.  A couple things in particular popped up that I thought might be interesting to highlight here though, as relates to all us fans of Kindles and Nooks and such!

M-Edge Customized eReader Covers

Going with the name “MyEdge” for the product line, M-Edge is getting set to open up a service allowing customers to have their Kindle, Nook, or iPad cover personalized with whatever photo they want right on the front.  The idea is, you choose a basic cover color, along with any text you want on it, then add in photos, pictures, graphics, etc in whatever pattern works for you.  They are aiming to have these personalized cases printed and shipped in 10-14 days.  The pricing I’ve heard about is surprisingly affordable, with the Kindle cover being just $40, the Nook cover matching that, and the iPad cover costing only $50.  While the service is not quite open yet, if you’re interested you can head to their website and be notified when ordering opens up.

Ion Book Saver Scanner

One of the biggest impediments for many newcomers to the eBook phenomenon has often been that book lovers are very attached to their libraries.  Personally, I’ve come to dread moving for no other reason than that books are heavy when you get a couple thousand together all in one place.  Anyway, when you already own all your favorites, it really doesn’t make much sense to go out and buy them all again just so that they can fit on your Kindle.  This isn’t a move from VHS to DVD where the quality is suddenly going to excite you, they’re books!  The solution that Ion(a company probably best known for their audio converter hardware) has come up with is an interesting looking scanner made specifically for books.

The device as a whole is a little bit bulky, and far from automated.  It’s not going to look at your book and do the work for you.  What you get is a scanner with a surface angled to allow book pages to lie flat without being held down firmly that can supposedly scan both pages of an open book in about a second.  It will come with some form of OCR software to give you a file that has selectable text, reflow capabilities, etc, rather than your usual flat image or PDF file.  The whole thing looks simple to use and should be useful to anybody with the time and interest to spend a few minutes turning the pages.  This should all be good, legally, given that any book you scan should in theory be something you own, but I’m sure there’ll be some objection along the lines of piracy at some point.  Still, I know that I have a few out of print books that I will be immensely pleased to have digital scans of as soon as this one comes out.

Admittedly these are only a couple of the fun things we have to look forward to now, but they intrigued me and seemed worth pointing out.  Enjoy!

Well folks, it’s been a fun and exciting year in terms of eBooks and eReaders. I’m sure that the next year will be even more interesting but for now I’m off to celebrate the New Year for the rest of the day. See you in the new 2011 year!

Cap d’Any – Nit de Cap d’Any
ليلة رأس السنة – ليلة رأس السنة
New Year’s Eve – New Year’s Eve!
Noite de Ano Novo – Noite de Ano Novo!
Nochevieja – Nochevieja
Silvester – Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!
Oudejaarsavond – Oudejaarsavond!
réveillon du jour de l’an – Joyeux réveillon du jour de l’an !
Новогодишна нощ – Новогодишна нощ!
З надыходзячым новым 2011 годам – З надыходзячым Новым Годам!
Silvestr – Veselý Silvestr!
Nytårsaften – Nytårsaften
vana-aasta õhtu – Head vana aasta lõppu!
Nochevieja – ¡Feliz Nochevieja!
uudenvuodenaatto – Hyvää Uutta Vuotta!
Παραμονή Πρωτοχρονιάς – Παραμονή Πρωτοχρονιάς!
除夕 – 除夕!
Silvestrovo – Novogodišnja noć!
szilveszter – Szilveszter – 2010 utolsó napja
Malam Tahun Baru – Malam Tahun Baru
שנה אזרחית חדשה – ברכות לשנה אזרחית חדשה!
Notte di San Silvestro – Notte di San Silvestro
大晦日 – 大晦日
Жаңы жыл – Келе жаткан жаңы жылыңыздар менен
2011 새해 전날 – 2011년 새해를 기다리며!
Жаңа жыл – Келе жатқан жаңа жылыңызбен!
naujieji metai – Naujųjų metų išvakarės!
Нова Година – Нова Година!
Nyttårsaften – Nyttårsaften!
Bisperas ng bagong taon – Bisperas ng bagong taon
noc sylwestrowa – Sylwester
anul nou – Revelion
Новый Год – С наступающим Новым Годом!
Silvestrovo – Silvestrovo
Silvester – Veselý Silvester!
วันส่งท้ายปีเก่า ๒๕๕๓ – วันส่งท้ายปีเก่า ๒๕๕๓
Yeni yılınız kutlu olsun – Yeni yılınız kutlu olsun
Новий Рік – З Новим Роком!
Trước thềm năm mới – Trước thềm năm mới

Kindle Black Friday Deal just showed up on Black Friday Lightning Deals page on Amazon Black Friday home page. Deal should become active at 9am today. Here is a screen shot of the deal. You can click on it to go to the deal page (new price will become active only after 9am PST).

More details on the deal could be found at Kindle Black Friday Deal Announced post.

Besides Amazon Kindle Black Friday deal I’m hoping to see some deals on Kinect Sensor with Kinect Adventures and Xbox 360 Console (4GB or 250GB) with Kinect. I tried Microsoft Kinect when visiting my friend for Thanksgiving and it is an amazing product and great gift. That’s why Black Friday deal would be a great opportunity for Amazon and Microsoft to join forces. Even though Microsoft Kinect is still brand new it would be nice to see some nice bundling deals for it on Black Friday.

At this moment brand new XBox 360 4GB Kinect bundle is available on Amazon Marketplace from several merchants with prices starting from $398 for featured merchants and from $361.99 from all other merchant.
Brand new XBox 360 250GB Kinect Bundle priced from $634.48 from featured merchants and from $510.89 from other merchants. It is great to see such variety in prices and options but it still would be nice to have some kind of great deal shipping directly from Amazon.
Below is list of Kinect games available from Amazon store:

• Kinect Sports for $46.54
• Dance Central for $46.99
• Your Shape Fitness Evolved for $47.54
• Kinectimals for $46.99
• Game Party: In Motion for $36.54

Being a hardcore Civilization fan (starting from the Civilization I with CGA graphics) I couldn’t resist posting this slightly off-topic post. The Civilization 5 game is scheduled to release in a few days on the 21st of September. Meanwhile game manual PDF has been made available for download. In case you just want the scoop on the new stuff and don’t want to read the whole thing – here it is: Civilization 5 Review.

It kind of happened by itself… So I grabbed my camera and captured the moment…

Thought-proviking Kindle Photo

I would like to invite you to check out another blog of mine that I’ve recently started: netbook-expert.com. It covers news about netbooks and ultraportable computing in particular. It also allows you to compare netbooks side by side. At the moment there are a little bit over a hundred models in the comparison engine but I’m adding new ones on a regular basis. So with time coverage will become more comprehensive. I’ve made it available on Kindle marketplace along with this blog.

As this blog is relatively new I would like to ask your help in attracting visitors. I encourage you to visit it and review it on your blog or website if you like it or if you think that it should be improved. As a small incentive I can offer one Google Wave invite to first 30 people to write and post reviews about it be these reviews positive or not (honest and objective is what I’m looking for actually). Just email the link to your review to [email protected] and I’ll send back invite your way.

Since release of international Kindle 2 was announced this blog started getting significant number of visitors from outside of US. I decided that it would be nice to deliver the blog in many languages. However I’m only fluent in two and don’t have the resources to translate it manually to many languages that my visitors speak. I’ll have to go with automated translation for the time being.

I’ve enabled it for the following languages (based on the countries visitors come from):

• Netherlands
• Suomi
• French
• German
• Greek
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Russian
• Spanish
• Turkish

You can also find the translation control at the bottom of left side-bar. If your language is not among these – drop me a comment. If I get enough requests I’ll add more languages.

The reason I didn’t enable them all is because the translation quality is rather poor. However this is something that you can help me with. The translation plugin that I use supports wiki-style modification of the translated pages. However in order to prevent spam and vandalism I don’t want to open editing to the entire world. If you speak one of the listed languages and would like to correct the automated translation now and then, I can email you login credentials for the translation editor.

Enjoy!

Apple iPod Touch 32GB

Take a look at the list of best selling products in electronics section on Amazon.com. As of recently 3rd generation Apple iPod Touch 32GB has climbed to the second place. Currently it is outsold only by Kindle 2 and is trailed by Kindle DX. This is interesting since Kindle has had prime advertising spot on Amazon.com homepage for quite some time now, while the Apple product generates sales only because of this popularity and the fact that Amazon sells it at $20.00 discount compared to the official Apple store and provides free shipping.

Technically it also can be considered Kindle related merchandize since it can run Kindle application that is available in Apple app store.

While it has been widely rumoured that Apple will release tablet PC type device that will compete with eBook readers, the fact that two companies cooperate this much indicate that Apple will not be competing with Amazon in this space. Just look at all the current news about Apple Google feud around Google voice application for iPhone. There’s clearly competition there and no cooperation at all.

Google Book Store

Google has unveiled their newest addition to Google news: Fast Flip.  Fast Flip is really just a nice, snazzy interface to browse through Google news feeds, but the best way to describe it is to have you try it yourself.  So go ahead and check it out a bit before reading on.

Fast Flip seems like it’s trying to be the end-all solution for newspapers’ transition to digital.  Users can quickly browse and scan articles until they find something they want to read in depth, and then they can open the article itself.  It’s a perfect example of mimicking, and even improving, some aspects of the hand held tree paper experience.

Fast Flip has also been optimized for Android and the iPhone, which means that smart phone owners can comfortably browse their news on the go.  Google’s emphasis on mobile devices means that Fast Flip is, in a way, a competitor to current eReaders.  Instead of paying for a subscription to one newspaper and reading it on a device like the Kindle (or the Kindle iPhone app), many people may prefer the ability to skim across articles that Fast Flip provides.  Really, it’s this kind of interface innovation that is going to help newspapers stay afloat in the digital age and it’s now up to the eReaders to respond.  Some sort of application like this on a Kindle DX would be a killer news app.  Sure, the slow refresh rate of eInk would mean no fancy transitions, but a sampling of articles across that huge screen would help close the gap between digital and print news.  Let’s hope Amazon can produce something like this with the next generation of Kindles.

Have you already gone through everything on your Kindle?  Don’t know how to fill up that 2 gigabytes (or the whopping 4 on DX)?  Let The Book Seer come to the rescue!

The Book Seer is really just a combination of several recommendation engines, including Amazon’s.  Sure, you could just let Amazon give you their recommendations, but you would lose out on the dramatic presentation and woodcut graphics.  Plus, the Book Seer gives you a lot more results than just Amazon’s suggestions alone.  It’s also kind of interesting to see how Amazon’s recommendation algorithm compares to the others.

At the very least, The Book Seer will provide you with a time waster for a couple minutes.

Scientists have developed an incredibly cheap method to build an electronic display.  They made it out of electric wiring, paper, and the thermochromic ink found in mood rings.  The result is a foldable, color-changing display.

There isn’t really any major technological developments involved.  The ink changes color depending on its temperature.  By evenly layering the ink across paper, and adjusting the ink’s temperature via various electric voltages, the appearance of the paper can be altered.

At the moment, this is really just a proof of concept.  It’s planned use is for integrated displays in affordable scientific tools, such as a water tester.  But what if the technology was refined and used as a cheaper alternative to an E-Ink display?  A fine tuned electric grid placed across a thermochromic surface could create a durable, relatively inexpensive, dynamic display.  The refresh rate wouldn’t be fast enough to be a computer monitor, but it could work as an eReader.

Such an application is probably unlikely due to the long head start of eInk technology, but display is fairly cool nonetheless.  If you want, you can try to build one yourself, but I’ll warn you that the paper can get a bit technical.

Once again I forgot to restore full-text feed after WordPress update so Kindle subscribers could have gotten snippets today instead of full posts. I’ve fixed the error and wrote a 12 posts-its to myself to it doesn’t happen again. Sorry for the inconvenience.

A bit old but funny.  A sketch from Late Night With Jimmy Fallon which has the Kindle 2 reading passages from The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe and Dreams of My Father by Barack Obama.  All set to candlelight and classical music.  Oh, and it tells jokes too!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/60793/late-night-with-jimmy-fallon-kindle-2-reads-the-classics

In regards to the lawsuit against Arizona State University, over the Kindle DX‘s inaccessibility for blind people, a quick search for braille eReaders brought up this prototype design.

Unfortunately, no such device is yet in production, but the basic technology already exists.  Braille displays for blind computer users have been around for decades, and it’s only the prohibitive cost that has kept an eReader like this from being developed.  As research continues, it can be expected that something like this prototype will one day exist.

A braille device that fell under the Kindle brand, or at the very least had support for the Kindle Store, would solve any problems surrounding the current suit against ASU.  But even more important would be the larger effect a braille eReader would have.  Unlike the purchase of a normal eReader, which essentially comes down to a consumer’s personal preference, a braille eReader would have near universal acceptance in the blind community.  With braille, a refreshable eReader with a limitless digital library would have clear benefits over the limited supply of bulky paper braille books.  If such a device could be developed at a reasonable price, the maker would  not only stand to help the disable but also to make a huge profit.

I was just informed that people who subscribed to this blog via Kindle Store were getting snippets instead of full articles. This was an unexpected side effect of me upgrading to WordPress 2.8. I’ve addressed the issue so from now on articles should be full text again. I apologise for the inconvenience.

In case you have been missing that booky smell when you read eBooks on your Amazon Kindle – there is a solution for you – “An Aerosol E-Book Enhancer” now available in 5 flavors:

• Classic Musty Scent. When was the last time an e-book made you sneeze? Probably never. It’s a scientifically proven fact that e-books lack the necessary “character” to trigger a strong physical reaction. Our Classic Musty Scent solves that problem. Your e-book reader may be new and made of plastic, but now your e-books can smell like vintage classics. Classic Musty Scent is like having the collected works of Shakespeare in a can. Warning: Do not use if you are allergic to dust, dirt, or mold. May trigger an extreme allergic reaction for a small number of users. Discontinue use if sneezing persists for more than three weeks.
• Crunchy Bacon Scent. Who doesn’t love the smell of bacon? Crunchy Bacon Scent is the first aroma in our new Lifestyle Series^TM. Designed especially for the health conscious book lover, Crunchy Bacon is a low calorie, low cholesterol alternative for your breakfast reading enjoyment. Warning: Not recommended for vegan readers. Crunchy Bacon Scent is not Kosher. Not for use with Statin drugs.
• Eau, You Have Cats. Specially engineered from the concentrated aromas of 20,000 second-hand books. This special scent is guaranteed to please animal lovers and avid book collectors alike. It’s just like borrowing a book from grandma’s house. So realistic you’ll think “Mr. Puss” is back again! Warning: Use only in well-ventilated areas. Male cats may react adversely to this realistic scent. Do not use near upholstered fabric.
• New Book Smell. Do you love the fresh scent of paper, ink, and glue? We sure do! That’s why we created New Book Smell in a can. Regardless of whether you download your e-books from the Kindle Store or Project Gutenberg, New Book Smell will bring back those long lost memories of your favorite local bookstore. With New Book Smell your friends will never know that you’re reading an e-book. Warning: Glue sniffing may lead to dizziness and other side effects. Some customers may find this to be unpleasant. Please consult your physician before using this product if you are using other medications.
• Scent of Sensibility. Women will love this specially engineered designer book aroma. The scent of violets, horses, and potpourri. It’s like living in a Jane Austen novel! What are you waiting for? Isn’t it time you curled by a warm fire with a cup of tea, your favorite e-book, and a can of Scent of Sensibility? Warning: Scent of Sensibility is designed for use with women’s fiction. This product should not be used with non-fiction, James Bond novels, or the works of Hunter S. Thompson.

Smell Of Books

Once again I regret that it’s nowhere near 1st of April. But hey, who said people have to be serious all year-round?

And the winner is Jay from Florida. He correctly guessed the Kindle DX release date. Here’s what he has to say about himself:

I work in education and I am looking forward to using a DX for reading academic documents in PDF form and pushing the limits of the Kindle DX browser. My estimate of the release date was influenced by the belief Amazon would not want to wait too long after the beginning of Apple WWDC (assuming some announcements there) and perhaps in the middle of the week to pull some attention.

This time I received only 29 valid responses because Amazon announced the release date soon after the contest got started. Only 2 people guessed the correct date. Results were more or less evenly distributed. Here’s detailed breakdown:

Kindle DX Release Date Contest Results

The prize (Amazon Kindle DX Leather Cover) is pre-ordered and will ship on the same day as Amazon releases Kindle DX. Congratulations, Jay!

There will be more contests in the future so subscribe to this blog or follow it on twitter if you are interested.

If any of you were wondering what new features would be included in the device that will replace Kindle 2 – watch this video.

According to Adam and his friends, Kindle 3 will boast the following features:

• Reading has never been easier – with new hardware interface you can now read entire Lord Of The Rings trilogy in under 9 hours.
• Stunning 3d visuals
• High-Definition Surround Sound Home Library ™
• High-Resolution Wide Screen
• Plays movies instead of books :)

Too bad it’s still long time until 1st of April. I couldn’t hold on to this post until the next year… :)

…about not going to tweet myself. Tweeting fever has got the better of me and by the power of Twitter Tools WordPress plugin you’ll see a tweet every time I post something here. But this is as far as it goes… Honestly :)

Now you can follow BlogKindle.com :)

For one reason or another, Amazon has knocked down subscription price for BlogKindle.com to 0.99/month from $1.99. Same thing has recently happened to iReaderReview.com. Either it’s some global policy change or blogs are evaluated on a regular basis and both blogs fell into the same pricing bucket. Even paying 12 cents per megabyte, Amazon would still make some profit since my blog would generate only 1 MB of compressed content per month at best.