Kindle in the News - Sept 26, 2010: Shelfari, Top Gadgets, Cover with light.

KINDLE FOR ANDROID'S SHELFARI ADDITION
The Motley Fool's Darleen Hartley, of The Motley Fool, at MSNBC, points out that Amazon bought Shelfari, a social-networking startup at about the same time it acquired AbeBooks.

For some reason, she posts that "Previously, the Kindle's 3G wireless connection could access only Amazon's bookstore" which isn't at all true though most news columnists are under that mistaken impression -- the various Kindles have had the experimental web browser since 2007 (see my Kindle 1 accessing google search in 2008 as well as website-access comparisons between Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 done in February 2009.

Hartley points out though that the Kindle for Android update this week makes it  possible to view book details from Shelfari on smartphones running Android and adds:

' Shelfari lets you create a virtual bookshelf, where friends can see what you are reading and you can review and discuss them. A Shelfari widget works on most blogs and social networks, including Blogger, LiveJournal, MySpace, TypePad, Xanga, Vox, WordPress, and Facebook.
. . .
Members can post their shelves, reviews, and comments. '

NEW ZEALAND'S THE STAR ADDS KINDLE TO ITS TOP 5 GADGETS LIST
The Canterbury Star's Top 5 Gadgets List includes the Kindle 3 (UK: K3) along with such items as:
The Limit Hockey Table, SlushMagic: By Sunbeam, COOLPIX P7000: By Nikon, and Skycaddie SG5 GPS

It was odd to see the K3 in this type of listing.  The Star's description:

' If you still can't decide the eBook reader for you, the Kindle 3 is about to make the choice a lot tougher.
  I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of these and was impressed by its performance.  These readers are light, manageable and have great contrast and clarity.  It also packs PDF support, has a built-in keyboard and long battery life.  Uploading books couldn't be easier, just sign up with internet retail giant Amazon and a massive world of reading is available at your fingertips.  Sadly you still have to order these bad boys from overseas. '

I enjoyed the last line's description of the Kindles.

FROM THE WEST COAST - WHY THE CASE WITH LIGHT
I will be doing an article in the coming week on lights I've preferred when using the Kindle, but for now here's StarkSilverCreek's Loni Kao Stark explaining why, after thinking about it for 2 weeks and not leaning toward integrated multi-purpose electronics, she decided she wanted the Amazon cover with light, which is essentially $35 for the cover plus $25 more if getting the basic cover with the built-in light:

' Technology, especially personal technology, changes your expectations.  Whereas before I was happy with the limitation that I could only read my paper book if I hauled around a book light or moved myself to an area that was lit, the very knowledge of what is possible makes me, well, dissatisfied.

With winter approaching, the days are getting shorter.  As the passenger of a car that travels frequently up and down 280 and 101 highways, there are several occasions I want to read on my Kindle when it’s dark.  At each of these moments, I imagine the convenience of a lighted Kindle case.  I brought my book light one time and something that seemed pretty compact before now is an unpleasant projection.'

As simple as that.  The light's always there.  For me, the case is a bit stiff but some like that for better protection and the light is dimmer than I like, but for briefer use when it's too dark, it's fine.  I also find that the case can take away from the slimness and it's not as easy for me to hold with one hand for a longer period -- but a positive feature of it is that when I am VERY sleepy and wind up dozing off for hours, the cover's light will go off as soon as the screen-sleeper comes on, not only saving expense of normal light-batteries (it uses the Kindle's battery) but protecting against unnecessary draining of the Kindle's battery.

For opinions from other Kindle owners on the Amazon Kindle forums, see these two threads: "Lighted cover too bulky for me" and "K3's Lighted cover saves the evening."


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.