Kindle Touch 3G: kindle basic demo

Sunday, November 27, 2011

A set of Kindleworld's articles on the new Kindle models

ARTICLES ON NEW KINDLE, SO FAR

I've reorganized the Kindleworld website's "Articles on New Kindles" set found near the top of the Reference section in the right column of the article pages.

This blog entry is especially for those on Kindle Edition blog subscriptions, who wouldn't see this set in the Kindle-edition, which brings only the daily articles. But it should also be helpful to those who don't have time to browse the Reference column at the website.

On the Kindle editions of the blog, the new Kindles (and sometimes even the Kindle 3's) can click through most article links to access the linked articles without waiting an impossible time for page loads.

With Kindle 2's or earlier, the load-times are pretty difficult. All can of course also access articles, reference sets, and external links at the website ( kindleworld.blogspot.com ).

Each time I draw attention to the free website, the blog loses Kindle-edition-blog subscribers who didn't know it exists :-) -- and it'd be helpful to blog subscribers if Amazon would add a link to the external website on all the Kindle editions.

Thanks to all who support the site this way, and I'm hoping most subscribers will still see value in having the most-recent 25 blog articles at hand and searchable offline via the Kindle edition of the blog each day.

Those with Kindle Touch's will find them several times faster for accessing the web than the keyboard models (faster processor and direct-access to links), which would be a big reason for Amazon's not offering free 3G web browsing on the new Kindles. The speedup should be especially useful for those following links on the Kindle editions of blogs in general.

The list of Kindleworld articles on the new Kindle models
This listing is up to date as of today, and it'll be updated as it goes. Am working on more tips on the still newish Kindles, as I've seen a lot of confusion in connection with what is offered on each, etc.

General
. Set of Kindleworld articles
on new Kindles

. Prime's Lending Library:
Rules; Borrowing;
How to Browse List
. Prime gets current PBS
. Personal docs: Imprvmts
. Convert ePub to Kindle
. Edgerly on Kindle Event
. Intro Day, 9/28

Kindle Fire
. Tips: KFire and KTouch
. KFire cases/cvrs
. KFire rooted (Not needed)
. Non-Amzn apps: Sideload'g
. Software update v6.2
. Software update v6.1
Kindle Fire
. Kindle Fire 1st reviews
. Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
. Amazon Q&A: Kindlefire
. Video demo: Kindle Fire
. Kindle Fire/Cloud facts
. Kindle Fire "on fire"
. More info on Kindle Fire

Kindle Touch
. Tips: KTouch and KFire
. Notes re Kindle Touch
. What is X-ray?
. Kindle Team re Kindle Touch
3G web browsing
. KTouch 3G-Web'g or not?
. Notes: KTouch's 3G Web'g

Kindle Basic (NoTouch/NoKeybd)
. Video demo: $79 Kindle
. Software update v4.0.1
Kindle Basic (NoTouch)
. User's Guide: $79 Kindle Basic

Kindle Touch 3G Kindle Touch WiFi Kindle Basic (UK: KBasic) Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G) K3 Special Offers K3-3G Special Offers DX

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers. Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

*Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE. Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Back from vacation! Video review and demo of $79 Kindle Basic + a few pros and cons from me. Amazon is talking Early "Black Friday" deals

Vacation ended
Am back and will start up the free-book alerts again. Thanks for your patience while I was in a place with very little Internet access -- not even cell phones tended to work, so it was hard to communicate even when trying to coordinate with others there.
But it was worth it!

Back to things Kindle and Amazon - a good video review/demo on new Kindle
Jon Rettinger at TechnoBuffalo has done a good video demo of the new $79 Kindle Basic which is smaller and lighter than even the coming Touch models because there's no physical keyboard and no touchscreen.

In the UK, there isn't a less-expensive version with Special Offers, and this model is £89.00 there, the equivalent of $143 U.S. today (free shipping included) while the U.S. version w/o Special Offers is $109.

Since this is WiFi only, it does not have 3G and therefore doesn't have the free (slow) 3G web browsing from almost anywhere that the Kindle 3 or "Kindle Keyboard" model has. Both of these models are currently offered in the UK and U.S.

Rettinger demos the VCR-style keyboard from which you select characters when you need to type a word or phrase or numbers. It would tend to annoy ME to use it since I do a lot of searches and enjoy doing small notes while reading, but many friends insist they never care to type and they own a Kindle just to read. Doing one keyword for a search is not difficult, but any more than that could be tedious.

The video is in HD and you can click on the default "360p" and select "1080p" (which will stutter on most systems) or "720p," which gives a good picture for the demo. Rettinger explains well (including the 'Special Offers' situation and gives good advice on several aspects of this Kindle.

Bear in mind that this scaled down model has no audio, no music player, no Text to speech, and it has half the storage space and battery life of the Kindle 3 ("Kindle Keyboard") and the coming Touch models. But the equivalent of 1400 novels and two weeks of battery life if reading 1/2 hr each day will be enough for many.

There's no choice to get this with cellular network 3G for almost-anywhere downloading of Kindle books or free access to Wikipedia (globally), so you would rely on a local WiFi network at home, office or cafes or download to your computer and transfer Kindle books via a USB cable.

Early Black Friday Deals (already)
Amazon is already starting Black Friday deals (UK also) since, they say, people are already on the old Black Friday deals page looking to see what might be there.

I just checked and saw no early BF deals for today. But their press release previews "some of the deals that will be available at various times leading up to Black Friday. (Link: amzn.to/blackfriday-us ):

Fujifilm FinePix F505 Digital Camera (includes 4 GB Memory Card): $179 (list price: $399.95)
TomTom XXL 5-Inch Widescreen GPS Navigator: $79.99 (list price: $169.95)
Philips Speaker System for iPod/iPhone with LED Clock Radio: $49.99 (list price: $79.99)
Altec Lansing Digital Boombox: $199.99 (list price: $299.95)
Invicta Men's and Women's Subaqua Watches: $169.99 (list price: $995)
"Arrested Development: The Complete Series" (DVD): $28.99 (list price: $89.98)
Up to 20% off Disney Nintendo video game bundles
Buy two, get one free on select Electronic Arts sports video games including best-selling titles like FIFA Soccer 12, Madden NFL 12 and NHL 12
Sony 9-Inch LED Digital Photo Frame: $69 (list price: $139.99)
$20 off purchase of $100 or more on select Porter-Cable power tools and accessories
Up to 50% off contemporary clothing for Women, Men, Kids and Baby

I hesitated to place what is essentially a straight ad there but felt many probably would like to know what kind of deals will be available.

I see no Kindle items though.

Kindle Touch 3G Kindle Touch WiFi Kindle Basic (UK: KBasic) Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G) K3 Special Offers K3-3G Special Offers DX