Tag: kindle

Facebook effect on blog

According to Facebook’s own statistics, they now have over 250 million active users. In other words, if Facebook were a country, it would be the fourth most populated country in the world, just behind China, India, United States. So what does it mean to a blogger ? I actually don’t know / care until I checked the web traffic of my tiny blog last night.

First I checked the top 10 posts of my site, and here is the list:

  1. Facebook photo album image size
  2. Using Kindle outside US
  3. Buy Kindle 2 from outside US
  4. Buy Kindle books from outside US
  5. Reading PDF documents in Kindle 2
  6. Registering Kindle 2 from outside US
  7. Kindle for iPhone from outside US
  8. Gallery
  9. WordPress Thesis theme
  10. Kindle 2 vs. Kindle DX

Yes right, even though I wrote many posts in the last six months on Kindle 2 and Kindle DX (and in fact sold quite a few units of them via Amazon), but as you can see the top post is Facebook photo album image size. That is, a lot of Facebook users really care about how to format their photos, and make it crisp in their Facebook albums.

And then I checked the most popular search terms which led to my site, here are the results:

  1. Facebook photo size
  2. Kindle outside us
  3. Facebook picture size
  4. Facebook image size
  5. Kindle hong kong
  6. Using kindle outside us
  7. Kindle 2 hong kong
  8. Kindle 2 singapore
  9. Register kindle outside us
  10. Buy kindle books outside us

Similar findings here – lots of searches about Kindle reached my site, but 3 of the top 4 searches are actually related to Facebook photo / picture / image size. So, the lesson learnt ? Keep writing good blog posts related to Facebook, as long as it is one of the most popular websites in the world.

Newspaper and Magazines for Kindle outside US

BREAKING (2009-10-07) : The Kindle 2 is now available for overseas market as well. So please read the following blog post if your country is not covered by the latest scheme, or you want to know more about other Kindle information.

I always thought there is no way to “subscribe” to US newspapers and magazines outside US for your Kindle as the delivery method for these stuff are through the WhisperNet, which is available only in US. However, with the useful note from Joe of Melbourne, there is a way – that is, just use the “Buy now with 1-click” option to buy the current issue of the newspaper or magazine. With this approach I bought today’s Chicago Tribune at US$ 0.75. Not as cheap as the monthly subscription, but it works !!

Step 1: Find your newspaper or magazine and buy the current issue.

Buy the current issue of newspaper / magazine

Step 2: Select the device, I found that you cannot purchase for your iPhone. Only Kindle is available as an option.

Select the device for purchase

Step 3: Confirm your purchase and you will find a new item for download in the Manage Your Kindle page. Download the document to your computer, and then transfer to your Kindle.

Download to your Kindle

Step 4: Then “read” the newspaper as any book, but you can go to the section page of the newspaper to select your favorite section. By the way, Press Alt+Shift+G together can take screenshots of your Kindle (and the GIF file will be stored in the document folder).

Chicago Tribune screenshot

Update 1 : The Kindle 2 is now available for overseas market as well. So please read this blog post if your country is not covered by the latest scheme only

Review of Kindle 2 and Kindle for iPhone

It’s really a late review but I reckon instead of just repeat all the specifications and then recycle those as a review, I would rather write you my review after finished six books with the Kindle 2 and the Kindle for iPhone. In other words, it is a review from a book reader point of view, especially living outside US. And I believe, some of the items below also applicable to the Kindle DX.

Kindle 2

  • The Kindle screen is good, the eInk is really easy on the eyes, and when combined with variable font sizes it really makes a big difference to eReading experience.
  • The device is very portable (not the DX though), and you can bring as many books as you like.
  • You can read with one hand (or even one finger), it is really useful in bus, subway, restaurant etc.
  • However, it is good for linear reading only – i.e. forget the random access to certain pages and also flip the pages freely to skim the book.
  • I found that not all eBooks from Amazon are the same, some with better formatting, some with status bar indicator (it shows each chapter with a tiny dot and also your reading progress … with more dots), some without table of content – even though all eBooks are in .azw format. I suppose it depends on the digitize process from each publisher.
  • The bottom location indicator is useless, that will be better if it shows which chapter you’re reading intead.
  • Keyboard is usable but not great, it is a pain to add notes to a book, really.
  • You can bookmark a page easily, but to retrieve it thru a search is not that easy – the search result page is not that useful after all.
  • The built-in dictionary is good.
  • There is no Kindle 2 Cover shipped with Kindle2, you have to buy separately.
  • PDF support is a joke, but you can partially fix it.

Kindle for iPhone

  • The screen is surprisingly good, and easy to read (with different background colors)
  • Good for short books, and you can read it anytime even you don’t have the big brother Kindle with you.
  • Next / Previous page gesture is even better than buttons in Kindle 2
  • Version 1.1 includes orientational lock and paper color
  • Whispersync is good (I tried it once in a trip to US), but not for non-US users

In summary, the Kindle 2 is not cheap but I think it worths every penny.

So, what are the books I finished so far with the Kindle ? Here you go:

Note: The above URLs link to the physical books, from there you can choose Kindle version if you want to.

Kindle posts [Featured Post]

Since March, 2009 I wrote quite a few posts on how to buy, use, register the Kindle 2, and Kindle DX. I reckon it’s better to consolidate a complete list such that you can find the details more easily.

So, Here you go:

Enjoy !!

Update 1 : Some press coverage of this blog in one popular magazine …

“。。。月前訂購 Kindle DX，本來只因為它的 native PDF 閱讀功能，然而在本欄寫過 Kindle DX 後，有一熱心讀者 Michael 來電郵（應像在國內般，稱他做「老師」）說，在美國以外，其實都可以上 Amazon 購買電子書的！我走上他的網頁（www.michaelyung.com），跟住照做，一試即靈，即時訂了幾本，在他網頁上又看到他讀 Guy Kawasaki 的新書《Reality Check》，Guy 的作品，我在早年讀過，以為他已經封筆，看了他的新作，又馬上訂了，現在帶著隨身捧讀。

多謝 Michael 的分享，在 Amazon 購書的確是一個奇妙的經驗。。。”

Simon Chung – “Home–Tech：如家．隨身”

Update 2 : For those friends / visitors who have sent me questions, emails and tips from Brazil, Dominican Republic, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Afghanistan, France, Taiwan, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Norway, Australia, Philippines, Grand Cayman, Lebanon and Japan … I thank you !!

Update 3 : The Kindle 2 / 3 is now available for overseas market as well. So please read the blog posts if your country is not covered by the latest scheme, or you want to know more about other Kindle information.

Upgrade Kindle for iPhone 1.1

Amazon released the Kindle for iPhone 1.1 about a month ago and I think it is about time to upgrade.

In March this year Amazon released its free Kindle application for the iPhone such that you could read the ebooks you purchased for your Kindle. If you were living in US, you could also take advantage of the Amazon’s Whispersync, which would sync both devices, that’s mean you could pick up reading where you left off.

Initially I thought The reading experience with iPhone would not be pleasant (e.g. I don’t like Stanza at all), but actually I was wrong. The application is in fact quite good and I will review the usability in another blog post.

Anyway, with the version 1.1 update, the reading experience on the Kindle for iPhone is further improved. For example, you can now switch the view from portrait to landscape mode if you prefer to read that way. You also have the option to “lock” the phone in either portrait or landscape mode thanks to a padlock icon to the lower right.

Another good feature is that you can now change the background and text color combination so that reading is easier on the eyes. Black text on a white background can be harsh, but now you can now choose a gray text on black background option, or a dark and light sepia option. My personal favorite was the sepia tone.

Also, you can now turn pages by just tapping the screen, if you don’t like the previous “slide gesture”.

You can follow the steps of buying Kindle for iPhone from outside US to get the application from iTunes, and with the same account, you can download the version 1.1. Enjoy.

Kindle photo iphone kindle photo