Kindle DX : Perspective from a biomedical researcher

2) Have an easier way to read papers when traveling. Easier means not worrying about battery life, unfurling a laptop in a cramped airplane, or carrying a bag full of papers.

3) Reduce eye strain from staring at a computer screen by moving serious reading from the laptop screen to the Kindle DX.

From my preliminary use, I think the Kindle DX is a qualified success. Text in manuscripts looks great. Figures from manuscripts do not render well in portrait mode if there is a lot of detail; switching to landscape mode helps substantially. Zoom into individual images/sections of PDFs would be welcome.

Navigating large numbers of PDFs from the home screen is currently clumsy. Lack of directory support to organize large numbers of files is an issue. I’ve read about users using complex naming conventions to use ’search’ as an indirect way to find files. Renaming hundreds (or thousands) of files to make them easier to find is not a great solution. I suspect this will improve in time, either through a firmware update to this device or in the next generation of hardware.

I’m also hoping against hope that one or more of the reference manager software providers (Bookends, I’m looking at you) realizes that their software is to the Kindle as iTunes is to the iPod. If I could manage the content of my Kindle through a reference manager, I would be thrilled. The idea of downloading a paper and syncing it in one step to the Kindle to take with me is really appealing. This wouldn’t completely overcome the problem with a flat file hierarchy once the papers are on the Kindle, but it would help organize getting content onto and off the device.

The biggest surprise to me is the functionality of the web browser. Yes, it is pokey to render pages. No, I wouldn’t want to use it to web surf. But if I had a destination web site that is heavy on content, I think reading on the Kindle will be vastly superior to reading on the iPhone or other mobile/tablet devices. I do doubt, however, that wireless data access will remain free on the Kindle long-term. I can’t imagine how Amazon will be able to continue subsidizing the data costs. I think that this is a feature that should be enjoyed while it lasts, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes away at some point in the future.

Though it adds another $50 to the cost, I think the matching case is attractive, functional, and creates an easy-to-carry package.

Why You Should Get a Kindle DX

By Panah C Rad

Kindle DX : The Definitive Electronic Book… finally!

Although I was an early adopter of the original Kindle, I’ve eagerly anticipated Amazon’s Kindle DX. The original device was, and is, well-suited for light reading of non-serious material, but its small screen size and lack of PDF support made it mostly a recreational device. I quickly realized that any serious technical book still worked better in physical form. That, combined with the original Kindle’s inability to handle PDFs in a usable form (the conversion left a lot to be desired), made me look at other eReaders, particularly the iLiad iRex. Unfortunately, the iRex, at above $800, was still a work-in-progress, with serious deficiencies in terms of functionality and reliability, and I didn’t want to be an alpha tester of a device that might never BE finished. Amazon’s announcement of the large-format Kindle DX with native PDF support seemed like the answer… so I plunked down the money for a DX and the Amazon case and got on the waiting list.Why would you want native PDF support? The small Kindles support PDFs file via translation; you send a PDF document to Amazon and they convert it to the Kindle’s AZW format and send it back to you, either to your desktop email account (free) or directly to your Kindle ($0.10 per document). However, if your document is anything more than simple text, formatting and imagery are mangled. What you get is readable but not nearly as readable as a Kindle document that was specifically prepared for the device. This is an inherent restriction caused by the difference between a document file structure that is meant to preserve formatting (PDF) and one that is meant to allow for text flow despite screen or font size concerns (AZW). The result was that you couldn’t practically use either the original or 2nd gen Kindles for reading even reasonably complex PDF documents. Having an integral native PDF reader on the new Kindle DX solves this problem and opens up a HUGE world of documents to the Kindle owner.

I’ve had the Kindle DX for about a day now, and it’s everything I was looking for. PDFs render beautifully, and Kindle AZW documents render even better than they did on the original Kindle due to the larger screen size and 16-tone grey scale capability. The large screen really elevates the new DX into something more than a convenient device for light reading. The Kindle DX shows the true utility of an electronic reader for the first time. It’s what the Kindle should have been from the start.

What has improved? Performance is better, particularly the screen refresh rate. The new button design means not turning pages accidentally anymore (although I wish they’d kept buttons on both sides of the device for us left-handers). I don’t like not having an SD card slot on the device, nor do I like not being able to change the battery without sending the device back to Amazon. Being able to turn the Whispernet modem on and off via software (menu item) is scads better than having to move a switch. The web browser’s ‘desktop’ mode makes the browser very usable, especially when combined with the rotation feature. Speaking of rotation, the ability to rotate the device and view documents in either landscape or portrait mode is KILLER. Text-to-speech works well, but I have yet to try it for actually ‘reading’ (listening to) a document while doing something else, e.g., driving, to see if it is really useful or just a checklist feature. The Amazon cover (extra charge) is WAY above the original Kindle’s flimsy cover; it actually holds the device securely, protects the screen, yet is easy to open (beware of the magnetic latch around external hard drives or near the bottom of your laptop).

Okay, so now I have two Kindles. My wife asked me why I need two, a good question. My answer is, the small Kindles are great for light reading… the latest fiction novel, public-domain classics, etc., but they’re useless for PDFs or more serious reading such as technical books because the screen size is too small and images, formulas, etc., don’t display well. The Kindle DX is great for any type of reading and shines with PDFs and more serious books, yet it is considerably heavier than the original Kindle (I’d say twice as heavy, if not more so) and not as convenient to stuff in a carry-on bag. I’ve already moved all of the technical books I own over to the Kindle DX, as well as many PDF documents. I had decided to not buy any serious books for my Kindle, using it only for light reading… but the new Kindle DX has changed my mind. The experience of reading a technical book is as good or better than the physical book, and that is something that could not be said about the smaller Kindles.

If I had to own just one electronic reading device, the choice is obvious: the Kindle DX. Amazon has gotten it right; the Kindle DX finally fulfills the ‘book’ paradigm in an electronic device.

By John Clifford

Kindle DX - An Improved E-Book Reader

Kindle DX is Amazon’s newest and improved version of Kindle, the famous portable e-book reader. This new release of the popular electronic device contains several improvements over its predecessors.

It is now possible to read PDF files without having to convert them first. Previous Kindle versions allowed you to read PDF documents, but only after converting them to the device’s proprietary format, AZW. The Kindle DX’s ability to recognize PDF as a native format eliminates this hassle.

Considering the amount of content that is available as downloadable PDF files all over the Internet, this new feature is extremely convenient. It makes it especially useful for those who collect reports, white papers and e-books released in the format created by Acrobat. So, next time you subscribe to a newsletter and get an e-book as a gift, you will be able to comfortably read it on your Kindle DX as long as it is a PDF document.

Another important feature is its built-in accelerometer. For you, the final consumer, it means that whenever you turn your device on its side, the electronic paper display will change its alignment as well.

The result of this change in the screen alignment is that you can read documents in either portrait or landscape mode. Just choose the appropriate mode according to the file you want to read, rotate your Kindle DX and its screen will conform to the right orientation.

A notable improvement concerns its storage capacity. Previous Kindle versions allowed you to save around 1,500 e-books. Now you can store 2,000 additional items. By being able to save up to 3,500 files on your memory, you can rest assured that document storage won’t be a problem for you.

As nice as the improvements mentioned above are, you probably won’t notice them at first sight when you purchase your Kindle DX. What you will notice for sure is the device’s bigger screen size.

Older Kindle versions, although already useful, were rather small. The new display is two and a half times larger than that of its immediate predecessor, Kindle 2. The higher screen resolution will make it much more comfortable for you to read your college text books and/or your favorite newspapers, among other large-sized publications.

Thanks to all its new features, the new device can ensure that you will have a better user experience. Amazon Kindle DX may be just the e-book reading device you need.

By Jan Cummings

Kindle DX Sold Out!

Its only been six days since the Amazon Kindle DX release…and already it’s  sold out!

Either they didn’t make enough or there is a huge demand.  Whatever the reason, It’s really hard to tell  without the numbers.

In any case, if you order the device today,  you will have to wait until June 22 for shipment. Add another couple days and you should get it in a week.

That’s not  bad compare to Kindle1 back in November 2007. The wait time was much longer…yet faithful followers were willing to join the line and wait regardless of time.

Oh how times have changed!

Are you a Kindle DX enthusiast?…or a potential early adopter? If you are, then you will need to join the line now! If you don’t, t you could be waiting for a while.

Until next time.

Kindle DX… does Size really matter?

What is the real scoop with the Amazon Kindle DX? Why was it built with such a large screen…9.7″… when the only difference between it and Amazon Kindle 2 is it’s size and capacity?

The answer …it was  built with Newspapers,  magazines and textbooks  in mind!

Yes, Kindle 2 can display magazines, newspapers…but where are the ADs that goes along with them?…they are all missing in action!

…as a result, Amazon not only set the price for these Newspapers and magazines, but also deprive the publishers of making additional income.

The publishers are grumbling, and Amazon is listening. After all, what else can they do, when there are some many competitors on the horizon?

They have to oblige if they are going to stay ahead of the game!

…and what will this mean for the public? Magazine and Newpaper subscriptions will be cheaper, Amazon will still gets it share, and publishers will stand to earn more from the ADs… so they can afford to cut subscription prices.

I can almost assure you that very soon after the Kinlde DX is released, you will see an advertising component added to its newspaper and  magazines issues.

When and how it will be done? We don’t know yet, but it’s coming…mark my words.

One more thing about this new Kindle DX, the increased screen size is “perfect’ for magazine and newspaper display…making them  somewhat closer to the “real” thing.

Textbooks
One other component that’s being tested right now is textbook. Imagine the income potential from making textbooks available on the Kindle DX. Schools will get involved, more people will become aware of the Amazon Kindle, Kindle sale will skyrocket, and the snowball will grow out of control.

…well, its in the works!

In fact there are pilot programs going on as we speak.

Can you see into the future? Kindle DX is about to change some things for sure.

Until next time….Let us know your thoughts!.

Amazon’s New Kindle DX is an Electronic Game Changer

What is a Kindle?

The Kindle is an electronic media reader built and sold exclusively by Amazon.  Some might call it a digital book but, as you’ll see, it’s so much more.

The thin that sets the Kindle apart from other digital readers is its revolutionary Digital Ink technology.  Unlike laptops, computers, or portable devices, the Kindle only uses electricity when the image on the screen is refreshed (when you “turn” the page for example).  The image is displayed in crisp grayscale (capable of up to 12 shades for exceptional clarity,) and “reads” more like regular paper text because there is no backlighting or glare from the screen.  This unique ability allows the Kindle to operate for an incredible two weeks on a single battery charge!

The Kindle isn’t just about reading books and looking geeky while you’re doing it.  The Kindle truly represents a big step toward that fabled “paperless society” everybody has been talking about since the first time they saw Captain Kirk and Spock talk to the ships computer on Star Trek the Original Series. 

In a very real way, the Kindle DX (Amazon’s biggest version yet) is similar to the Enterprise’s computer.  It’s a wireless device (operating off Sprint’s 3Gnetwork) that has access to Amazon’s massive library of over 275,000 books, 60,000 audio books, and hundreds of top rated periodicals (The New York Times and Time magazine.)  The Kindle DX allows you to digitally search, preview, and download anything from the Amazon library in seconds.  You can also easily transfer documents from one Kindle to another with Whispersync technology.  You can port your files over via a USB 2.0 cable as well but that seems just a little too old fashioned.    

Amazon targeted tech savvy business professionals as well with its upgrade.  The Kindle DX cantransport and view a wide array of digital media formats including:  Kindle (AZW,) PDF, text, Audible audio books, MP3, html, Word .Doc, Jpeg, and many more.  You want to listen to Stiff Whisker and the Driftwood Kids while you read the New York Times?  You Can.  Prefer to use the kindle as a business presentation tool and display your charts, graphs, documents, and photos with the portability of a device that weighs less than two pounds?  The Kindle is great for you as well.    

The new Kindle DX is a significant upgrade over the older, much smaller version, with:

• 1) A 9.7″ display (capable of up to 16 shades of grey for crystal clarity)
• 2) A built in dictionary (The New Oxford American Dictionary)
• 3) Free access to the Wikipedia online encyclopedia
• 4) A basic web browser great for text-centric sites such as Google
• 5) Support for MP3 format to support audio (as mentioned above)
• 6) An auto-rotating display that allows better presentation of oversized documents
• 7) A Native PDF reader (which requires no conversion and preserves the original layout of the document)
• Amazon’s experimental Read-To-Me software (which converts text into spoken word)

Amazingly, Amazon stuffed all of that into a device that’s 1/3 of an inch thick and weighs just over a pound.

The digital Ink technology revolutionizes energy consumption in portable devices and the fact that Kindle can give anyone access to hundreds of thousands of documents without ever having to pulp a tree for paper is really quite amazing.  If paperless really isn’t your “thing,” just imagine how much space you’ll save by having your entire collection of dusty old hardcovers in a 1/3 of an inch digital box (not to mention the money you’ll save over bookstore prices.)

Colleges around the country have already pre-ordered the new Kindle DX, citing its ability to handle text book-sized material, its cost effectiveness, and its environmental footprint.  Yet the Kindle might not be as hot as Amazon wanted it to be be.  Why?  The price might scare most users away:  nearly $500!

When you consider what it can do and how many devices it can replace, even $500 is an incredible bargain.

Personally, I feel that if the Kindle fits within your budget, you should have one. 

Kindle DX review

Exterior & Ergonomics

Amazon Kindle DX is much larger and slightly heavier than Kindle 2. In fact If you put K2 on top of DX, K2 would be almost the same size as DX’s screen. It’s still comfortable to hold and flip pages, at least for right handed people like me. Of course it works upside down and it’s usable this way but I will pass on making a judgment on how comfortable such setup would be for left-handed people. One thing for sure - alphanumeric keyboard is not usable this way. Landscape mode is comfortable. As Kindle is rotated, 5-way controller is automatically remapped so left remains left and right remains right.

Amazon leather cover now comes with two magnets to keep itself shut. If you are still using floppy disks from the previous millennium you shouldn’t put them next to Kindle DX if you are using the cover.

Kindle DX vs. Kindle 2

Screen and fonts

It’s large. That’s for sure. 824×1200 pixels. It seems to update faster than Kindle 2 and whiles seems to be slightly lighter. There’s minimal ghosting sometimes just as on my second K2. The first K2 that was bricked by airplane didn’t have ghosting problem. Screensaver pictures seem to be the same as in K2 but upscaled and they do look gorgeous on the big screen. Fonts seem darker. So looks like Amazon took complaints about low contrast in Kindle 2 seriously and decided to address them. Spatial resolution is slightly lower - 150ppi comared to 167 in Kindle 2.

I’ve downloaded samples of some of the “books that look good on Kindle DX’s large screen“… Really they should be called “books that would have looked great on Kindle DX should have looked great on Kindle DX if images were not downsampled to lower resolution… I’ve checked 3 books and none looked as good as screensaver images. You could clearly see that illustrations in these books are much lower resolution than the screen. Hopefully this will get fixed as some point.

There are 7 font sizes just as in previous models. However the smallest font on Kindle DX seems to correspond to second smallest on K2. I can’t say for sure because I have Droid fonts installed on my K2 so that I can read Cyrillic. When font size dialog is invoked there are 2 additional options there that are specific to DX: “Words Per Line” and “Screen Rotation”. The second one is pretty much self-explanatory: you can explicitly select one of the four rotations or set it auto and let the accelerometer control it. “Words Per Line” really controls left and right margin width. Three available options are: default, fewer and fewest. At the moment I don’t quite understand the use of it. If I would want smaller screen area I’d just use K2. As this option is changed inline pictures as downscaled as well.

Screen rotation

Works as advertised - the image rotates as you rotated the device. Refresh time is good. Changing scren orientation is as fast as flipping a page.

Kindle DX Landscape

Keyboard

Keyboard layout is QWERTY. Numeric row is merged with top letter row. To enter numbers you need to hold the “Alt” button. If you just need to enter one digit, you can press “alt” and digit in sequence (”alt” is “sticky” just likethe “shift” button). On DX buttons stick out more and are harder to press. Overall I found K2 keyboard more comfortable and easy to use than DX. Except “Next page” button being larger on Kindle DX, buttons on the right edge of the device are identical. 5-way controller stick is higher on DX.

PDF support

Kindle DX relies on it’s large screen to display PDF files “as is”, without re-flowing the text (which would be next to impossible with PDF since the format lacks any concept of paragraphs or text continuity).  The only way to zoom that I could find is to switch to landscape mode. It’s not such a big problem because most PDF files that people would want to read are preformatted for either Letter or A4 page size and Kindle DX screen is comparable in size to these formats.

Although there is concept of pages in PDF and you can navigate to any given page, both internal and external links in PDF files are disabled. Structured table of contents that is present in some PDF files is not usable either.

Graphically PDF files look fine and crisp. Rendering time is also good. It usually takes around 5 seconds to open the file initially and after that pagination speed is the same as when reading ebooks.

It’s not possible to download PDF files to your Kindle via WhisperNet. Most likely this is because Amazon pays 12 cents per megabyte to Sprint while keeping Internet connection free for Kindle owners. Given decent support that Kindle DX has for PDF files, abundance of PDF files on the Internet that people would like to download and read and relatively large size of these files it wouldn’t be a good idea for Amazon to enable such downloads.

It so happens that in my past life I spent a lot of time writing software that would process PDF files. Some time later I’ll run a comprehensive test of PDF support in Kindle DX and publish the results here.

Basic Web

Web browsing seems to be that same as on Kindle 2. “Advanced mode” is now called “Desktop mode’”. Basic mode is still much faster and usable than desktop mode. I tried to render BlogKindle.com in desktop mode and Kindle DX actually rendered it quite well. The only problem I could see was the lack of PNG transparency support.

Kindle DX Basic Web

9 inch screen definitely makes browsing a better experience.

Text-to-Speech

There are seemingly no changes in this feature. Funny thing that I’ve noticed as I experimented with it that female voice seems to have trouble pronouncing word USB. With male voice turned on is sounds much more natural.

Software

Apart from PDF support, changes to font size dialog, picture viewer mentioned above and additional game mentioned below Kindle software remains the same. Kindle DX comes out of the box with firmware version: 2.1 (337560062). Source code for Kindle DX is already published by Amazon and I’ll take a look at it. What seems important is that it has a separate section for Kindle DX sources code. On this basis I would speculate that next version of software for Kindle 2 is going to be 2.0.4, for Kindle DX it’s going to be 2.1.1. These will come from separate branches of code so I wouldn’t hope too much for PDF support being ported to Kindle 2 any time soon.

Hacking

Unfortunately Kindle DX was unresponsive  to the “old way hacking”. When I created a small “update” using Igor’s tool to dump the system log along with full directory listing to the root of Kindle drive the “Update Your Kindle” menu item remained disabled. Either Amazon has changed the format of the update files or they’ve come up with some way to digitally sign them to prevent hacking. Either way this means no unicode fonts for Kindle DX for the time being

Kindle DX accessories from M-Edge unveiled

The Amazon Kindle dx  is a cool gadget and has been one of the most popular devices on Amazon since it launched. Not too long ago Amazon unveiled a new larger screen Kindle designed with reading newspapers in mind called the Kindle DX.

The Kindle DX lacked any sort of protective cover for the large screen, which meant that if users weren’t careful they could scratch the expensive gadget. A company called M-Edge has announced a new line of cases for the Kindle DX that includes the Executive Jacket and the Platform Jacket.

The Executive Jacket sells for $59.99, has a wrap around strap for closure, and comes in real or synthetic leather. The Platform Jacket covers the screen of the Kindle DX and has a built in stand to keep the reader upright for hands free reading and it sells for $59.99. Both products are set to ship on June 10.

Kindle DX: Why Size Matters (from Fast Company)

People have a lot of expectations for the new, larger-sized Kindle DX [0]. Interesting how a shift in size / form factor can hold the fate of an entire industry (newspapers in this case) in its hand. Wow, the power of industrial design! I wish a larger screen could save the Boston Globe. But I doubt that is the case, at least not in the way people are hoping.

First, let me put my loyalties on the table. I have a huge attachment to newspapers. The front page of The New York Times has been a constant in my life. When my great grandfather emigrated to this country from Eastern Europe, he learned English by translating the front page of the Times every day. I will never forget my dad’s teaching me that elegant business-man trick of reading the Times with one hand on the subway. And my mom, who has written about food for the Times for more than 30 years, has had her byline appear on the front page twice in that period. It will take a lot for me to cancel my subscription to the print version.

The Kindle DX started shipping from Amazon.com on Wednesday

The Kindle DX started shipping from Amazon.com on Wednesday, as promised, for $489, and could reach customers Thursday when initial owner reviews are expected to start hitting blogs and Websites.

Amazon.com began listing the larger, 9.7-in. wireless reading device as “In Stock” today on its site, with overnight shipping available.

The company also offered up several “reviews,” even though none of the reviewers owns a new DX and instead simply gave reasons for ordering it. The discussions mainly focused on the larger screen as a reason for ordering the kindle DX over the Kindle 2. Some also raised concerns about the absence of an external storage card in the DX.

One reviewer, R. Joyce, wrote about selling a first-generation Kindle to pay for a Kindle 2, and then selling the second Kindle to be able to pay for the DX. “As you can tell by now, I am a Kindle fan: this device brought me back to reading for pleasure, for which I am grateful,” the Kindle fan wrote, adding that 600 books acquired for use with the devices had not used up all the internal storage.

But M. Jobay “Lucky Luke” complained that $489 is too steep a price for a student to afford: “I was going to buy the Kindle DX because I am a student and it would be much easier if I could carry the Kindle DX to school rather than my school books that sometimes could weigh over 15 pounds. …I was hesitant due to the price. I mean, the way the economy is today, this seems like a costly investment.”

One other writer was concerned that the DX has no color screen, meaning Amazon is missing out on a market for art books and cook books.

A professional review by Steven Levy on Wired.com that first appeared yesterday noted that the DX has 2.5 times more display space than the Kindle 2’s 6-in. screen, but is virtually the same thickness as the Kindle 2, weighs only 19 ounces, “won’t tax your wrists…[and is] very comfortable to hold.”

Levy also credited the kindle DX for including a built-in PDF reader, unlike previous Kindles. He was able to download a Google Books public domain autobiography and email it to his Kindle DX and then read the scanned pages. “The DX crisply displays monochrome output of PDF or MS Office files,” he wrote.

But Levy noted that while Amazon wants to aim the DX at students needing textbooks as well as workers who need access to business documents, the textbooks are yet to arrive. Levy also noted that while Kindle DX is supposed to help with future-generation newspapers and magazines, the predicament today is that subscribers to Kindle periodicals “are stuck with a cumbersome interface that makes magazine articles readable but dull in appearance. Reading a long newspaper article on the DX can be daunting, as it appears like a dense block of text.”