Archive for the ‘kindle 3’ tag
Kindle Keyboard cover deals no comments
Typically when a new generation of Kindle ereaders hits the shelves the cover manufacturers discount their remaining stock of covers made for the previous generation. This has not generally been the case this time as the Kindle Keyboard is still being sold by Amazon and there are a lot of them in use that people are probably still buying covers for. Some of the covers for the Kindle Keyboard have been reduced slightly, but in general the discounts are not very noticeable yet.
An exception is OCTOVO’s line of Kindle 3 covers. While the prices of all of these have been reduced, there are a couple of standout deals. Both the OCTOVO Vintage leather and black leather covers are available for $35 bundled with the Solis ereader light. That is less than half the former price of the cover and only $5 more than the price of the Solis light by itself.
Both of these covers are made with genuine Italian leather. I have an OCTOVO cover for my DX and it is very well-made.
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New software updates for Kindle Keyboard and Kindle 4 no comments
Today Amazon released a new software update (v3.3) for the Kindle 3. Personal Documents are now archived by Amazon, along with any annotations you have made on them and the new update allows you to download the docs to your Kindle Keyboard as needed. Personal Documents are also now kept in sync across multiple devices with Whispersync (with the exception of PDFs).
Other new features include AmazonLocal deals for the Kindle Keyboard with Special Offers and the ability to toggle the Voice Guide off and on by pressing the spacebar while holding the shift key. Voice Guide is an option (found in the Settings menu from the Home screen) that when turned on reads aloud menu options, content listings and item descriptions.
The update is being delivered over the Kindle’s Wi-Fi connection or you can download it here.
There is also a new update for the Kindle 4 — v4.0.1 — that I just noticed. I think this might have been released today as well, but I may be wrong. This update allows you to change how often the display completely refreshes itself from every sixth page turn to every page turn. This is good and may help to address the occasional text fuzziness and light ghosting I’ve noticed, but I wish there were more options between every single and every sixth page. This update will also be going out over the Wi-Fi or you can download and install it yourself here.
I’ve just installed both of these and will update here if either of my Kindles blow up.
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Refurbished Kindle 3 Wi-Fi now $94 no comments
Amazon has slightly lowered the price of the refurbished Kindle 3 Wi-Fi to $94. The Kindle 3 is still available new with Special Offers for $99, and the Kindle Touch Wi-Fi will be $99 when it starts shipping in November, so I don’t think this is such a good deal for a refurbished ereader. We will likely see the price lowered again by the time the Kindle Touch comes out.
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New Kindle feature lets readers connect with authors no comments
On its Kindle Daily Post blog Amazon has announced a new social reading feature for the Kindle ereaders. @author lets readers ask authors questions about their books. To use the tool highlight a passage in the book on the Kindle ereader with the 5-way controller and then type “@author” followed by your question. Amazon will tweet the question and it will be posted on the Author Page. If the author answers your question you will be notified by email.
The feature us still in beta — some of the authors currently participating:
- Ted Dekker: (@tedDekker) Forbidden and The Priest’s Graveyard
- Timothy Ferriss: (@tferriss) The 4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Workweek
- Marie Force: (@MarieForce) Ready for Love and Fool for Love
- Barbara Freethy: (@BarbaraFreethy) Love Will Find a Way and One True Love
- Steven Johnson: (@stevenbjohnson) Where Good Ideas Come From and Everything Bad Is Good for You
- Robert Kiyosaki: (@theRealKiyosaki) Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant
- J.A. Konrath: (@jakonrath) SERIAL and Endurance
- John Locke: (@DonovanCreed) The Love You Crave and Lethal People
- Elisa Lorello: (@ElisaLorello) Ordinary World
- C.J. Lyons: (@cjlyonswriter) Blind Faith and Borrowed Time
- Debbi Mack: (@debbimack) Identity Crisis and Least Wanted
- Brad Meltzer: (@bradmeltzer) The Inner Circle and The Zero Game
- Scott Nicholson: (@hauntedcomputer) Ashes and Write Good or Die
- Susan Orlean: (@susanorlean) Rin Tin Tin and The Orchid Thief
- Deborah Reed: (@DebReedAuthor) Carry Yourself Back to Me and A Small Fortune
- James Rollins: (@jamesrollins) The Skeleton Key and The Devil Colony
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Lightwedge Verso ereader cover (Cities) review no comments
Lightwedge, which is best known for its line of book and ereader lights, recently launched two new series of ereader covers under the Verso label. The New York Times covers feature photos from the newspapers archives and the Artist Series currently features four designs by four different artists. Each of the Artist Series covers are available in two colors. I picked up one of the Artist Series covers, Cities by Sharyn Sowell, in brown (this design is also available in a dark red).
Leather or synthetic? This is one bit of info about these covers that you will be hard-pressed to glean from the product information pages unless you are clued in by the conspicuous absence of any bold declarations of “Genuine Leather” construction. Yes, we have no leather here. These ereader covers are made of synthetic materials.
I have to say that, at least in the case of my brown Cities cover, this is one of the more leather-like synthetic materials I’ve seen. I’m sure some people will be fooled. Personally, I don’t really mind if the material is synthetic, as long as it looks and feels good. I am very happy with the appearance of the Cities cover. The Verso cover also passes the touchy-feely test. To me it feels like an old leather-bound book. If you miss the feel of dead-tree books you will probably like this cover.
As I say, I am okay with synthetics. But that does not mean I’m going to be happy if my ereader cover smells like a gasoline station. In fact, my Verso cover had only a very faint chemical smell when I first opened the package, but that soon dissipated. By the next day I could detect nothing. So the cover passes this test as well for me.
Construction seems very good. I could find no flaws in the stitching or elsewhere. The microfiber lining seems of good quality — I have not seen any shedding, which can be an issue with the lining used in some of the cheaper ereader covers. Stiffeners are sewn into the front and back to help protect the ereader’s screen. The front flap folds back flat so your ereader is comfortable to hold in one hand while wearing the cover.
The Cities cover weighs about 6 ounces. With the Cities cover on my Kindle 3 weighs in at 14 ounces. Usually when I’m reading in bed (where I typically want to hold and operate the ereader in one hand and where extra weight is most noticeable) I take off the cover and use my ereader au natural. When I carry my ereader around however, even if I’m just going to read on the patio, I feel more comfortable using the cover. I’ve managed to break one ereader screen — once is enough for that experience.
At Amazon these covers are understandably marketed as Kindle 3 covers. In fact, Lightwedge designed these covers to be nondenominational. They should fit just about any ereader that is 6.7 – 7.7 inches tall and 4.5 – 4.9 inches wide. Lightwedge specifically mentions that these covers will work with the Kindle 3, Kobo, Nook (1st generation), Sony Daily and Sony Touch ereaders. So how well does this one-size-fits-all approach work? The photo below shows the cover with four different ereaders.
On the top from the left we have the Kindle 3 and the Kobo Touch Edition; on the bottom is the Sony Touch and the iriver Story HD.
As you can see, the lower elastic bands slightly cover the edges of a couple of keys on the Kindle 3’s keyboard, but can be slid down to rest below the keys. I don’t think this is a problem.
The iriver Story HD also has a chiclet keyboard, but the straps didn’t cause any problems for me here either. The colors of this cover match those of the Story HD well. The power switch of the iriver ereader is on the back, but I was able to lift the ereader up enough to access it without removing the elastic bands — a bit of a hassle, but I can live with it. The power switch of the Kobo Touch is also partly covered by one of the bands, but it can still be operated.
This cover will also fit the original Nook ereader, but not the Nook Color or the Nook Touch, which is too squat and wide.
User reviews at Amazon for the Verso covers are mostly quite good. I did see a few Kindle 3 owners complain that the elastic bands on these covers did not hold their ereaders securely in place. To test this I put my own Kindle 3 in the cover and held it upside down and all around while shaking vigorously to see if I could get the ereader to even look like it wanted to fall out. Didn’t happen. Not even close. I don’t know what happened with these customers — perhaps they received defective covers or part of an early batch with different elastic bands? At any rate I have not yet seen any signs of this problem. If I do experience any issues as the cover ages I’ll update this post.
The Verso series of ereader covers is priced at $39.99 – $49.99. I really like mine — I think this was money well spent.
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Amazon lowers prices of refurbished Kindle 3 no comments
Amazon recently lowered the prices of its refurbished Kindle 3 ereaders to $99.99 for the Wi-Fi only model and $129.99 for the 3G version. There is lots of speculation on the net today that this means Kindle 4 is on the way.
Actually, the lower pricing on the refurbished ereaders has been in place for awhile. I don’t remember exactly when the prices dropped; I think it has been a couple of weeks now. The thing is, it just does not really seem compelling (or newsworthy) to spend $100 or $130 for a refurbished Kindle 3 when you can buy a brand new Kindle with Special Offers for $114 or $139.
I do suspect we will have a Kindle 4 announcement soon; it is about time and Amazon is under a lot of pressure from B&N to release a new model. The lower prices of the refurbished Kindles may well have something to do with this. But I suspect that the price pressure being applied by the Kindle with Special Offers has just as much or more to do with the price drop.
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Free ebooks for Kindle & other ereaders – 6/26/2011 no comments
A few more free ebooks at the Kindle Store and elsewhere — not such a long list this time:
The Trinity Saga: The Pocket Watch by Ronnell D. Porter (4 1/2 stars/8 reviews) Fantasy. Also free at Barnes & Noble.
The Right Path (Apocalyptic Novelette) (Dark Future Series) by Debra L. Martin (4 stars/5 reviews) Science fiction. Also free at Barnes & Noble.
8810 by Nicholas Taylor (3 stars/2 reviews) Humor. Also free at Barnes & Noble and Kobo.
Lost in Shadows by Alex O’Connell (2 1/2 stars/3 reviews) Mystery. Also free at Barnes & Noble
The Second Ward by Robert DeCoteau (4 stars/5 reviews) Horror. Also free at Barnes & Noble.
Well Played 1.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning by Drew Davidson (4 stars/1 review) Nonfiction. Also free at Kobo.
Barnes & Noble is currently offering Front Porch Prophet by Raymond Atkins for free. This quirky Southern fiction is $7.96 at the Kindle Store, where it gets 4 1/2 stars by 19 reviewers.
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Octovo is currently offering a free Solis ereader light with the purchase of $74 or more of OCTOVO products. So right now with the purchase of an OCTOVO Vintage Leather Cover or the Classic Black Leather Cover you would get the reading light for free. You have to use the ‘Add to Cart’ button with both the cover and the Solis light to get the discount.
Update: This sale appears to no longer be in effect at Amazon, but you can get the deal if you buy direct from OCTOVO.
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Hachette is having a Sizzling Summer Reads sale that I believe will only last through the end of this month. The following five romances are each reduced to $1.99. The links are to the Kindle Store, but these are also available for the same price at Barnes & Noble and Kobo.
- Tall Tales and Wedding Veils by Jane Graves (4 1/2 stars/20 reviews) Contemporary romance.
- Hot Wheels and High Heels by Jane Graves (4 1/2 stars/21 reviews) Contemporary romance.
- The Secret to Seduction by Julie Anne Long (4 stars/19 reviews) Regency romance.
- Flirting with Temptation by Kelley St. John (5 stars/8 reviews) Contemporary romance.
- My Forbidden Desire by Carolyn Jewel (4 stars/1 review) Paranormal romance.
Another ebook on sale at the moment for $1.99 is Perfect Timing by Jill Mansell (4 stars/30 reviews). This contemporary romance by the popular British author of Millie’s Fling and Miranda’s Big Mistake is also available for the same price at Barnes & Noble and eBooks.com.
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Amazon releases Kindle 3G with Special Offers no comments
Amazon just announced that it is releasing the Kindle 3G with Special Offers. This is similar to the Kindle Wi-Fi with Special Offers that Amazon introduced last month. The price is partially subsidized by advertisements as wallpaper and small ads on the bottom of the homescreen. In the six weeks since Amazon launched the Kindle Wi-Fi with Special Offers it has become the bestselling Kindle ereader.
Besides advertising, these new versions of the Kindle ereaders also feature special offers, coupons and discounts.
Some of the upcoming special offers announced in Amazon’s press release:
- $10 for a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card – customers loved this offer, so we’re making it available again in time for Father’s Day
- Save up to $500 off Amazon’s already low prices on HDTVs with a unique 20% discount on 200 HDTVs from brands including Sony, Panasonic, LG, and VIZIO
- $1 for a Kindle book, choose from thousands of books including Water for Elephants and the Hunger Games trilogy
- Spend $10 on Kindle books and get a free $10 Amazon.com Gift Card
The new member of the Kindle family is priced at $164 and is available now. Like the Wi-Fi version, the Kindle 3G with Special Offers is $25 less than the version without the ads.
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Kindle Mother’s Day promotion no comments
To promote Mother’s Day Amazon has started offering a $25 Amazon.com gift card with the purchase of either the Kindle 3G or Kindle DX ereaders. The promotion will end on May 8, 2011.
To take advantage of this offer you need to put the gift card in your shopping cart by checking the “Add a $25 Amazon.com Gift Card at no extra cost” button located under the buy buttons.
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Amazon Xoom giveaway no comments
Amazon is giving away a Motorola Xoom tablet along with some other prizes in a contest to promote the Amazon Prime program. To enter, just go to the “Sweepstakes” tab at Amazon’s Facebook page and click on the “Like” button. To have a chance to win the Xoom you will need to enter by May 1. After that Amazon is giving away other prizes each week, including a Kindle 3 with lighted cover and $50 gift card for the May 16 thru May 22 period.
The contest will end on June 19, 2011 at midnight PST and is limited to US citizens.
£149.00
£109
