kindle

Buzz Out Loud 786: Do these cookies make my Google look fat?

Congress learns all about cookies (not the delicious kind...but maybe the del.icio.us kind), Gmail goes down, and Google proves to be a terrible communicator. Also, the Amazon Kindle may take off after all (har har), and Twitter baffles us completely regarding its follow/follower spam prevention thing. In sum, it's a Tuesday, but it feels like a Monday.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 786

Google apologizes for Gmail outage http://www.crn.com/software/210002714

PC World: Google Apps hit by prolonged Gmail access problem http://www.pcworld.com/article/149524/

Android may be … Read more

Kindle sales pegged at $1 billion by 2010

Sales of the Amazon Kindle may be higher than expected, according to CitiGroup analyst Mark Mahaney, who inferred once again that the e-reader is the Apple iPod of the book world.

The analyst said Monday that he expects the Kindle to sell about 380,000 units in 2008. The figure is double that of his original sales estimate for the e-reader, and equal to the amount of iPods sold during the first year of release.

Mahaney wrote in a client note that the Kindle may become one of the hottest gifts of holiday season, citing the fact that Kindle is … Read more

Sony opens e-book reader to outside publishers

Sony announced on Thursday that its Reader Digital Book will be able to read electronic books published using the .epub format that many of the largest book publishers are using.

Until now, Sony's e-book reader could only read books available from the Sony e-book store, PDF documents, and DRM-free text. Starting next month, the new PRS-505 Sony Reader model will be able to access secure DRM- and non-DRM-protected content in the .epub format, formerly called the Open eBook format. (Here's a review of the device.)

The Sony Reader Digital Book is the first e-book reading device to support … Read more

Free sci-fi e-books, for a limited time

A friend of mine told me recently about Tor.com, a new site managed by Tor Books, part of the Macmillan publishing group.

There's something cool going on there for just the next few days. And if you've bought an Amazon Kindle or a Sony Reader--or just like to read e-books on your laptop, cell phone, or other system--you'll want to scoot right over to the "Freebies Bonanza" page. [Update-- this content is no longer available.]

… Read more

Lost: One poor, forlorn Kindle

I left my Kindle on a flight into SFO on Monday night, and unfortunately it doesn't appear that I'll be getting it back. After a two-hour delay to my flight, I think I was a bit brain-dead by the time we touched down, causing me to leave it sitting in my seat.

Feel free to contribute to the "Give a Blogger a Kindle" fund. Just hit "refresh" on this page 1,000,000 times today and my check from CNET should cover a new Kindle. :-)

Seriously, I'm really bummed. It was proving … Read more

Report: New Kindle due in October

Two new Kindle models are expected to be available on Amazon.com in time for the holiday shipping season, with the first coming as early as October, an "insider" tells CrunchGear.

The first model will be an update of the current e-book reader, with the same screen size and an improved interface, according to the tipster. The source told CrunchGear that Amazon has "skipped three or four generations" with the update.

The second new model will be considerably larger, shaped like an 8.5-inch by 11-inch piece of paper, and is expected to be available next … Read more

Open source and the Kindle

I've become a big fan of the Kindle in a short time. I don't care about its wireless capabilities - downloading updates to blogs is a waste given that I don't like to read blogs unless I'm in an immediate position to comment on them, and the ability to buy directly from the device is not an earth-shattering advancement - and I find its menu interface a bit clunky.

No, what I really like about the Kindle is the reading experience. It's wonderful. The only thing missing is a backlight for reading in low-light conditions, but it's already better than reading a physical book because the screen is comforting to view and the weight/feel of the product is exceptional.

None of which matters, however, without good content. This is where my open-source experiment comes in.

This week I tried downloading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey from Project Gutenberg. Because the Kindle easily can read .txt, .pdf (i.e., PDF can be converted into a supported format), and other file formats, it's easy to get free content like Northanger Abbey into the Kindle.

The problem, however, is what happens once it's there.… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 756: Dicker caught dickering

You know how sometimes the punishment fits the crime? In this case the criminal fits the crime. GoDaddy's VP of domain auctions, appropriately named Dicker, was caught bidding (dickering?) on domains on his own auction site. D'oh! Also, Sony starts offering some creative incentives to get you to buy their TVs: their movies. Hmm. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 756

Save Windows XP http://weblog.infoworld.com/save-xp/archives/2008/06/editors_blog_sa.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/30/BUDG11GE33.DTL

Google taps ‘Family Guy’ guy for Web series … Read more

Princeton University to publish Kindle textbooks

Another prestigious school is embracing Amazon's Kindle e-reader.

Princeton University has announced that it will start printing Kindle-edition textbooks this fall, according to a story in The Christian Science Monitor.

Princeton follows Yale, Oxford, and UC Berkeley in creating textbooks for the Kindle. In the United States, there are about 2,500 four-year universities, so Amazon still has a long way to go.

But the Kindle should appeal to university students better than other demographics.

I wrote this week that I was putting off buying a Kindle until I learn whether I can read digital books on the iPhone … Read more