The headlines have been stolen by the Kindle 2 US dropping to $109 today (that’s in addition to free 2 day shipping). There is, however, a lot more Kindle and eReader news.
Amazon offers free Amazon Prime to college students
There had been rumors early this year that Amazon would offer Kindles free with Amazon Prime. Well, that hasn’t happened – However, if you’re a student you can get Amazon Prime for free (instead of paying $79).
Given the Kindle was $259 at the beginning of the year getting Amazon Prime for free and the refurbished Kindle 2 US for $109 is actually a much better deal.
Students have to sign up for something called Amazon Student and then they get a free Amazon Prime 1 year membership that means free 2 day shipping on everything they buy at Amazon (for 1 year).
Books, books, books
Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help (Extended Edition) is now available for just $1.99. It’s rated 5 stars on 56 reviews which is pretty impressive. It was $4.99 just a day or so ago so it’s a good, solid deal.
Teleread point us to a PDF version of the Department of Justice Complaint vs Russian Spies. Have to say these Russian Spies seem to be channeling Leslie Nielsen - What self-respecting Russian spy names herself Anna Chapman, keeps the Russian accent, and puts up reality TV style videos on YouTube?
Borders offers 30% off ebooks you can read on iPhone or PC
In case you wanted to try out a Borders ebook and convince yourself there isn’t any magic pixie dust you’re missing out on by sticking with the Kindle Store they have 30% off for 5 more hours. Use coupon code: THANKS712 at checkout. It expires at 11:59 pm PST and only applies to some ebooks.
Yes, Kindle 2 US and Kindle DX 1 do get Folders and PDF support
People are finding it hard to believe that the Kindle 2 US is $109. They’re also finding it hard to believe it gets the Kindle 2.5 upgrade.
What company offers all the latest features like Folders and PDF pan and zoom on a super low price refurbished model from last year?
Apparently, Amazon.
It’s the same firmware for Kindle 2 US and Kindle 2 Global. Global just has wireless that works in 100+ countries (Kindle 2 US wireless works just in the US), slightly better screen contrast, and slightly faster response time. At $169 vs $109 there’s no contest unless you often travel outside the US.
The international download charge for books is gone
There’s still a lot of confusion about this so let’s clear it up.
If USA is set as your home country then there is no longer a $1.99 download charge for books outside the US. There is still a hefty charge for wireless downloads of personal documents and periodicals outside the US so watch out for those.
There are a few related changes – customers outside the US have begun to get free Internet in some countries. There’s no way to check for 100+ countries – However, it’s supposedly enabled in UK, Japan, Canada, and a few other countries.
Technology Review thinks eInk will soon see competition from other electronic paper companies
Christopher Mims thinks the epaper race is full of dark horses (thought it was black and white zebras) -
the sector leader itself, E-Ink, whose electrophoretic e-paper technology, used in the Kindle and countless other e-paper devices, is threatened by upstarts like Apple’s iPad and forthcoming hybrid “transflective” LCD / e-paper displays from Pixel Qi.
The article then proceeds to talk up Nemoptic which makes epaper displays for grocery store price tags.
- Apparently Nemoptic have branched into black and white, bistable, nematic epaper technology. Understandable since making grocery store price tags can get a bit repetitive after the first billion or so $1.99′s.
- There are 5 videos including videos showing note-taking, choppy video, and back-lit displays. Yes, back-lit displays so you can get the best features of the iPad and Kindle in one device.
- MIT technology review seem very excited by things like partial refreshes.
All of it sounds very impressive except for these two little snippets -
Nemoptic, which has yet to partner with a hardware maker willing to put their displays into a proper e-reader …
It’s still the size of a shelf-front tag …
So we have a company showing off price-tag sized black and white displays that may or may not arrive soon. Well, unless something amazing like Mirasol Qualcomm color ePaper or Pixel Qi’s dual-mode screens arrive in 2010 Nemoptic should be fine.
How to remove Ghosting from your Kindle’s screen
First, here’s a worried Kindle owner -
Tonight I noticed while reading that on portions of the page I can see very faint traces of other text.
It almost appears my Kindle Home Page. It seems to vary in location from page to page but I can definitely see writing under the text of the book I’m reading.
It kind of reminds me of the image burn-in on an old computer monitor.
My Kindle automatically brings up the various screen savers during inactivity and I normally turn it off completely when I’m done reading. It is a little annoying and I’m afraid it may get worse with time.
Well, there’s a very simple solution – Press Alt+G i.e. hold down the Alt button and then press the G button. That will refresh the screen and remove this ‘ghosting’. Amazon already has the screensavers and perhaps they are meant to help avoid burn-in.
The Alt+G trick works very well and in 2.5 years haven’t heard of anyone who had a page of text or a screensaver burnt into their Kindle screen so there’s nothing to worry about.
Filed under: kindle Tagged: | kindle news
Thank you for the information re “Amazon Student and get FREE Two-Day Shipping for one year with a free Amazon Prime membership ($79 value),” That is awesome that Amazon is doing that for students! I posted it on my Facebook page so all my college age nieces and nephews will know about it!
what an excellent deal for students! My Best Friend is going back to school this fall. A refurb unit & free Prime would be perfect for her, as she can’t afford the ongoing cost of audible.