Kindle Scribe

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Quoth

PR are really just a proprietary PDF with Amazon DRM. They ought to add it to Scribe, but it seems like the reading aspect of Scribe is based on Kindle eink, a sort of 10.2″ version of Oasis.

PR can also include audio and video files that are packaged with the PDF and create links to that. Of course PDF tools like Acrobat Pro or Foxit can embed multimedia in the PDF itself, but it seems Kindle Create assumes the PDF you ingest doesn't have any of that and gives you a way to add it.

It's not clear how many PR with multimedia are published, and obviously Scribe is not set up to handle that (so it could just say 'multimedia not supported' like it does with regular 'multimedia' ebooks). Still, if I wanted to publish PR I would want it to work on Scribe. And Amazon could promote Scribe as eduction device with more plausibility if it could read all of the textbooks published with in that format.

[jhowell]

Amazon's web page for the Scribe states, "Scribe does not support handwritten sticky notes on manga, comics, graphic novels, magazines, or newspapers, though they are still available for download and look beautiful on the 10.2” 300 ppi display." The Fix Issues page I linked previously advises, "Try sending the document again through Send to Kindle to make sure it has the latest features enabled for Kindle Scribe and Send to Kindle."

This make me wonder whether Amazon did not bother to implement sticky notes for MOBI format. That would explain the lack of support for periodicals and a potential need to resend documents to have them converted to the correct format.

[HLS]

I am tempted to get it. The sticky note feature is on the ipad app already so I am not in a hurry but i do love shiney new toys lol

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by HLS

The sticky note feature is on the ipad app already…

I have not seen this yet. What version of the app? How does it work? Do you need a stylus?

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I have not seen this yet. What version of the app? How does it work? Do you need a stylus?

I also do not understand what the the post is referring to.

As you know, the latest updates let you view Notebooks created on Scribe, and presumably also allows you to view Sticky Notes created for books on Scribe, but it definitely does not let you create Sticky Notes. I've seen nothing to indicate that it (ever) will. You can, of course use Pencil or some other stylus to highlight or create text annotations (with iOS native handwriting recognition).

I'm still unclear about what Kindle app will let you do with a PDF with annotations and sticky notes created on Scribe. Currently you cannot view annotations or create them with the Kindle apps, only with Kindle devices.

I also have not seen anything to indicate if other Kindles (running latest firmware) will be able to view Sticky Notes.

To the extent that I'm interested in using a stylus to create annotations (not very), I find it a weak point that you can only create and edit these on a Kindle Scribe. I'd want this feature on at least one other platform before I'd 'invest' in making a lot of scribbles or documents ('notebooks') that are effectively tied to one device. Is there a way to export, if only to an image file?

You cannot get a Scribe without a stylus, and if you want more than 16GB storage, you also have to pay ($30) more for the included 'deluxe' stylus, whether you have any use for it or not.

As a first-generation 'concept', there are bound to be feature gaps. These are a few of them:

No support for external keyboard
No support for Print Replica (fixed layout textbooks)
No ability to create or modify (or delete?) sticky notes except on Scribe
Mismatch between PDF annotation features for Kindle vs Kindle apps (which have none)
No handwriting recognition ('maybe next year')
(AFAICT) no two column view in Landscape orientation. With a screen this large, it is sort of expected.

Given this, I'm surprised to find myself thinking about getting one.

[JoeC]

It appears that Amazon is having a Black Friday deal of $40 off if you purchase two 16 GB Scribes at the same time.

https://www.amazon.com/promotion/psp...A1AWWTU5LEU2CF

[untilyouarrived]

Actually, this is a better link: https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20221125-2521830/

[eilon]

The Kindle Scribe 5.16.1 firmware is now available for download

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...MQC26VQQMM8XSW

Whoever wants to anaylyze it

[untilyouarrived]

Couple of things of note from the translated post:

* There is no pressure sensitivity - so my Remarkable is safe
* The screen appears to be lightly textured
* 18 templates included
* You can organise your notes into folders
* Outputs to PDF
* No external storage by USB? (I imagine that will annoy many people if true)

More devices to come?

"I don't think it's a model that everyone will like, but on the contrary, with this sense of size and handwriting, I would like to expand the Kindle experience to new users that Amazon has not been able to reach until now." ( Shimizu).

Personally, I'm also curious about the future appearance of a "small version Kindle Scribe" that can be held in one hand. Mr. Shimizu said, ``I think it can be realized even with the size of Kindle Oasis,'' and that it will not be possible to meet the needs of ``I want a large e-book reader. ``I decided that the 10.2-inch large screen was the best for the first release,'' he said.

[WillAdams]

Another review from Japan:

https://www.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1458437.html

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by untilyouarrived

No external storage by USB? (I imagine that will annoy many people if true)

The Google translation of that part of the article reads:

By the way, the USB-C terminal on the main unit is only for charging and power supply, and does not support external storage.

I strongly doubt that. There was a leaked draft of the Scribe User Guide and that described the same USB drive mode that other Kindles use. And Amazon has already posted a firmware update file for the Scribe. It would be pretty useless without some way to load it, although I suppose the built in web browser might be able to do it.

[Quoth]

It will work as external storage via USB to a host, but won't use (host) external storage itself is what they mean.

Maybe some Android eink can host external storage, but I never saw such a thing via USB on any ereader, only SD card slot if available.

[untilyouarrived]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It will work as external storage via USB to a host, but won't use (host) external storage itself is what they mean.

That makes much more sense. Thanks.

[HLS]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I have not seen this yet. What version of the app? How does it work? Do you need a stylus?

You press down on text like your going to highlight and there is an option to take a note pops up in the highlight menu. looks like a pencil over a square. You hit that and a sticky note pops up but you need a stylus to actually write the note. When you save the note it shows up as an annotation on the page

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by HLS

You press down on text like your going to highlight and there is an option to take a note pops up in the highlight menu. looks like a pencil over a square. You hit that and a sticky note pops up but you need a stylus to actually write the note. When you save the note it shows up as an annotation on the page

That is the text annotation interface long supported by Kindle apps and devices. The keyboard pops up on the bottom so that you can type a note.

What Amazon is calling sticky notes are hand drawn images. Are you saying that with a stylus you can draw a picture that will save as a note in the app?