Kindle update - PDF support, increased battery, and more

[rcuadro]

I just thought of something... since I downloaded the update vice waiting for it to be sent to me, I saved them some money. Too bad I cant get a credit

[daffy4u]

Here are the pics. Not too bad. The images from my Palm Pre manual did not show (I've added a copy of PDF from my computer for comparison).

Images automatically enlarge when rotated.

Now I have to add my screensaver hack back.

[tomsem]

I never thought this would happen, but certainly glad to be wrong. Can't wait to try it...updating now. The wireless power saving is a bonus, though I would never have thought to ask for it. And the rotation feature - outstanding!

I can now author Kindle-specific PDFs, including those that use non-Latin characters.

Now I would just like ADE support (including ePub & PDF search, pan-zoom, & reflow I suppose), though I can use ADE on my laptop for most of that.

Overall it is basically just the DX-level PDF support for K2, which is better than nothing. You wonder why they waited so long.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by ashkulz

Looks like there's no update for the Kindle 1.

The press release says:

Native PDF support will also be available for some earlier versions of Kindle via an automatic Whispernet wireless firmware update.

The earlier version of the K2 is the K1. Unless they meant the US only K2 being the "earlier version"?

BOb

[chilady1]

Daffy, do you think the resolution is better on standard, non PDF docs? Because the thumb nails you posted look great, much better than what I see on my K2, but perhaps that is because they are PDFs.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by chilady1

Daffy, do you think the resolution is better on standard, non PDF docs? Because the thumb nails you posted look great, much better than what I see on my K2, but perhaps that is because they are PDFs.

If you mean regular Kindle books, I don't notice a change in the crispness of the text. The screen grabs are saved by the Kindle as black & white .gif files instead of 16 bit gray scale images, so they have more contrast than an actual e-ink screen.

[fordan]

Looking forward to trying the upgrade on my Kindle 2.

They really should have given an option to adjust the screensaver timeout vs just setting it to a higher fixed value. I suspect a lot of the impetus behind changing the screen saver timer was pilots, who see the DX as a potentially great way to avoid having to carry large numbers of approach plates with them in paper form. (An example of an approach plate is here. Bonus points if you find the hidden message in some of the names in it.) Having your map disappear while using it to navigate in the clouds doesn't work very well, so that was one of the main issues pilots had with it.

It's not like there's a huge power change from screen saver to on, right? It just means the buttons stay active.

[rcuadro]

I think the PDF looks amazing Now it to get Calibre from converting PDF's when sending books to the K2

[daffy4u]

So far I can't re-hack my screensavers. I hope it's user error.

[Sonist]

Am I missing something, or is this still basically the equivalent of a really basic image viewer for PDFs, but now with a crop feature?

It's still a joke, otherwise:

NO ability to search within a PDF;
NO dictionary use within a PDF;
NO hyperlink capability (which means that TOCs, footnotes and indexes are useless within a PDF.)

So, why is Amazon sitting on its large collective behind, and failing to implement these most basic features?

And why are people so happy with this miserable update?

Phew!

[Kali Yuga]

1) About freakin' time. Well overdue IMO.
2) 85% improvement in battery life? I'll believe it when I see it....

Originally Posted by Sonist

why are people so happy with this miserable update?

Because even with those limits, it's better than dealing with a conversion process.

I concur though that they should enable search & dictionary support, the sooner the better. Links may be trickier.

[etienne66]

I'm glad it has PDF support. I've been playing with it for the past few minutes. Here are my observations:

Pros:
1. You can read PDF documents.
2. You can rotate the screen.
3. When viewed in landscape it fits the page to the width of the Kindle, the height in default view.
4. You can search documents for words.
5. You can add bookmarks.

Cons:
1. You can't highlight text.
2. You can't add notes.
3. You can't look up words in the dictionary
4. Indexes do not work.
5. Some books are still too hard to read even in Landscape mode. The screen just isn't big enough.

This will tide me over until Irex finally releases the DR800SG. They said mid-December, but they didn't say what year. I'm thinking mid-December 2010.

Etienne66

[elmoglick]

I can confirm that the Font Hack no longer works with the new firmware on the DX.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Am I missing something, or is this still basically the equivalent of a really basic image viewer for PDFs, but now with a crop feature?

It's still a joke, otherwise:

NO ability to search within a PDF;
NO dictionary use within a PDF;
NO hyperlink capability (which means that TOCs, footnotes and indexes are useless within a PDF.)

So, why is Amazon sitting on its large collective behind, and failing to implement these most basic features?

And why are people so happy with this miserable update?

Phew!

Actually I just tried a search of the word "battery" in the PDF of my Asus manual and it is searching though and highlighting the word as it find it, so searching does work.

[kjk]

Wow. That is a serious increase to battery life for any device.