Kindle in Motion ebook format

[fjtorres]

It's been a couple of years since Amazon introduced their primary reflowable ebook format, KF8, and while there's been some tinkering with typography mods and stuff, they haven't changed the basic model of ebook rendering: reflowable vs fixed page.

That may be changing.

Here are two looks at some of the new capabilities coming to the Kindle ecosystem:

http://the-digital-reader.com/2016/0...t-screenshots/

Kindle in Motion adds GIF-like animations which can be seen on the Fire tablet and in the Kindle apps for iPad, Android, and iPhone (if you read one of these ebooks on a Kindle, you'll just see the regular ebook).

Edit: Kindle in Motion is not to be confused with Kindle A\V, or Kindle with Audio\Video. That format had embedded audio video clips, and debuted in 2010.

Amazon has not announced the new format, and they're not even talking about it.

Here's what we know so far.

Six Kindle in Motion titles are available right now, all from Amazon's publishing division. This includes four original romance titles and two new editions for an Edgar Allan Poe collection and The Secret Garden.
The ebooks sport various enhancements like animated covers, video clips, and page backgrounds which can be turned on or off if you don't want to see them while reading.
The enhanced versions of the ebooks are limited to portrait mode only, and are quite large (200MB to 400MB).
There's no known way for anyone to use KDP to produce this format.
I bought several Kindle in Motion titles. The romance titles had embedded videos, but the two public domain titles had animations.

https://medium.com/@jiminypan/kindle...4e5#.36vc7nlnx

So Amazon has released yet another format: Kindle in Motion. It’s not been announced with great fanfare nor officially launched yet but I guess they might be waiting for a larger catalogue.
While a lot of people will obviously focus on animations, the beauty of this format is IMHO to be found in “the boring parts”. Those parts are (not so) small details but it does honestly feel like an engineering feat when it comes to eBooks.

Full-bleed at last

When working with publishers, one of the most popular demand you might deal with is the ability to do full-bleed in reflow. Now, you can’t do that for various reasons, mainly because pagination is achieved using CSS 3 columns — in a iframe.

Well, Kindle in Motion can do that. No more forced margins. And this applies to background images too.

Text wraps
Sure, iBooks Author has been doing this since its launch… but only in fixed-layout.
OK, you can now do this with CSS. Bear in mind it’s still an experimental technology which is not supported everywhere though.
So basically, this is possible in some EPUB3 Reading Systems right now using shape-outside BUT there’s a little Kindle twist…

More at the sources.

There's some fun stuff coming.
I think the really bigg impact will be on magazines.

[jhowell]

I tried the selection of Kindle in Motion books available through Kindle Unlimited using Kindle for Android. I am not a fan so far. For me the animations were distracting and took me out of the story instead of making me more immersed in it. It seems more suited to magazines than books.

Those things are huge! The average size of each book was about 275 MB. (And these are all short books.) Looking at the files I see that this is another use for the new KFX format. It appears that Amazon is using KFX for all of their new features.

On the plus side I did like the ability to have text flow around unevenly shaped images. Fixed layout book have been able to do this in the past, but Kindle in Motion allows you to change the font style and size and have the text still reflow around things.

ETA: One oddity. Although these books work in Kindle apps, I needed to select an actual Kindle or Fire device for the initial borrow in Kindle Unlimited. Only after borrowing could I send them to an app. [Further edit: This problem only occurs if I borrow from the search results page. Borrowing from the actual book page on Amazon works normally.]

[Barty]

"The romance titles had embedded videos."

Ahem.

This sounds like it may be good for children's books. Those file sizes are bonkers, though.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Barty

"The romance titles had embedded videos."

Ahem.

This sounds like it may be good for children's books. Those file sizes are bonkers, though.

Not if the clips had half decent video quality.
Even SD Video chews up space something fierce compared to plain text.

[jhowell]

Another Kindle in Motion book has been added, Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer.

I borrowed the book on Kindle Unlimited to check out the new features, but found that I couldn't. Because I had previously borrowed (and returned) that book, my account is now locked to the original edition that I borrowed back in 2014, which of course does not have Kindle in Motion. [The handling of e-book updates that occur after purchase or first borrow is a tricky issue.]

Others, who have borrowed or purchased this book in the past, may be faced with a similar problem. I could contact customer service and see if they would unlock the new edition for me, but I don't think I will bother.

[tomsem]

Assuming Amazon releases ever tools for creating these, the file size issue is a deal killer. KDP charges 10 cents per MB for 'delivery'. So 200MB -> $20. They need to adjust the rates, or nobody will use these features. I imagine the current rates are out of step with Amazon's actual costs, which should be going steadily down as competition with AWS ramps up.

But I think the reason for this is mainly to show 'we can do it too': iBooks format has had this stuff for awhile (e.g. the Harry Potter books), and those are also pretty big.

I'd like to see support for animated SVG, as those could be considerably smaller than video or animated GIF. SVG 2 spec just released, as SVG on the web is seeing a renaissance with the demise of Flash.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Assuming Amazon releases ever tools for creating these, the file size issue is a deal killer. KDP charges 10 cents per MB for 'delivery'. So 200MB -> $20. They need to adjust the rates, or nobody will use these features. I imagine the current rates are out of step with Amazon's actual costs, which should be going steadily down as competition with AWS ramps up.

But I think the reason for this is mainly to show 'we can do it too': iBooks format has had this stuff for awhile (e.g. the Harry Potter books), and those are also pretty big.

I'd like to see support for animated SVG, as those could be considerably smaller than video or animated GIF. SVG 2 spec just released, as SVG on the web is seeing a renaissance with the demise of Flash.

Not if the publisher takes 35% royalties.
The delivery fee only applies to 70% royalties.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Assuming Amazon releases ever tools for creating these, the file size issue is a deal killer. KDP charges 10 cents per MB for 'delivery'. So 200MB -> $20. They need to adjust the rates, or nobody will use these features. I imagine the current rates are out of step with Amazon's actual costs, which should be going steadily down as competition with AWS ramps up.

But I think the reason for this is mainly to show 'we can do it too': iBooks format has had this stuff for awhile (e.g. the Harry Potter books), and those are also pretty big.

I'd like to see support for animated SVG, as those could be considerably smaller than video or animated GIF. SVG 2 spec just released, as SVG on the web is seeing a renaissance with the demise of Flash.

The big sizes are for embedded video but not necessarily for the other enhancements. Besides, kindle had embedded video years ago. That's not the big deal. Reflowable text + irregular graphics, full page bleed, graphic frames... That's the big win. It'll be useful for magazines. Kids books, too.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Another Kindle in Motion book has been added, Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer.

I borrowed the book on Kindle Unlimited to check out the new features, but found that I couldn't. Because I had previously borrowed (and returned) that book, my account is now locked to the original edition that I borrowed back in 2014, which of course does not have Kindle in Motion. [The handling of e-book updates that occur after purchase or first borrow is a tricky issue.]

Others, who have borrowed or purchased this book in the past, may be faced with a similar problem. I could contact customer service and see if they would unlock the new edition for me, but I don't think I will bother.

Shouldn't you be able to delete the book from MYK, then re-borrow the latest version?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Shouldn't you be able to delete the book from MYK, then re-borrow the latest version?

Not so sure about that. I have not even tried yet if it is possible to delete a KU book. It could simply be a return instead (or not work). Unlike library borrows that stay in your MYK page after being returned or expired, KU books disappear. It would be nice if past borrows could be shown. There is no way to figure out if a book has been previously borrowed through KU. I do believe I read the book I just started before, but can't be sure.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Shouldn't you be able to delete the book from MYK, then re-borrow the latest version?

You don't delete books from Kindle Unlimited, you return them. When you do this Amazon keeps information about the book in your account in case you purchase it or borrow it again later. This is from Manage Your Content and Devices:

Return Loan Confirmation

Title: Darkness There: Selected Tales by Edgar Allan Poe [Kindle in Motion]
Author: Edgar Allan Poe

When you return a book it will be removed from your Kindle. Your notes and furthest page read will be saved for you should you wish to read it again in the future.

Are you sure you want to return this book?

They don't state it explicitly, but through my own testing I have determined that they also make sure that you receive the same version of the book, even if it was updated by the publisher in the mean time. This assures that you can pick up exactly where you left off.

[I have even found that if you delete a book that you have purchased from your account and re-purchase it again later (as you might do with a free book) Amazon gives you the version of the book that you purchased originally. However, if you lend a purchased book to someone else they receive the latest version, no matter what version you have in your account.]

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Unlike library borrows that stay in your MYK page after being returned or expired, KU books disappear.

Huh. I don't have any experience with KU so I didn't know this.
That kind of stinks.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Not so sure about that. I have not even tried yet if it is possible to delete a KU book. It could simply be a return instead (or not work). Unlike library borrows that stay in your MYK page after being returned or expired, KU books disappear. It would be nice if past borrows could be shown. There is no way to figure out if a book has been previously borrowed through KU. I do believe I read the book I just started before, but can't be sure.

Under Myk, there is a borrows.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Under Myk, there is a borrows.

That only shows books that you currently have borrowed from KU, not those you have previously returned. (It works differently from borrowing library books.)

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Huh. I don't have any experience with KU so I didn't know this.
That kind of stinks.

No, I like this. It would just be clutter, and if you were trying to use MYK to return current KU borrows, it would be hard to find them. The notes/highlights are still there should you borrow the title again.