Kindle News: Amazon releases Cloud (Drive) for Windows, an easier way to access the cloud storage space

Kindlezen tweeted an interesting article by Computerworld on Amazon's release of a desktop app for its Cloud Storage Service, which will make it easier for people to use the free 5 gigs of space for NON-Amazon files of any type, as long as they're not rights-protected.

In March 2011, Amazon's free 5 gigs of cloud drive was announced, and in July Amazon said that even OLDER mp3s bought from Amazon could be stored on the Cloud and streamed without the file being counted against storage space.

In March of last year, the intro to the Cloud Drive and how to use it was seen at the Amazon Cloud Drive help page.

Today's Cloud for Windows desktop app will make it even easier.


Computerworld's John P. Mello Jr. provides the details.
Mello writes that there are "versions of the software for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Mac 10.6 and 10.7" for download.

Again, people should be reminded that Amazon also gives 5 free gigs of additional cloud space for personal docs for the Kindle and that includes non-Amazon books that are not rights-protected. It also includes things like Word Docs, or web pages sent to the Kindle via various Send-to utilities including Amazon's own.Posted byAndrys BastenatSaturday, May 05, 2012

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Kindle Tips: Kindle E-Ink and Kindle Fire - most reliable Gmail mode

I've noticed that E-Ink-Ereader and Kindle Fire owners have reported problems accessing Gmail lately. One aspect is that few settle for "mobile" version on the larger mobile devices and choose 'desktop' mode. I'm one of them.

The one mode that always works for me on either the Kindle Touch or the Kindle Fire, though, is GMail's "Basic Html" mode, which is simpler and faster to load than the "Standard" mode, the latter being the default mode and causing problems for some larger mobile devices.

While GMail apps can work well for some, they are missing features that some depend on in GMail, and as a result some choose the browser version instead and, as I mentioned, Desktop mode.  If you prefer to use a browser version (I do), I have a shortcut that makes sure the Kindle Touch or the Kindle Fire get to the "Basic HTML" version of GMail.

That's http://bit.ly/gmailbasichtml.

The shortcut uses no dashes, so it's easier to type.  After you get to the GMail page in basic-html mode, then you can bookmark it so you don't have to type it again.

The Kindle Touch will show the listing of emails.  To get the folders, see the lined rectangle at top left of that page.  The rectangle represents these days a "Menu" option, and that'll bring up the folders.

Let me know if you have any problems with these.


KEYBOARD Kindles respond differently though.
For older models like Kindle 2, 3, DX, use:
    bit.ly/g_mail (That's an underscore there rather than a space, and the 'http://' is not needed with Kindles, as the Kindle adds it.)
  (Kindle 1 is just entirely too slow and has no direct-screen-link access for gmail.)

In the mobiweb.azw weblinks 'book' file that I've had for download for a long time for older E-Ink Kindles, you can just click on the links instead of going to Experimental browser where you type in links.  The "preferred" GMail shortcut in that mobiweb 'book' file for the older e-Ink devices is the bit.ly/g_mail one (with an underscore rather than a space) mentioned as an alternative.

The Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire models will be less problematical with the various GMail versions.   The mobiweb.azw file mentioned also uses good 'umbrella'-menu sites (such as Cantoni, Kinstant, ReadingTheNet, and Skweezer) which hold categories of links that are better to use when on a slow e-Ink device.

Hope that helps some !



Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links
US:
Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199
Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109
Kindle Touch, WiFi
- $99/$139
Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189
Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web
Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web UK:
Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89
Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109
Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169
Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149
  Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEBOTHER International
Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109
Kindle Touch WiFi - $139
Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189
Kindle Keybd 3G - $189
  Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB
Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

 

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We Need A Better Way to Manage Content

►  October(2)Why I'm Not Trading In Any of My Old KindlesWhat Could a "Kindle Membership" Program Look Like... ►  September(3)The Amazon FormulaHow "Open" Will Kindle Tablet Be?The Print Tail Still Wags the Ebook Dog ►  August(3)Give Your Kindle Some Personality!Kindle Cloud Reader: First ImpressionsHow Apple Is Pushing Me Away, Towards Amazon ►  July(1)I Want an Uber-Magazine Subscription ►  June(3)Why Can't I Subscribe to an Author?How Amazon Could Improve DiscoverabilityDelivereads, eReaderIQ & Amazon's "Sunshine Deals"... ►  May(2)Sharing Within Your Kindle AccountWhy Isn't Twitter Connected to Amazon's "Look Insi... ►  April(3)Kindle Likes & Dislikes: Another Point of ViewKindle Lessons Learned After a Year AwayWhy I Bought a New Kindle (as an iPad Accessory) ►  2010(5) ►  April(1)This Site Officially Under Deconstruction ►  March(1)WANTED: Kindle Fan for Debate ►  February(2)Kindle app for BlackBerry -- a first lookToo Little, Too Late ►  January(1)Here comes another one ►  2009(73) ►  December(1)A Christmas gift from The Book View Cafe ►  November(2)Book View Cafe embraces the KindleFrancis Hamit: An Author's Point of View ►  October(1)Coming Soon to Your PC: Kindle Books ►  September(2)The Asus Eee-Reader: I Don't Get ItManaging Stolen/Lost Kindles ►  August(2)Sheet Music on Kindle DXSlowly Losing Interest in Subscriptions ►  July(7)Lessons from the iPhone App StoreA glimpse of the future?How Amazon Should Have Handled the Orwell Situatio...Follow-up: More publishers delaying e-books?How do you spell "shortsighted?"PC Mag and BusinessWeek on the KindleUR, by Stephen King ►  June(6)A Kindle App OpportunityWhen Two Out of Three Ain't GoodWSJ's Mossberg on the KindleDX: "Bigger, Not Bette...E-Books get OlfactoryDo You Want More Magazine Options on the Kindle?The Lion That Squeaked? ►  May(5) ►  April(7) ►  March(9) ►  February(26) ►  January(5) ►  2008(125) ►  December(7) ►  November(6) ►  October(11) ►  September(10) ►  August(11) ►  July(15) ►  June(10) ►  May(6) ►  April(12) ►  March(9) ►  February(13) ►  January(15) ►  2007(23) ►  December(23)

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How Frequently Will Amazon Release Kindle Fire Software Updates?

It's unfortunate (for me) that Amazon decided to deliver my new Kindle Fire while I'm out of town. New Fire and Touch devices are waiting for me at home though and I can't wait to try them out. In the mean time I've been living vicariously through all the bloggers and tweeters who have written about their initial Fire experiences.

One point I've seen made in too many reviews so far is that the Fire has a number of minor bugs and annoyances. Many users go on to say that these are things Amazon should be able to fix quickly by issuing software updates.
While that may be true I worry that Amazon doesn't have a history of frequent updates and improvements. Yes, they've issued a number of new O.S. releases for the eInk Kindles but it's happened at a glacial pace with very few core functionality enhancements. Something as simple as folders, better known as Collections, was considered a radical improvement!
My point is that it doesn't appear that Amazon dedicates enough developer resources to their Kindle platform. That may have been acceptable in the eInk, dedicated reader days. After all, most customers only expected their eInk Kindle to do one thing and do it well. With the Fire though, Amazon has now entered the tablet arena and the expectations are different, particularly since they're pushing so many cloud-based content consumption options (e.g., music, video, etc.)
The minor bugs and annoyances I've read about sound reasonably acceptable for an initial release. However, they also sound like the type of fixes that could and should be made within the next week or two. Let's hope Amazon assigns a higher priority to these Kindle Fire software updates than they've shown in the past with eInk Kindle software updates.

Posted byJoe Wikert 

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Shhh...Don't Tell Amazon You're Loading These Apps on Your Kindle Fire

Up to now I've only bought ebooks from Amazon because I figure they offer a great multi-platform service. I can read those books on my Kindle hardware, my Mac, my iPad, a Windows PC, etc. Good luck doing that with books you buy from the iBookstore.

We all know the Kindle Fire is based on the Android operating system and you probably realize that only a small number of Android apps are offered through Amazon's Appstore for Android. That's because Amazon wants to limit the apps you run on your Fire. In some cases they're trying to prevent you from a buggy or unpleasant experience. In other cases though, they're just looking out for their own revenue stream.

So what if you've bought some ebooks from Barnes & Noble? Are you out of luck and unable to read them on your Fire? No way. Thanks to the extremely easy steps outlined in this article you too can load not only the nook app on your Fire but also a bunch of other non-Amazon-sanctioned Android apps as well. Btw, there's no rooting involved in this solution. It took me less than 5 minutes to implement and now I have access to a much larger list of apps for my Fire. Highly recommended!

Posted byJoe Wikert 

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The Kindle Fire Needs a Killer App

Shhh...Don't Tell Amazon You're Loading These Apps...Kindle Fire & Touch: First ImpressionsHow Frequently Will Amazon Release Kindle Fire Sof...We Need A Better Way to Manage Content ►  October(2)Why I'm Not Trading In Any of My Old KindlesWhat Could a "Kindle Membership" Program Look Like... ►  September(3)The Amazon FormulaHow "Open" Will Kindle Tablet Be?The Print Tail Still Wags the Ebook Dog ►  August(3)Give Your Kindle Some Personality!Kindle Cloud Reader: First ImpressionsHow Apple Is Pushing Me Away, Towards Amazon ►  July(1)I Want an Uber-Magazine Subscription ►  June(3)Why Can't I Subscribe to an Author?How Amazon Could Improve DiscoverabilityDelivereads, eReaderIQ & Amazon's "Sunshine Deals"... ►  May(2)Sharing Within Your Kindle AccountWhy Isn't Twitter Connected to Amazon's "Look Insi... ►  April(3)Kindle Likes & Dislikes: Another Point of ViewKindle Lessons Learned After a Year AwayWhy I Bought a New Kindle (as an iPad Accessory) ►  2010(5) ►  April(1)This Site Officially Under Deconstruction ►  March(1)WANTED: Kindle Fan for Debate ►  February(2)Kindle app for BlackBerry -- a first lookToo Little, Too Late ►  January(1)Here comes another one ►  2009(73) ►  December(1)A Christmas gift from The Book View Cafe ►  November(2)Book View Cafe embraces the KindleFrancis Hamit: An Author's Point of View ►  October(1)Coming Soon to Your PC: Kindle Books ►  September(2)The Asus Eee-Reader: I Don't Get ItManaging Stolen/Lost Kindles ►  August(2)Sheet Music on Kindle DXSlowly Losing Interest in Subscriptions ►  July(7)Lessons from the iPhone App StoreA glimpse of the future?How Amazon Should Have Handled the Orwell Situatio...Follow-up: More publishers delaying e-books?How do you spell "shortsighted?"PC Mag and BusinessWeek on the KindleUR, by Stephen King ►  June(6)A Kindle App OpportunityWhen Two Out of Three Ain't GoodWSJ's Mossberg on the KindleDX: "Bigger, Not Bette...E-Books get OlfactoryDo You Want More Magazine Options on the Kindle?The Lion That Squeaked? ►  May(5) ►  April(7) ►  March(9) ►  February(26) ►  January(5) ►  2008(125) ►  December(7) ►  November(6) ►  October(11) ►  September(10) ►  August(11) ►  July(15) ►  June(10) ►  May(6) ►  April(12) ►  March(9) ►  February(13) ►  January(15) ►  2007(23) ►  December(23)

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Why I Rooted My Kindle Fire

►  November(5)The Kindle Fire Needs a Killer AppShhh...Don't Tell Amazon You're Loading These Apps...Kindle Fire & Touch: First ImpressionsHow Frequently Will Amazon Release Kindle Fire Sof...We Need A Better Way to Manage Content ►  October(2)Why I'm Not Trading In Any of My Old KindlesWhat Could a "Kindle Membership" Program Look Like... ►  September(3)The Amazon FormulaHow "Open" Will Kindle Tablet Be?The Print Tail Still Wags the Ebook Dog ►  August(3)Give Your Kindle Some Personality!Kindle Cloud Reader: First ImpressionsHow Apple Is Pushing Me Away, Towards Amazon ►  July(1)I Want an Uber-Magazine Subscription ►  June(3)Why Can't I Subscribe to an Author?How Amazon Could Improve DiscoverabilityDelivereads, eReaderIQ & Amazon's "Sunshine Deals"... ►  May(2)Sharing Within Your Kindle AccountWhy Isn't Twitter Connected to Amazon's "Look Insi... ►  April(3)Kindle Likes & Dislikes: Another Point of ViewKindle Lessons Learned After a Year AwayWhy I Bought a New Kindle (as an iPad Accessory) ►  2010(5) ►  April(1)This Site Officially Under Deconstruction ►  March(1)WANTED: Kindle Fan for Debate ►  February(2)Kindle app for BlackBerry -- a first lookToo Little, Too Late ►  January(1)Here comes another one ►  2009(73) ►  December(1)A Christmas gift from The Book View Cafe ►  November(2)Book View Cafe embraces the KindleFrancis Hamit: An Author's Point of View ►  October(1)Coming Soon to Your PC: Kindle Books ►  September(2)The Asus Eee-Reader: I Don't Get ItManaging Stolen/Lost Kindles ►  August(2)Sheet Music on Kindle DXSlowly Losing Interest in Subscriptions ►  July(7)Lessons from the iPhone App StoreA glimpse of the future?How Amazon Should Have Handled the Orwell Situatio...Follow-up: More publishers delaying e-books?How do you spell "shortsighted?"PC Mag and BusinessWeek on the KindleUR, by Stephen King ►  June(6)A Kindle App OpportunityWhen Two Out of Three Ain't GoodWSJ's Mossberg on the KindleDX: "Bigger, Not Bette...E-Books get OlfactoryDo You Want More Magazine Options on the Kindle?The Lion That Squeaked? ►  May(5) ►  April(7) ►  March(9) ►  February(26) ►  January(5) ►  2008(125) ►  December(7) ►  November(6) ►  October(11) ►  September(10) ►  August(11) ►  July(15) ►  June(10) ►  May(6) ►  April(12) ►  March(9) ►  February(13) ►  January(15) ►  2007(23) ►  December(23)

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