by Amazon. com
Kindle retains the best qualities of printed books, but adds many features that are available only through digital technologies such as word look up, changeable text size, clippings, annotations, and sharing. This chapter explains more about Kindle's reading features.
3.1 Types of Content
There are many types of reading material available for your Kindle such as books, audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, and blogs. If you want to begin purchasing and downloading reading material, you can learn more in Chapter 5. You can even have Amazon convert and deliver personal documents to your Kindle. The different types of supported content are described below.
Books
Thousands of books in different categories - both popular and hard-to-find - are available in the Kindle Store. Once you buy a book, it usually arrives wirelessly in under a minute. Because you can't always judge a book by its cover, you can download and read a sample of most Kindle books for free. If you like it, simply buy it from within the sample and continue reading. You can learn more about this feature in Chapter 5.
Newspapers
The Kindle Store offers a selection of U.S. and international newspapers. Subscriptions are delivered wirelessly to your Kindle so that the latest edition arrives as soon as it is available, and every newspaper subscription starts with a free trial.
Magazines
The Kindle Store offers an expanding selection of magazines to meet every interest. As with newspapers, all magazine subscriptions are delivered wirelessly and start with a free trial.
Blogs
The Kindle Store offers thousands of Kindle blogs, including up-to-the-minute news feeds and topical blogs. Blog categories include business, technology, sports, politics, culture, entertainment, humor, and science. Kindle blogs are sent to you wirelessly throughout the day, allowing you to keep current. Unlike traditional feeds, which often only provide headlines, Kindle downloads the complete feed onto the device so you can read them even when you are not wirelessly connected.
Personal Documents
In addition to purchased content, you can read your personal documents on Kindle.
Kindle can display a PDF document without losing the formatting of the original file. You can either drag PDF files over USB to your device or e-mail them to your dedicated Kindle e-mail address (found on the Settings page on Kindle or the Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon). You can rotate your device sideways for widescreen viewing. For more information on the unique aspects of reading PDF files on Kindle, see “Reading PDF Files”.
If you have PDF files, or files formatted as text, Microsoft Word, HTML, or image files like GIF or JPEG, you can e-mail the files as attachments to your Kindle e-mail address. Amazon will convert the files if necessary and send them back to your computer for free or via Whispernet to your Kindle (fees may apply). For more information on transferring, converting, and e-mailing your personal documents, see Chapter 8.
For details on fees, see the "Your individual charges" section of the Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon.
Audible Content
The Kindle Store offers thousands of Audible audio editions, including New York Times Best Sellers. In addition to audiobooks, the Kindle Store offers audio editions for radio shows, stand-up comedy, and speeches from icons who shape our culture, politics, and business world. Listen to Audible content through Kindle's speakers or plug in your headphones for private listening. Audiobooks can be delivered wirelessly via Wi-Fi to your Kindle with no computer required. See Chapter 5 for more information about purchasing audiobooks.
If Wi-Fi is not available at your current location, you can still purchase Audible content using 3G (on Kindle 3G+Wi-Fi models), and your Audible purchase will automatically download to your Kindle the next time your Kindle connects using Wi-Fi. Alternatively, you can download your Audible purchases to your PC or Mac over your existing Internet connection and then transfer them to Kindle using USB. For more information on transferring Audible content from your computer to your Kindle, see Chapter 8.
Background Music
If you like to listen to music while you use your Kindle, use your computer to transfer MP3 files to the "music" folder on your Kindle. When you select "play music" from the Experimental page, each of the songs will play in the order they were added to your Kindle.
3.2 Content Formatting on Kindle
When you read a book on Kindle, you will find that the formatting generally follows the printed version of the book. If the book has a table of contents, it will appear in Kindle. If the book has chapters, a preface, an illustrated cover, and so forth, these will be displayed.
When you first open a book, a header appears at the top of the page showing the content title and/or issue date. The header also shows the connection type, signal strength, and battery status indicators.
Once you open a book, when you go to the next or previous page, the header automatically disappears to allow the page to fill the screen. To temporarily display the header (for example, if you want to check battery status), press Menu. Pressing Menu again hides the header.
Progress Indicator
At the bottom of every page of your reading material, you can see where you are by glancing at the progress bar. The start location indicates the starting point for your current reading session. As you progress further into the content, you will see a solid bar growing longer to indicate your overall reading progress. The progress bar shows structural marks within content such as articles, bookmarks, notes, or highlights. The progress bar also indicates how far you've read during your current reading session.
In books, the progress indicator also shows you the overall percentage of the book you have read and a numeric location of where you are reading, so you can easily find a particular passage or reference it to your friends. Locations are the digital answer to page numbers. Changing the text size on Kindle also changes the page numbering, but with locations, you return to the same place every time regardless of the text size.
Changing the Text Size, Typeface, and Line Spacing
You can adjust the text settings to suit your preference. You have a choice of eight text sizes for reading books, periodicals, and personal documents on Kindle. (You cannot change the text size on menus or on Kindle screens, such as the Home screen or the Kindle Store.) You can also change the typeface and line spacing to optimize your reading experience. While reading a PDF document, you can zoom in or adjust the contrast to make the document easier to read.
To pick the text size, typeface, or line spacing that you want to use while reading, follow these steps:
Press the Text key located on the bottom row of the keyboard.
Use the 5-way to select the new text size, typeface, or line spacing that you want to use (you see the changes immediately).
Press the 5-way or the Text key to confirm your choice.
Adjusting the Number of Words per Line
You can change the number of words per line in the book, periodical, or converted personal document you are currently reading to suit your reading preference. Adjusting the number of words increases or decreases the size of the margins. You may find you read faster with fewer words per line. Experiment to find what works best for you.
To pick the number of words per line you prefer, follow these steps:
Press the Text key located on the bottom row of the keyboard.
Use the 5-way to underline the Words per Line options.
Choose the option you want to use (you see the change immediately).
Press the 5-way or the Text key to confirm your choice.
Note: You cannot change the number of words per line in PDF files or in Web Browser.
Increasing the Size of a Picture
If you'd like to see a larger size of a picture or image you encounter in your reading material, simply follow these steps to zoom temporarily on the image.
Use the 5-way controller to position the cursor over the picture.
An image of a magnifying glass with a plu
s sign will appear on top of the picture.
Press the 5-way to zoom the image. You will see a expanded view of the picture that rotates if necessary to maximize the use of the display.
Press the 5-way (or any key or button, except the Home button) to return to your content.
3.3 Moving from Place to Place
There are several ways for you to get from place to place once you have opened your reading material. Most often you will turn pages using the Next Page and Previous Page buttons (described in Chapter 1). You can also get around inside your book or periodical by selecting locations from the item's Menu, clicking on links in the content, or by using the 5-way controller to go to the next or previous article or chapter.
Using the Menu to Get Around
To go to the menu, press the Menu button when reading a book or periodical. You will have slightly different options depending on the content you are reading. Examples of the menu options are described below.
If you are reading a Kindle book, the menu shows the following options:
Turn Wireless Off — turns off Whispernet. When Whispernet is off, this option will change to "Turn Wireless On."
Shop in Kindle Store — takes you to the Kindle Storefront.
Buy This Book Now — connects to the Kindle Store, purchases, and downloads the full book to your Kindle. Only appears if you are reading a sample from the Kindle Store.
Go to... — allows you to move to another location in the item you are reading. Choose one of these options:
cover — takes you to the cover page of the item you are reading. This is usually the cover of the book.
beginning — takes you to the beginning of the book. This is usually the first chapter, but may be a foreword, the table of contents, or some other location.
location — enter a location number to jump to in the content, and then select this option. Press the Symbol key to enter numbers.
table of contents — takes you to the Table of Contents (if available) for the item you are reading. This option is dimmed if a Table of Contents is not available.
Sync to Furthest Page Read — connects to Amazon Whispernet and compares your current reading location with the one saved at Amazon. If you are further along in your book using another device, Kindle gives you the choice to go to the furthest page read.
Book Description — connects to the Kindle Store and displays the book's detail page.
Search This Book — displays the Search line at the bottom of the screen. Additional details on how to conduct a search are provided in Chapter 4.
Add a Bookmark — bookmarks the page you are currently on. After selecting this option, the upper right corner of the book will be dog-eared and this menu option will change to "Delete Bookmark."
Add a Note or Highlight — displays a cursor so you can highlight a passage or create a note. See “Using Highlights” and “Using Notes” for additional details on how to create a note or highlight.
View My Notes & Marks — displays a page containing all of your current item's notes, highlights, and bookmarks.
View Popular Highlights — displays a page containing all of your current item's Popular Highlights. This option is dimmed if the book doesn't have any popular highlights or if you've turned off Popular Highlights in Kindle Settings.
If you are reading a newspaper or magazine, you will see the following different options:
Clip This Article — makes a copy of the entire article and adds it to your "My Clippings" file.
Keep This Issue — designates the newspaper or magazine issue as one to be stored in your Kindle until you remove it. Once selected, this option changes to Do Not Keep This Issue .
If you are reading a blog, you will see the following options:
Navigating within a Periodical
At the bottom of a newspaper or magazine you will see options for quickly navigating within an issue. When viewing a blog, you will see similar options for navigation.
Previous Article — takes you to the previous article.
View Section List — takes you to the section list of a newspaper or magazine when you press the 5-way.
View Article List — takes you to the article list of a blog when you press the 5-way.
Next Article — advances you to the next article.
By default, "View Section List" for newspapers and magazines is highlighted and when you press the 5-way, a list of the sections will appear. If you are viewing a blog, "View Article List" is highlighted and pressing the 5-way shows a list of the blog's articles.
To navigate to a particular section, use the 5-way controller to underline the section title and then press the 5-way to select. Selecting the number to the right of the section title will take you to a list of articles found within that section. To dismiss this view and return to where you were last reading in the magazine or newspaper, select "Close Section List" located at the bottom of the screen.
To navigate to a particular article within a section or blog, simply move the 5-way controller to underline the article title and press to select. To dismiss this view and return to where you were last reading in a blog or to the Section List in a magazine or newspaper, select "Close Article List" located at the bottom of the screen.
Selecting Internal Links
Your reading material may also contain links to other places in the document. For example, in many books, the table of contents is set up to link to the content pages. Links are easy to spot because they are underlined.
To select a link:
Use the 5-way to underline the link.
The cursor changes to look like this:
Press the 5-way to select the link.
Kindle takes you to the linked location.
Press the Back button to go back to where you were.
Your reading material may also contain external links that take you to locations on the Web.
Viewing a Table
Your reading material may contain a large table that is not entirely contained within the screen. To see the rest of the table, move the 5-way controller up or down to bring up the cursor and then place the cursor to the left of the table. Move the 5-way to the right to scroll through the rest of the table.
Reading Across Multiple Kindles or Supported Devices
If you read the same Kindle Store book across multiple Kindles or supported devices (for example, Kindle for iPhone or Kindle for PC), you'll find Whispersync makes it easy for you to switch back and forth. Whispersync synchronizes the bookmarks, notes, highlights, and furthest page read among devices registered to the same account. For a complete list of supported devices, visit the Kindle Store on the Amazon website.
Whispersync is on by default to ensure a seamless reading experience for a book read across multiple Kindles. If you would like to turn Whispersync off, follow these steps:
Go to: http://www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle (U.S. and other countries) or http://www.amazon.co.uk/manageyourkindle (U.K. customers)
At the bottom of the page, click on the link "Manage synchronization between devices."
Select "Turn Synchronization off."
Once you turn synchronization off, your books will still open to the last page read on that device, but Whispersync will no longer sync bookmarks, notes, highlights, or the furthest page read with other devices. If you would like to sync the book manually, press the Menu button and select "Sync to Furthest Page Read."
3.4 Looking Up Definitions
While reading a book, periodical, or personal document, you can see a brief definition of a word using the Lookup feature. The default dictionary is The New Oxford American Dictionary included on your Kindle, but you can choose a different dictionary as your default. See Chapter 7 for details on how to change your default dictionary.
The Lookup Feature
To see the definition of a particular word in your reading content, follow these steps:
Press up or down on the 5-way controller to display the cursor. If you are zoomed in
to a PDF page, you can also press Menu and choose “Place Cursor in Page” to display the cursor.
Use the 5-way to move the cursor in front of the word you want to look up.
If the word is found in the dictionary, a definition extract appears at the top or bottom of the screen.
To see the complete definition, press the Return key . You will now be placed in the dictionary and can use Previous Page and Next Page to view other word definitions.
Press the Back button to return to your reading.
Tip: If you want to expand your search beyond the dictionary on your device, you can use the Search feature to look for the word on Wikipedia or the Web. See Chapter 4 for more information.
3.5 Annotations and Clippings
You can add annotations to all of your books, periodicals, and personal documents . Annotations can include notes you have written, highlights you've marked, and bookmarks you've created. Bookmarks can only be created in books and PDF documents. Annotations are specific to the content you are reading, so each book, periodical, or personal document has its own annotations. When you view the annotations, you see only those for the content you are currently reading. Note that when you create an annotation in a newspaper or magazine, you will see the word "keep" to the left of the issue title in Home, indicating that the issue will be stored on your Kindle until you remove it.
