Kindle in South Africa

The global version of the Amazon Kindle has been available for South Africa since October 19 2009, I had it on pre-order at Amazon.com and received it 4 days after it shipped, in perfect working order.

Kindle on my bookshelf

I still need to get around to writing up a thorough review, but I’ve been too busy enjoying using the Kindle.

The reason for this post, is that I’ve noticed people are buying the Kindle from local stores, when it is available cheaper and faster from Amazon direct.
Local stores like wantitall or jump, are charging around R3000.

The total for my order, including import duties and priority shipping was US$342 dollars, which roughly speaking came to about R2500.

So, order local and pay R500 more and wait longer or, order it from Amazon.

Hmmm, probably better to buy it from the people who make it at a lower price with better service

UPDATE 19/03/2010

Just a note that the kindle price was dropped after I ordered it, by $20 to $259
The current prices as of today’s exchange rates for ordering the Kindle ebook reader from amazon in South Africa Rands are:
Kindle: ZAR 1,974.38
Shipping & handling fee: ZAR 159.93
Import Fees and deposit: ZAR 304.09
Order Total: ZAR 2,438.40

The Amazon Kindle is now available for South Africa FINALLY!

Kindle on a bookshelf

Just a note for fellow South African’s going through the order process, a physical address is required for delivery and an import duty deposit of approximately $40 is charged with your order.
Only the priority international shipping option is allowed for the Kindle to ship to South Africa.

With shipping the total for my order came to $342.95

So, why am I so excited about a device for reading PDF files?

Well for starters there’s the content delivery network they have devised for getting new books to your Kindle, called Whisper Net.

The Kindle will connect via 3G to the cellular data networks to allow free browsing of the Kindle store and downloading new books to your Kindle.
No more waiting for a month for your book order to be shipped and arrive (if you are lucky:) ).
Now you can get the book you want instantaneously via a download in a matter of minutes.

The prices seem to be around the $10 range which is cheaper than you can get it in a store in South Africa.

The whole operation takes place without the need for a computer or an internet connection, which makes the product much more accessible and practical in South Africa.

And it’s not just books, there’s a huge range of really top quality content such as magazines and news papers available for subscription.

There also seem to be a whole bunch of cool features, such as being able to download mp3’s to the Kindle via USB and then listen to them while you read.
And there is a text-to-speech option for it reading you the book if your eye’s are required for other activities, not holding my breath on that feature being any good though, the voices are usually terribly artificial.

Well, I’ve preordered my Kindle, I’m waiting for my order to ship and arrive.
When it does I’ll do an in depth review and see how the idea of the Kindle measures up to the reality.

Amazon have announced a new software update which includes some much anticipated features:

Amazon say:

We will begin rolling out a free software update over the coming weeks which includes Collections to organize your books on your device, password protection, PDF pan and zoom capability, and more. Your Kindle will automatically check for and download this software update when it is available. There is nothing you need to do.

The most notable new feature is an improved system for managing and organising your books stored on the Kindle.

update 11/05/2010:
More information from Amazon about the software updates:

Kindle Version 2.5 Overview
The 2.5 software update for Kindle and Kindle DX is coming soon. We are rolling out the new software update to a limited group of Kindle users and plan a broad release in late May 2010. Check back here for updates on the release schedule.

Here’s a list of the coming enhancements:

Collections: Organize your books and documents into one or more collections.

PDF Pan and Zoom: Zoom into PDFs and pan around to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics.

Password Protection: Password protect your Kindle when you’re not using it.

More Fonts & Improved Clarity: Enjoy two new larger font sizes and sharper fonts for an even more comfortable reading experience.

Facebook & Twitter Posts: Share book passages with friends on Facebook and Twitter directly from your Kindle.

Popular Highlights: See what the Kindle community thinks are the most interesting passages in the books you’re reading.
Automatic Wireless Updates
We send out software updates wirelessly in batches. When a new software update is available for your Kindle, it will automatically be delivered to your device as described below. There is nothing you need to do.

Kindle checks for updates: All Kindles are designed to automatically check for and download updates when one is available. If an update is available, your Kindle will download and install the update the next time the wireless connection is activated and your Kindle goes into sleep mode.

Updates in less than 10 minutes: During the update, you’ll see screens that show the update progress. The update should take less than 10 minutes and is complete when your Kindle displays the Home screen. Do not power off or reset your Kindle until the update is complete. You can check to confirm the software your Kindle is running, by going to the Settings screen on the device. The software version will be displayed on the bottom of the screen.

Information for Kindle (1st Generation) Users
The most recent software update version of Kindle (1st Generation) is version 1.2. If you don’t have it, you can download version 1.2.

Amazon have just released the Kindle for iPad application for free download.
Which gives people with an iPad access to the Amazon book store and the ability to use Whispersync to read their books across all their registered devices.

I use the Kindle for iPhone app, lets me carry on reading my books where I left off when I’m stuck in a queue or somewhere equally unpleasant, and it works well, and from what I’ve read, is even better on the iPad.

Interesting thing I noticed is that there are many people that have both devices, iPad and Kindle, and I’ve already seen a few posts saying they prefer their Kindle for reading because of eye strain from the backlit screen on the iPad.

We are excited to announce that Kindle for iPad is now available for free download from the Apple App Store.
With Kindle for iPad, you can choose from over 450,000 Kindle books in the Kindle Store plus hundreds of thousands of other popular books for $9.99 or less.
Whispersync technology automatically syncs your Kindle library and last page read across devices, so you can always pick up right where you left off.
The Kindle for iPad app has a beautiful new user interface tailored to the size, look, and feel of the iPad. Get the free Kindle for iPad app now in the iPad App Store.

5 Reasons the Kindle beats the iPad as an ebook reader
1) Price
The cheapest iPad is $499 with no 3G vs. the Kindle at $259.
So, the Kindle is about $240 cheaper than the entry level iPad.

2) Usability
For reading, the e-ink technology on the Kindle is by far superior to the backlit screen.
You’ll get no glare or eye-strain from protracted reading.
Plus the design of the Kindle makes it disappear into the background as you’re reading and lets you become immersed in your book.
The iPad is far less of a specialist device, more of a gadget. There are distractions in the background that might not be ideal for the reading experience.

3) Lighter and Compact
You can hold the Kindle easily with one hand, reading away, while with the other you sip your cappucino or nibble on a snack while enjoying your book.
Not really possible with the iPad, as it’s heavier, larger and has a multi touch screen interface.
This means you are going to have to get your fingers onto the screen to do things while using the device, which is going to be a problem if you’re eating a messy snack with one hand.

4) Free Wikipedia access
In South Africa, the internet access is restricted to the Amazon store and wikipedia, but it’s amazing what you can find on wikipedia and how usefull it can be while reading a technical article.
And yes, the 3G is completely free, no contracts, no hassles.

5) Battery Life
The battery on my Kindle lasts a minimum of two weeks between charges, sometimes longer. It’s so long between charges that you forget it’s an electronic device
The most accurate information available on the iPad battery life is a bit vague, but they have said that the battery should last for up to 10 hours of reading a book.
That’s not quite up there in the two week ( 346 hours) range of the Kindle.

5 Strenths of the iPad:
1) Multiple Uses
Email, messanging, games, and watching HD movies and listening to music.
Reading ebooks is just one of the many things it can do.

2) Hello Good Looking!
If you’re looking for an electronic device that makes your inner-geek drool when you look at it, this is the one for you.

3) Multi Touch
Multi touch is the new interface paradigm that’s changing how we interact with the computing world, and the apple implementation is flawless.

4) iPhone Apps – Just not in South Africa!
Access to the iPhone apps and app store is a big plus, if you live in the US.
I’ve learnt from bitter experience with my iPhone, that we don’t get the same experience here as promised in the marketing.
In the US and Europe, people have access to a huge range of applications, tv shows and music that they can download form iTunes at a very reasonable rate.
The South African iTunes store simply doesn’t have any of that, a very small selection of apps and media.

5) 9.7″ colour screen
It looks really good, great quality screen, typical of apple’s products.
Make’s it great for browsing the web and doing email and you could probably enjoy watching a show or two.

For me, I’ve got my Kindle, and it’s great as an ebook reader.
Not sure I’d shell out the $499 minimum for an iPad just to get a cool gadget.

A friend of mine was telling me how he had loaded a whole bunch of images onto the Kindle for his daughter to page through.
She’s about 2 years old, and she really enjoys paging through the pictures on the Kindle.

The buttons and interface are so intuitive, a 2 year old can use it , I’m sure Amazon would be pleased.

It reminded me of a sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age [wikipedia article].

This futuristic story centres around a child in difficult circumstances getting hold of an advanced device custom built for training a royal child.
The device looks like a book, except the content changes dynamically and interacts intelligently with the user, gradually training and teaching skills.

Sounds similar to the Kindle in many ways. The Kindle may not be such an advanced device, but the possiblities are very exciting.

This is how to load pictures on your Kindle 2 -

1. Connect Kindle 2 via USB to your PC.
2. Go to the Kindle 2 using your explorer
3. Create a “pictures” folder on your Kindle 2.
4. For each album you want, create a sub-folder within “pictures”, ie. in pictures make a “holiday” folder
5. Copy your images into the sub-folders.
6. Disconnect your Kindle 2 from the computer
7. Go to the Home Page.
8. Press Alt-Z on home page to display photo albums among the book listing
9. Select one of these photo albums to start the experimental Image Viewer

You have some control while viewing pictures with the Image Viewer:
1. Zoom In – Q key.
2. Zoom Out – W key.
3. Reset Zoom Level for the Image – E key.
4. Toggle Picture to Actual Size – C key.
5. Toggle Picture to Full Screen Mode – F key.
6. Pan Photo if its larger than the Kindle 2’s screen – With 5-way controller.
7. Rotate the Image – R key.

I’ve seen in some articles that pushing the “1″ key triggers a bug, so best not to push it.

Something I discovered after using the Amazon Kindle for a while are all the shortcut keys and little tricks that make the experience easier.

Just a note on the syntax for the use of shortcut keys, where “SHIFT + Another button” it means you must press and hold down the “SHIFT” button first and then press the additional key before releasing them both.

For simplifying the use of the Text-To-Speech features there are some nifty shortcuts:
- Press Shift + Sym button to start or stop the Text To Speech
- To pause the Text-To-Speech while it is playing, press Spacebar
- If you want to change where the Text-To-Speech starts speaking from, move the cursor using the nav key to that location on the page and then press “Shift+Sym” to start

And some general shortcuts for getting around:

Kindle chilling with Bonsai

Did you know there was a minesweeper game on the Kindle?
- Push Alt + Shit + M to start a minesweeper game

You can also change the linespacing on the the page.
Linespacing is the space between each line.
- Hold down Alt + Shit buttons, then presss a number key between 1 and 9 to set a linespacing and choose one that works for you

For the mp3 player, the most useful shortcut of the lot:
- Push Alt + Space to start or stop playing
- Push Alt + F to skip to the next track

Amazon have just released a new software update [version 2.3] for the Kindle that has some pretty cool features:

Adjustable Screen rotation
You get to rotate the screen to landscape or portrait mode for viewing any type of content.

Built-in PDF Reader
A native PDF reader which preserves the formatting of the original PDF file.
This means you can convert any document to PDF and dump it on the Kindle via USB or give Amazon US$0.99 to deliver it via the whispernet.

Longer Battery Life
They claim that you can get longer battery life of a week on a single charge, compared with 4 days previously, with wireless mode turned on.

They claim the update will happen automagically over the week, but I couldn’t wait, so I did it manually.
To do it manually go to Menu, Settings, Menu again,  Update Kindle.

It’ll take a few minutes, there will be a progress bar and then, hey presto it will be installed.

To check which version of the software you are running look at the bottom right of the settings page.

If you don’t have wireless, there are instructions on the Amazon site on how to do it manually via your PC and USB cable.

For people with the Amazon Kindle, PDF versions of Project Gutenberg’s books for mobile devices are freely available at http://www.pdfbooks.co.za. Over 7,000 of them.

Project Gutenberg, is a massive volunteer-driven effort to capture public domain books into an electronic format.
Project Gutenberg attempts to store the captured books in as timeless a format as possible, by using only straight text and in limited cases html.

You can learn more about Project Gutenberg here: http://www.gutenberg.org

They have an extraordinary collection with some great works, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, and Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland to name a few that stood out in the list.

UPDATE
With the recent software update for the Kindle 2 these PDF’s are a lot more readable. You could also have them converted using Amazon’s pdf-to-kindle service.

There are also free books already formatted for the Kindle available at http://www.freekindlebooks.org/