KindleChat.com

This is it.

So far, this is by far the best portable Bible app I have used. I used to use a version for the Palm, then for the Windows CE device (several), I thought had found the perfect device in the Kindle but it was a huge disappointment in the implementation of the electronic Bible. It wasn’t the Kindles fault as much as it was the fact that none of the Bible publishers knew how to implement a good index that allowed you to get to a book and chapter quickly.

Well the iPhone/Touch app of BibleXpress has that part nailed down. Just touch the top bar and up pops a rotating dial that allows you to quickly scroll to whatever book, chapter or version you want to get to. How do you think you get to the next chapter? In version 1.1 it is as simple as swiping your finger just as you might after licking it to turn a page.

Another thing that was disappointing about the other Bible apps I had tried was their dependence on connectivity, it might be great on your iPhone to be able to hop over and read a multitude of translations but what about when there is no connectivity. BibleXpress has an actual copy of the translations on the device, ready to be read anywhere.

In a note from the developer (see below) he mentions his intent to include a number of additional translations. Since the app store doesn’t currently offer a method of paying for upgrades you the buyer are having to trust the developer remains true to his word and includes more translations as he rolls out improvements and bugfixes. But so far, even if he didn’t get a single additional translation I would still say his app is NOT overpriced. I can’t wait to see what all improvements he makes, a simple reading plan would be awesome.

Check out the developers site for a youtube video of how it works and more information. If your like me and have been looking for a Bible that would potentially be with you always, this is a great place to start. I don’t know if it will replace my trusty Cambridge, but I will certainly enjoy the ease and speed in which i can pop around and get to verses. Did I mention it also has a powerful search capability…

A note from the developer at BibleXpress

The iPhone /iPod Touch software will be updated with more Bible translations over the coming months until at least 80% of the net price is being paid as royalties. We’re currently negotiating with 3 popular translations. Check back in a few weeks for updated information.

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Kindlechat wants to welcome Kalpanik S. to the writing staff of this website, hopefully bringing new insights through articles relating to the Kindle e-book reader.  I look forward to Kalpanik’s first article as I’m sure you will.  A website with multiple writers usually brings a nice balance as well as differing views on new releases and news to the reader base.  If you would be interested in joining the KindleChat writers email me at minezamac at gmail . com.

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If you have an opinion and experiences with your Kindle and would be interested in blogging about it I am looking for a few additional bloggers to increase the number of articles for KindleChat.  The articles do not have to be solely for the Kindle, but should be focused around reading and e-reader technology or the associated products that go with the Kindle and e-readers.  Contact me on the KindleChat group under the “Looking for a few good bloggers” post.

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If your like me, you have had your Kindle for quite some time.  I have actually grown used to most  of it’s idiosyncrasies and still love the fact I have one.   Unless you really need the wireless portion you just leave it off, that let’s you use the Kindle for a week of reading for an hour or two a day.  Need to buy something, fire up the wireless, otherwise just leave it off.  The thing is still a joy to read despite so many early people complaining about how to hold the thing. I must be unique in that I just use my hands and cruise right on through the book, but the roar of criticism seems o have died down.

The really weird thing is that the unit is still always sold out.  Are they making more than 5 at a time?  They are available on eBay for a chunk of cash but I don’t see any that are used.  That would seem to imply those that have begun to use them have kept them so far.  But I suppose we’ll see.  Sadly the hype seems to have faded and we still don’t have any more magazine than we did when it launched, but a few more newspapers have arrived.  Come on Dallas get a newspaper so I can have a reason to keep my wireless on.  Until then I will just keep on reading…  Hows your Kindle doing?  Have you named it?

 Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazons New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

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It happened again. I was reading at lunch and realized I had not charged my kindle in quite a while. It died. ARRRGH. So I am at work, no where near the standard charger. The plug on this is not run of the mill, but I have a drawer full of old cell phone chargers.

Before beginning to use the charger I will describe later I decided to attempt to do a trickle charge with my USB cable. We’ll if your Kindle is so dead that it won’t alert your machine it is connected then your machine like mine will likely not charge the USB port to even trickle charge the unit. So I began a search for alternatives. It began with confirming that a Kindle will indeed trickle charge at all.

On page 16 of the PDF users guide it says”USB port — plug in the included USB cable to transfer content between your computer and your Kindle. Your Kindle will also accept a small trickle charge over USB that may extend your battery life if your computer’s USB port or powered USB hub provides power.” The words that matter are “small” “trickle” and most importantly “may”. In my case it was too far gone to “may”…

I searched all over the web and could find no specs on what the specifications were for the shipping charger. I found one reference for 5.0V ~ 2A in a forum but had hoped for something concrete. So I called Kindle support, she wasn’t able to find it in her system anywhere either, but did tell me the use of any charger other than Amazons would void the warranty. After pressing her on the fact they offer and alternative from iGo on their site she relented ad said that only products sold thought the Kindle store would not void the warranty. Huh…

Oh well she was kind enough to wander over to where ever “there” is and confirm that the stock or replacement Kindle AC adapter delivers a 5.0V~2A to the unit. ( I later confirmed this under the gray panel on the back…) So therefore unless some unique effort was placed to mess with the consumer a 5.0V ~ 1A charger should work without damaging the unit. That brings me to my immense drawer of old chargers… do you throw out all your old AC adapters? I usually don’t and in this case an old samsung a460 charger turned out to do the trick nicely. It delivers 5.0V~1A and has thus far charged my Kindle to the point that it thinks it is full.

So in asking around several other associates they don’t think charging a device at the proper voltage (which is the key) with a lower amperage will hurt the unit. It doesn’t seem to have hurt mine, your mileage may vary, Amazon claims any non-kindle store recommended unit may void your warranty, etc. So check your drawers you may have a spare kindle charger and not even know it…

Samsung Travel Adapter model TAD077JBE, Input:120 VAC 60Hz 140 mA Output:5.0V ~ 1A $7.25 online if you search.

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So far I have now had my Kindle almost 60 days, that should constitute an acceptable period of time to reflect on the devices shortcomings and advantages. First let me say this piece may not be as positive as I had hoped when I planed on writing this a month ago, the new has worn off and my Kindle is now yet another tool I use.

I just returned from a vacation, thus the extended absence here, and I have to say I unfortunately only used my Kindle once during my trip. Now I did not use any other book at all, other that an atlas in conjunction with my GPS, but my iPod still got the lion share of use in the goings and comings of the trip in the plane.

In general my Kindle has been a huge disappointment in the area of replacing my standard Bible as there just is no real use of the book 2.0 hypertext technology by any of the major translations. In general reading it for the sake of reading is quite good, but using it in a class where you are hopping around a great deal you quickly get frustrated as I am quite comfortable moving between books in the Bible and the Kindle just has no translations that allow for that method o use well as of yet. I have hopes there will be sooner than later.

Another difficulty on this front is the very real, it has happened to me twice, gasp, failure of power. If your going to use it, just get used to plugging it in nightly before you go to bed and then this will never happen to you. But try and push it 3 days and you may be in for trouble if you use the wireless at all. For all the fear that this causes when your not with your charger I suspect it won’t happen to me again for quite some time as I have adapted to charging it just like my phone.

The actual experience of reading is still my biggest reason for using the kindle, I can sit and breeze through a book in record time with little awareness of the device at all. I have moved to a font setting of 3 and find it very readable and not to large as to make page turning to frequent, but not as small as 2 where I need my glasses for sure. Setting 1, forget about it.

How are you after a couple of months of use?  I am disappointed in the lack of real news from Amazon, I have seen a comment saying as a publicly trading company they can’t really say how shipping is going due to the impact it might have on their stock.   But surely others could comment, I had hoped my hometown newspaper would hop on board, but as o now the Dallas Morning news or the Fort Worth Star Telegram are both no shows.

So for now my Kindle has replaced my need for any Paper back or hard back I have thus far looked for.  I am about to test that on a Harry Turtledove book called the “Guns of the South” - NO GO…  Although there are 34 books from the author available, for some reason that one is not.  I got it from a fellow in passing and frankly I had hoped to get it on the Kindle to avoid reading the grimy stained book that I was so generously offered from the fellow.  Oh well, I still have 3 books not started that are awaiting my attention, but I wish there were some way to inquire as to if there were any conversion in the works.  Despite a smaller library size, the Kindle is still by far the easiest on my eyes reading experience I have, so I am still pleased to have one while others are still waiting.

Filed under: Kindle | 2 Comments »

So far I have seen little in the way of Kindle specifically created aftermarket items. The woolen cover from Octovo is joined by a leather messenger bag that clearly was not initially designed for the Kindle though looks like it might accommodate it sufficiently. When looking for other product made by the “Octovo” seller there are none listed other than the woolen kindle slip cover and the leather messenger bag.

Kudos to whoever Octovo is for seeing an emerging market and reaching it first with product. Now we’ll see if people flock to the woolen alternative or make their own.

I am in the midst of creating a homegrown cover that I think I may release a pattern for to see what I might learn of other Kindle owners tastes for the personlization factor.  Pick your own fabric just use my pattern. In any case maybe someone will release some sales numbers so we can get a little taste for how many Kindles are out there.

Amazon.com: Woolen Slip-Cover Pouch in Burgandy for the Kindle Reader: Electronics

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In an effort to make sharing stories and links easier with other Kindle sites I have bagged my Rapidweaver site and created a wordpress  based site.  I really like the ease of use of  Rapidweaver but you just can’t beat the flexability of wordpress.  Drop me a comment if you have suggestions or have a site you think should be in the “List”

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Well I have had it almost a month, the reading slowed over the past week, though I attribute that to the holidays. I went back to work yesterday, I threw my back out over the holidays and noticed I had not brought it with me today at lunch when I went to read. So far the looks are dying down as people have now seen me with it for a while but the first time someone sees it is always a conversation.

So back to the crux of my question I posted over at the forum, what are your reviews like when you show it off? Are they favorable? I had one neutral review that I did not count in my review as it was by a person whom I know to be contrary to all of my technical positions. I am a Mac fan, and he is a mac hater, he immediately went into a that’s an ugly ipod, when I showed it to him he changed tact when he discovered it was not an apple product. All he had seen was that it was supposedly the ipod of books and assumed it was from Apple, that is hilarious to me. It shows that Apple advertising works too well as apparently people now just assume interesting products come from apple, great if your Steve Jobs or an apple shareholder I suppose.

But for all my positive comments I have received why did the Kindle info die so much from amazon? Why not tell us they sold 500 or 50,000? Wish the silence would be broken. Have you heard anything?

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I am sure not happy that the yahoo group is down but Welcome any newcomers to the kindlechat site. I would imagine it will be back soon as Yahoo is normally very reliable and responsive. Until then, by all means, the more the merrier.

I was wondering if there was room for two strong kindle forums and I guess my answer came with the fact that we have 46 members while the initial yahoo group grew to over 700. Hopefully it will be back online soon, but until then maybe we will get the critical mass we need to really get the kindlechat forums going.

The kindle image to the right is the link to the discussion forums over at google. Click there or Click here.

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