iOS App of the Week Looks like there’s trouble a-brewing in the cosy iOS ecosystem. Amazon has just rewritten its Kindle app as an HTML 5 ‘web app’ in order to circumvent the restrictions of the App Store – not to mention the 30 per cent cut that Apple skims off the top of every sale.
It’s not the first to do so either. The Financial Times has already taken the same route, and other publishers and booksellers also seem to be looking into the HTML 5 alternative.
Get Kindle Cloud Reader from the web, not the App Store
From a user’s point of view, the HTML 5 version of the app doesn’t really look all that different. Yes, you start off by visiting a website, but the result is an app icon you can tap and run whenever you want to, just as you would with a native iOS app. Read the rest of this entry »
Accessory of the Week Yes, it’s expensive, but Amazon’s top-of-the-line Kindle 3 leather-covered folio-style case isn’t just an overpriced luxury item. It also has practical value, thanks to a built-in, slide-out LED lamp.
The Cover is soberly good-looking, no arguing with that
I sat up in bed with it one night, and can attest that it does indeed provide adequate illumination that nonetheless won’t disturb your other half snoozing next to you. Read the rest of this entry »
I recently bought myself a Kindle, which is providing sterling service as an e-book reader for my daily trips in and out of Vulture Central.
It’s more compact and lighter than a tablet, even a 7in one, like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Yet its 6in screen means I don’t have to squint at a smartphone display. Since it only cost £111, I’m less worried about dropping it, or losing it, as I would with my phone.
There has to be a more exciting picture than this
There’s only one thing I don’t like: you can’t – officially – change the image the Kindle shows when you put it to sleep. This is a point that has bothered other users too, and some with coding skill have figured out how to solve the problem. Read the rest of this entry »
Review It took Amazon’s Kindle 2 a good while to escape from Uncle Sam’s backyard but less than three months more for the international version of the Kindle DX to arrive. Before we even laid hands on the DX we knew it was both bigger and more expensive, but is it any better?
The most obvious difference between the DX and Amazon’s lesser Kindles is the larger screen. Like the standard Kindle, the DX uses an E Ink display, but it’s a 9.7in unit with a resolution of 1200 x 824 rather than the basic Kindle’s 6in, 600 x 800 panel.
Amazon’s Kindle DX: the size e-book readers should be?
Though larger, the DX’s screen actually has a lower pixels per inch figure – 150 vs 167 – but the difference is indiscernible to the eye. In every way, the DX’s larger screen makes for a much better reading experience than that provided by any other e-book reader we have tested.
Because the DX has followed so hard on the heels of the Kindle 2, Register Hardware found itself with both devices in its clammy grip at the same time, allowing for a direct comparison. While the screens look the same in terms of contrast and shade, there’s no doubt that the DX changes pages with a far less obvious grey-to-black-and-back-again flash. Read the rest of this entry »
