In a surprise update (a surprise to me, anyway), Amazon announced improvements to the firmware of the Kindle 2 yesterday. Thanks to Teleread, Len Edgerly, and the KnuckleHeadNetwork, I learned about the improvements in great detail. For an educator, this upgrade is a win. First, the K2 will now support PDF files directly, without conversion.…
Kindle How-To
Kindle for PC – What’s in it for Educators?
by Will DeLamater
Amazon released in beta this week its Kindle for PC application, and educators will welcome this development. Even though you have heard me rant a bit about the anti-education direction the company has taken in the development of the Kindle ereader (loss of SD card slot, loss of replaceable battery, loss of external Whispernet on-off…
Sony versus Kindle: First Impressions
by Will DeLamater
I’ve had my Sony Pocket Edition for a couple or weeks now and I have to say that I like it. It is a handsome unit, very tight and solid. It fits in the palm of your hand and, yes, in the pocket of your pants. I was drawn to this ereader because of the…
Unboxing the Sony Pocket Edition eReader
by Will DeLamater
I know that we are all about the Kindle here at EduKindle, but as others in this space step up their games to compete with Amazon, I plan to look at all comers and compare what they offer to the Kindle value proposition. The real emphasis here is on the “edu” part of EduKindle, so…
Video Guide to Creating Kindlepedia Articles for Your Kindle
by Will DeLamater
Pierre Gorissen has produced a nifty video on how to use the Kindlepedia tool from EduKindle to create reference articles for you Kindle or any other ereader that supports the Mobipocket format. In addition, Pierre has written a little script that allows you to make a bookmarklet in your browser (works fine in my Firefox)…
Launching Kindle Educators
by Will DeLamater
This week I created a “partner” site for EduKindle called Kindle Educators Group. The idea is to build a discussion around ideas and experiences related to the use and/or potential use of the Kindle ereader in the classroom and as a “learning appliance” (see my post on this topic here). This forum is built on…
Kindle Cleanup Checklist
by Will DeLamater
Update: Want to clean up your Kindle Fire? Click HERE. It is a fine, bright Saturday morning and I think that today I will clean up my Kindle. What I mean is, clean up all the content that has been chewing up space in the onboard memory. I knew it was time when I recently…
Why Educators Should Mourn the Departure of the SD Chip Slot from the Kindle 2
by Will DeLamater
Can’t find the expansion slot for additional memory on your Kindle 2? That’s because there isn’t one. And, as I have indicated in earlier posts, that’s not a good deal for educators. This change seems to be part of the “closing” of the Kindle, where a sleek form factor trumps functionality. If the Kindle is…
Tudors’ Pilgrimage on Kindle
by Will DeLamater
If you want to prep for tonight’s new episode of The Tudors on Showtime, I have pulled a short article from Wikipedia on “The Pilgrimage of Grace” to assist you. As with all these articles, click on the download link and save the file to your computer. Then connect to your Kindle using the USB…
Planner 2009 Ready for Kindle
by Will DeLamater
Right after I posted Calendar for Kindle as a free download a few weeks ago, I got a bunch of feedback about how folks would really like it to work. Calendar was intended as a quick reference, but many of you are like me and find it helpful to be able to keep notes and…