Amazon`s Kindle Redefines Electronic Books - Specifications and Features
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Specifications and Features
First, let’s talk about the design and aesthetics of the Kindle. The display is 6" diagonal (15 cm), 7.5" × 5.3" × 0.7" (19.1 cm × 13.5 cm × 1.8 cm) in size, sporting a 600x800 display screen with 167 ppi based on the E-Ink’s electronic paper (no backlight). It weights 10.3 oz (292 g). The keyboard is fortunately QWERTY standard; we also have previous and next buttons and an additional select wheel.
(Photo Courtesy of Amazon; Introducing Kindle—frontal shot.)
What about the features? Well, the Kindle's internal storage is 256MB. It ships with only 180MB free but it is expandable with SD cards. It shows off the following connectivity functions: 3.5 mm stereo headphone (in addition to a built-in speaker), USB 2.0 (mini-B connector), and of course the EV-DO wireless modem.
The operating system on which the device runs is a modified version of Linux based on the 2.6.10 kernel. The battery lasts long enough thanks to the ultra low power usage of the e-paper display, exceeding one week with wireless turned off, but 2 days with wireless on. The wireless connection is limited to Amazon’s Whispernet and is powered by Sprint’s EV-DO service. Whispernet is required to access the Kindle Store—to purchase books, for example.
Right now the Kindle Store contains more than 90,000 titles including New York Times bestsellers. Almost all of the titles are distributed in Kindle format for US$9.99. As soon as you make a purchase the book is delivered via wireless connection and it is ready to be read. Fortunately, you can read first chapters free of charge.
The device is able to hold up to 200 titles without illustrations. Another interesting feature is delivering newspapers. It includes most newspapers popular in the US such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, but also international ones like Le Monde and the Irish Times. You can also access blogs, of course, paying particular monthly fees for certain publications ($13.99 per month for the New York Times, for example).
Another compelling feature is the ability to increase or decrease the font size; Kindle supports a total of six sizes. This makes it accessible for people from all walks of life. Two fonts are available but you cannot choose: Linotype Caecilia and Linotype Neue Helvetica. Books use the first. You have a web browser in the “experimental” section.
The Kindle natively supports three file formats: AZW (proprietary format), unprotected Mobipocket (PRC, MOBI), and TXT plain text. Should you need to convert your existing content such as HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, or BMP to AZW, you can use Amazon’s email-based service that automatically converts and sends your files to your Kindle via wireless connection, charging 10 cents per conversion.
The e-book reader is shipped with electronic editions of its online manual and New Oxford American Dictionary. You can also freely access the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia.
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