great kindle: kindle 3 cover with light

KINDLE FOR ANDROID'S SHELFARI ADDITION
The Motley Fool's Darleen Hartley, of The Motley Fool, at MSNBC, points out that Amazon bought Shelfari, a social-networking startup at about the same time it acquired AbeBooks.

For some reason, she posts that "Previously, the Kindle's 3G wireless connection could access only Amazon's bookstore" which isn't at all true though most news columnists are under that mistaken impression -- the various Kindles have had the experimental web browser since 2007 (see my Kindle 1 accessing google search in 2008 as well as website-access comparisons between Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 done in February 2009.

Hartley points out though that the Kindle for Android update this week makes it possible to view book details from Shelfari on smartphones running Android and adds:

' Shelfari lets you create a virtual bookshelf, where friends can see what you are reading and you can review and discuss them. A Shelfari widget works on most blogs and social networks, including Blogger, LiveJournal, MySpace, TypePad, Xanga, Vox, WordPress, and Facebook.
. . .
Members can post their shelves, reviews, and comments. '

NEW ZEALAND'S THE STAR ADDS KINDLE TO ITS TOP 5 GADGETS LIST
The Canterbury Star's Top 5 Gadgets List includes the Kindle 3 (UK: K3) along with such items as:
The Limit Hockey Table, SlushMagic: By Sunbeam, COOLPIX P7000: By Nikon, and Skycaddie SG5 GPS

It was odd to see the K3 in this type of listing. The Star's description:

' If you still can't decide the eBook reader for you, the Kindle 3 is about to make the choice a lot tougher.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of these and was impressed by its performance. These readers are light, manageable and have great contrast and clarity. It also packs PDF support, has a built-in keyboard and long battery life. Uploading books couldn't be easier, just sign up with internet retail giant Amazon and a massive world of reading is available at your fingertips. Sadly you still have to order these bad boys from overseas. '

I enjoyed the last line's description of the Kindles.

FROM THE WEST COAST - WHY THE CASE WITH LIGHT
I will be doing an article in the coming week on lights I've preferred when using the Kindle, but for now here's StarkSilverCreek's Loni Kao Stark explaining why, after thinking about it for 2 weeks and not leaning toward integrated multi-purpose electronics, she decided she wanted the Amazon cover with light, which is essentially $35 for the cover plus $25 more if getting the basic cover with the built-in light:

' Technology, especially personal technology, changes your expectations. Whereas before I was happy with the limitation that I could only read my paper book if I hauled around a book light or moved myself to an area that was lit, the very knowledge of what is possible makes me, well, dissatisfied.

With winter approaching, the days are getting shorter. As the passenger of a car that travels frequently up and down 280 and 101 highways, there are several occasions I want to read on my Kindle when it’s dark. At each of these moments, I imagine the convenience of a lighted Kindle case. I brought my book light one time and something that seemed pretty compact before now is an unpleasant projection.'

As simple as that. The light's always there. For me, the case is a bit stiff but some like that for better protection and the light is dimmer than I like, but for briefer use when it's too dark, it's fine. I also find that the case can take away from the slimness and it's not as easy for me to hold with one hand for a longer period -- but a positive feature of it is that when I am VERY sleepy and wind up dozing off for hours, the cover's light will go off as soon as the screen-sleeper comes on, not only saving expense of normal light-batteries (it uses the Kindle's battery) but protecting against unnecessary draining of the Kindle's battery.

For opinions from other Kindle owners on the Amazon Kindle forums, see these two threads: "Lighted cover too bulky for me" and "K3's Lighted cover saves the evening."

Kindle 3's (UK: Kindle 3's), DX Graphite

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers.
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

WIFI-ONLY KINDLE - IS THIS A GOOD CHOICE?
At the Kindle forums, the question of whether or not a WiFi-only Kindle would be all that is needed was raised quite often this weekend, including by those who don't seem to have a WiFi setup at home at this point.

Essentially, I pointed newcomers to the main article here on 3G/WiFi and WiFi-Only posted Saturday, which covers the basics and I mentioned one aspect I consider important:

People realize they can use WiFi access at home, and if they're not using the Kindle outside the home much, that would be enough. And it should be, although some forum participants cautioned that their WiFi networks can go down at times.
But after reading a few notes, I realized that there are some who actually don't have a WiFi network in the home and may not realize they'd need to set one up or that if they do leave the home regularly, the ability to download a book while here or there will no longer be available the way it was with the Kindles 1 and 2 unless they are in a WiFi hotspot and can access the network easily (whether needing a passkey or a fee, as only some hotspots are free).

The less-expensive Kindle 3 (or UK Kindle 3) comes with WiFi only -- but I am guessing there are some who actually do not have a WiFi network set up in their homes and might not care to have this done, in which case that wouldn't work.
If people know they could access any printers in their home that recognize WiFi networks, without needing cables, that might be an added incentive to spend the ~$40 - $50 to buy the router needed.

If you do have a WiFi network set up at home, it would allow you to just click on a Kindlestore book on your Kindle to get it TO your Kindle w/o needing to hook up the Kindle to a computer at all and, often, it might be faster to download books or do a web lookup than with 3G cellular network access.

But if you don't have a WiFi network at home and are not likely to have one set up, what I just described won't work and you would have to download an e-book to your computer first and then transfer it to your Kindle with the USB cord.

In that case (no WiFi network at home), if you do have AT&T 3G cellphone type coverage in your area, you'd be better off with the 3G/Wifi model or UK 3G/WiFi model as you could then just use that 3G cellphone wireless capability to download a book direct to your Kindle without needing your computer or the missing WiFi network. And you could still use (automatically) the WiFi capabilities of any place you visit that does have a WiFi network setup.

The best of both worlds.

Here are links to Amazon 3G Whispernet Coverage maps:
North America Worldwide

REVIEW OF KINDLE 3 COVER WITH BUILT-IN LIGHT

CNet's David Carnoy has what may be the first review of what his headline describes as "Amazon's secret weapon: Kindle Lighted Leather Case

He further describes it as "one of the better designed add-on accessories we've seen in recent years: the Kindle Lighted Leather Case"

As you'd expect, he likes the fact that it needs no additional batteries, as it's powered by the Kindle, and "the light completely disappears into the case--so much so that you don't notice that it's there at first glance",

And what I noticed in the photos is confirmed but may not be a problem:
"The light, like a lot of LED book lights, doesn't splash uniformly across the screen. It's a little brighter in the right corner than the bottom of screen. But it does provide enough light for reading."

He points out that it's expensive at $59.99, although the cover without light is $35, so the cost of having the built-in light (that needs no batteries) is $25.

My favorite Kindle clip-on light has been the Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Clip-On (Black, Kindle Version) for which they added a foam pad where the top clamp meets the Kindle's bezel and protects it from scratches from that clamp. That's been $20 at Amazon (you might be able to get it elsewhere at $13), and I like that I can clip it right to the Kindle instead of having to use the case while reading and the neck is very flexible so that I can bend it to avoid glare on the screen. Some find it too bright for those sharing a bed at night though, and it requires 3 AA batteries, though there is a 2nd, lower setting which is bright enough.

If you plan to read the Kindle while it's in a cover or case, then this new light that's attached to the Kindle 3 cover, which you pull out when you want it to be On, should be very useful, as it'll always be with you and there's no worry about batteries, except to keep the Kindle battery high enough..

I wonder how much of a Kindle-battery drain it'll be, but if reading in bed, you can always plug the Kindle into the wall charger. The Kindle battery can't be overcharged and Kindle customer reps say it's best to keep it above the 25%-remaining mark and that it is not hurt by regular charging.

There looks to be little flexibility in angling the light just so, as you can with the Mighty Bright or other clip-on lights.

But if this new light covers the screen well and is out of sight but always available with the cover, it solves the problem of reading in dimmer light.

CNet and Amazon customers have also liked the detachable Octovo Solis light. The Amazon description of it is of course for the 6" Kindle 2, but CNet's video of it shows it on a large DX.
The Kindle 3 is somewhat slimmer, so I don't know if this'll fit as well, but it gets good ratings, though there are only 29 so far. It's $30.
Kindle 3 (UK: Kindle 3), DX Graphite

Kindle in the News - Sept 26, 2010: Shelfari, Top Gadgets, Cover with light.

Is WiFi-Only a good choice for $50 less? Also, the Kindle 3 case with light

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