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Kindle 3G – Features and Hacks

Many people believe that the Kindle is a simple e-reader which retrieves its books from Amazon.com. However many people are not aware of the unique features that this simple device offers.

On top of just being able to download books and magazines, this device can actually browse the internet. No it can’t handle video’s or any extensive web elements, but simple websites with mostly text on them are easily pulled up. Googling is a snap as you browse about on FREE 3G internet, and other sites work great as well.

Want to find out when the next movie is playing, or search for a great restaurant? Check on your Kindle! Many people underestimate the 3G capabilities of the Kindle and would be pleasantly surprised to see that it can do most of the functions that smart phones can without having to pay the monthly bills associated with them.

What Kindle Should I purchase?

You will see that there is a slight price gap between the Kindle 3G with ‘special offers’ and one without. These special offers are actually ads that appear when your Kindle is not powered on, and for some people they can be quite annoying. If you want to save money, then purchasing the Kindle 3G with special offers is the way to go especially since there is a hack that can remove those pesky ads (as seen below). If you don’t want to deal with jail breaking your Kindle, then purchase the one without ads and save yourself the headache.

What else can my Kindle do?

If free 3G internet access and unlimited e-books/magazines wasn’t enough, then you can satisfy your greedy appetites by indulging in the Kindle’s other features. For one, this e-reader has an incredibly long battery. It’s advertised to have a battery life of two months, but really the  battery lasts for only a few weeks with continuous use, which is still a significant amount of time for any wireless device.

Another unique feature is that you can store/play music files. There are two small speakers on the back of the device and, while they are not the best, they are able to play your music at a fairly decent volume level.

One last feature is that you can put different text files onto your Kindle so that you can read them. This is perfect for college students and others who have tons of notes to study but don’t feel like carrying them around everywhere.

How do I get text files onto my Kindle

There are multiple ways you can get text files onto your Kindle, one of which is explained here. Or you could go to this site here and simply make whatever you want an eBook that you can then download onto your Kindle.

Many people have found this incredibly useful for school notes, cooking recipes, exam studies, and much more.

How do I get rid of the ads and put in my own pictures?

Those visa ad screensavers will really start to annoy you and I’m sure you’d love to have your own custom black and white photos instead. Unfortunately since you’ve opted into dealing with the ads by purchasing a cheaper Kindle the only way you can remove them is to hack them. Below are two separate hacks, one for the removal of the ads and one for your own custom screensavers.

To view the jailbreak for how to remove the ads and how to add your own pictures as screensavers, view this link.

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Googles E-BookStore And Apps For Android And Apple Devices

The eagerly awaited release of Google’s electronic bookstore is here at last! It will now be available in the US from a latest Google eBookstore which enables users to read and purchase e-books. Since the name is Google, you can certainly expect most of the great publishers as Penguin, Macmillan, Simon and Schuster, Hachette Book group and Harper Collins, to put their books on the stands.

With the brand name Google, this search giant brings to you much better offers than the regular eBookstore. To begin with, this great service provider depends on Cloud technology, where you can read any of your books with the help of any device which can give you an internet connection. Reading, and buying as well as storing e-Book is made possible in the cloud and accessing your e-Book collection would be just as simple as your messages in gmail or photos in Picasa with a password-protected Google account.

Google e-Books are compatible with Android phones, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Web Browsers and many supported eReaders. Then Google has stated that free apps for Android and Apple devices can be obtained in addition to the full featured web reader. This permits readers to shop and read on the go. Also, users have a choice to either purchase the e-Books right from Google or from other private bookstores and retailers. Of course, these outlets must have a prior understanding with Google. Then Google assures you of enjoying the same benefits and usage rights, irrespective of where you purchase e-Books.

Right after the release of Google’s eBookstore, news is out that Amazon too is all ready to release a web-only version of its Kindle app, enabling its customers from its Kindle eBookstore to access books from web browsers. it also has ideas of offering free apps to its users not only on Kindle e-readers but also for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android devices etc. e-Books at the Google new store cost approximately the same as the other stores, charging between $9.99 and $14.99. This just shows how prepared e-Books are for a high level technology boost.

Tough competition is bound to make e-Book reading better and easily accessible. A sincere reader would have no problem if he would not have to make choices regarding Google e-Books. You can browse and search through the biggest e-books collection in the world with more than 3 million titles to choose from. You have them on sale too! Let’s say best sellers like James Patterson’s Cross Fire; Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom, or evergreen classics like Gulliver Travels or Great Expectations, any title you just name it and you have it right there!

You have various devices that are adaptable t Google e-Books –everything from laptops to netbooks to tablets to smart phones reachable to the e-readers. You can search, purchase new books from any of their partners [private] as Powell’s Alibris and members of the American Booksellers Association and keep them all on the same shelf regardless of where you got them from.

Google Books have grown well and wide since they first established in 2004, and have successfully digitalized over 15 million books from more than 35,000 publishers more than 40 libraries in over 100 countries and more than 400 languages ever since! They have set out to direct competitors to Amazon’s Kindle Store and Apple’s iBookstore. Earlier, there were rumors that Google files were not readable on the Kindle. In fact they are readable but with a slight conversion!