by Amazon. com
Your Choice of Text Size, Typeface, and Line Spacing
To optimize your reading experience, Kindle provides a quick way to adjust the text size, typeface, and line spacing in books and periodicals.
In a book or periodical you are currently reading, you can change the text size, typeface, and line spacing by pressing the Text key , and using the 5-way controller to choose the size you prefer; then press the 5-way to select. The text changes to the new settings. Repeat the same steps to adjust the text to the settings that are most comfortable for you to read.
Your Choice of Number of Words per Line
You can also change the number of words per line in the book or periodical you are currently reading. Press the Text key , use the 5-way controller to choose the number of words per line you prefer and press the 5-way to select. This changes the width of the margins. You may find you read faster with fewer words per line. Experiment to see what works best for you.
Adjust Screen Rotation
You can lock your Kindle screen to a portrait or landscape orientation to fit your reading position. Press the Text key then use the 5-way controller to select the screen rotation you want. Press the 5-way to select.
Read PDF Files
Kindle can display a PDF document without losing the formatting of the original file. Just drag PDF files over USB to your Kindle or e-mail them to your dedicated Kindle e-mail address (found on the Settings page on Kindle or the Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon). If you e-mail a PDF document to your Kindle's e-mail address, we will wirelessly deliver the PDF file directly to your Kindle via Whispernet.
For Kindle models that include 3G, Amazon charges a fee for personal documents delivered directly to your Kindle via 3G. You can avoid fees for the personal document service when you e-mail the files to your Kindle. For more information, see “Sending Your Documents for Conversion” in Chapter 8.
Let Kindle Read to You or Guide You
You can turn on the experimental application, Text-to-Speech, which will read aloud your books (where allowed by the rights holder), newspapers, blogs, and personal documents. While reading a book or periodical, press the Text key , then use the 5-way controller to underline “turn on” for "Text-to-Speech". Press the 5-way to select "turn on". You can either listen through your Kindle's external speakers or plug in earphones into the headphone jack. While Text-to-Speech is playing, the screen will turn the pages automatically so you can follow along while the audio is playing. You have the choice of hearing your content spoken with a male or female voice and can also further optimize the listening experience by slowing down or increasing the rate of speech.
Voice Guide compliments Text-to-Speech by allowing you to navigate Kindle with spoken menus, selectable items, and descriptions. Using Voice Guide, you can navigate your Kindle while Kindle speaks actions, descriptions, or status messages. For example, when you open a book, Kindle tells you your current location and how far you've read. See “Using Voice Guide” in Chapter 7 for instructions on using this feature.
Look It Up
Your Kindle includes two dictionaries - The New Oxford American Dictionary (the default) and the Oxford Dictionary of English . You can easily look up a particular word without leaving the content. Simply use the 5-way controller to navigate the cursor in front of the word you want defined. A definition of the word appears at the bottom or top of the screen. To view the full definition, press the Return key on the keyboard. To return to the text you were reading, press the Back button. To choose a different default dictionary, see “Choosing Your Primary Dictionary” in Chapter 7.
Take It All with You
Kindle can store thousands of digital books, personal documents, newspapers, blogs, magazines, and audiobooks, which are referred to collectively as "content" throughout this guide. A copy of all your books and recent issues of newspapers and magazines purchased from the Kindle Store are kept on Amazon.
To display the list of content on your Kindle, press the Home button. Use the 5-way controller to underline the item you want to open and then press the 5-way to open the item. To delete content on your Kindle, use the 5-way controller to underline the item you want to delete. Press the left arrow on the 5-way to select “remove from device” and then press the 5-way to complete the removal of the item.
To transfer previously deleted content from Amazon back to your Kindle, the wireless Whispernet service must be on. From Home, select "Archived Items." This shows all of the content stored at Amazon. Amazon does not store copies of your personal documents, periodical issues older than the past seven issues, MP3, and Audible files, so make your own backup copies of those files. Underline the item you want to move back to your Kindle and press the right arrow on the 5-way to select “add to home” and then press the 5-way to start the transfer. In under a minute, the item re-downloads into your Kindle and appears in the list of content in Home.
Shop Anytime, Anywhere
If you have Whispernet on and you select "Shop in Kindle Store" from any menu, Kindle connects you to a broad offering of reading material including books, newspapers, blogs, and magazines. You can browse by category or check out the latest bestsellers, new and noteworthy items, or your personalized recommendations. You can see details about an item, read customer reviews, and even download free samples of books you are interested in. If you want to buy an item, Kindle uses secure Amazon 1-Click and then Whispernet delivers the item to your Kindle generally in under a minute.
Automatic Delivery
Since Kindle connects to the Whispernet network, we deliver your favorite periodicals over the air to your device as soon as they are published, often before they are even available in print. For example, if you subscribe to the Kindle edition of The New York Times, the latest edition is wirelessly delivered overnight so you can read it each morning. Your favorite periodicals follow you wherever you go, whether you are at home or on the road.
If you have a Kindle model that only uses Wi-Fi to connect to Whispernet, your Kindle must be connected to a Wi-Fi network in order to receive your periodicals when they are published. If no Wi-Fi network is available at your current location, your periodicals will be automatically delivered to your Kindle the next time you connect to a Wi-Fi network.
Just as you would thumb through a physical newspaper or magazine to locate an article of interest, navigation shortcuts let you quickly zero in on an article of interest. By using the right or left button on the 5-way controller, you can advance to the next or previous article. Press the center of the 5-way controller to display the periodical's section list.
Search Your World
While you are in Home, the Kindle Store, or reading content, you can use your Kindle's search feature. From the keyboard, begin typing what you'd like to search for and then using the 5-way controller, select the range of your search. If you begin your search while in Home or with open content, you have the option to search for that item in all of your books, newspapers, blogs, personal documents, and annotations. You also have the option to focus your search to the built-in dictionary, the Kindle Store, Wikipedia, Google, and the Web.
Collections
To personalize and organize items, you can add your books, personal documents, and Audible audiobooks to collections on your Home screen. Create a new collection from the Home screen by pressing the Menu button and selecting "Create New Collection", and then type a name for the collection. You can add as many items as you wish to each collection, and you can even add an item to more than one collection for more flexible organization.
Clip Your Favorite Passages
While reading a book, newspaper, or personal document, have you ever wanted to clip and save a few words to refer to later? With Kindle, simply select "Add a Note or Highlight" from the menu and use the 5-way to highlight the content you want to clip and then press the 5-way to save your selection. The clipping is added to a file in Home called "My Clippings." You can review your clippings later, search for words or terms you clipp
ed, and transfer the "My Clippings" file to your computer. This is a great way to capture your favorite quotations to share with others.
Bookmark Your Reading
Kindle automatically saves your place in whatever book you are reading, but you can also add a bookmark to any page in a book or PDF document by pressing the Menu button and selecting "Add a Bookmark." You can see that the upper right corner of the page is dog-eared. Kindle stores all your bookmarks for the current content in your annotations. You can view them at any time by pressing the Menu button from the book you're reading and selecting "View My Notes & Marks."
Add Your Own Notes
Do you like to take notes and make comments while reading? You can add notes to any of the content on Kindle. Amazon automatically stores all of your book annotations in the "My Clippings" file and backs them up at Amazon so they will not be lost.
As an example, this sentence is highlighted and has a note attached as indicated by the superscripted number one to the right of this text. Using the 5-way controller, move the cursor over the notation number to see the note. To add your own note, move the cursor to the word where you want to add your thoughts, and begin typing your note. Then use the 5-way again to highlight the "save note" button onscreen and press the 5-way to select. You can later view, edit, or remove a note, or see all of your annotations by pressing the Menu button and selecting "View My Notes & Marks."
Stay in Sync
Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your reading location across your Kindle(s) and other supported devices. For example, you can read a few pages on your iPhone or Blackberry device and pick up right where you left off when you return to your Kindle. For a complete list of supported devices, visit the Kindle Store on Amazon's website:
http://www.amazon.com/kindleapps (U.S. and other countries)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindleapps (U.K. customers)
Convert Your Own Documents
In addition to all of the great reading material you can get from the Kindle Store, Amazon can also convert your own documents so you can read them on Kindle. You can e-mail Microsoft Word, TXT, HTML, RTF, or image files like JPEGs and GIFs to your dedicated Kindle e-mail address (found on the Settings page on Kindle or the Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon). We will convert the document into Kindle format and wirelessly send it directly to your Kindle via Whispernet (fees may apply) or back to your computer for free. If you e-mail a PDF to your Kindle, it will be sent to your device with no conversion.
Social Networks
Share your notes and highlights with friends using social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Whenever you create a note or a highlight, press the Alt+ENTER + keys to share it to your social network.
To set up your social network accounts on your Kindle, go to the Settings screen and select "manage" next to Social Networks. The browser will launch and allow you to link your Kindle to your social network accounts.
Popular Highlights
See what the Kindle community thinks are the most interesting passages in the books you are reading. If several other readers have highlighted a particular passage, then that passage will be highlighted in your book along with the total number of people who have highlighted it.
You can also view a list of all the Popular Highlights in the book you're reading by pressing the Menu button and selecting "View Popular Highlights". For more information, see “Displaying Popular Highlights in Your Books” in Chapter 3.
Learning More
This ends your brief introduction to just some of the capabilities on Kindle. The chapters that follow give a more complete overview of these and other features. Remember, you can always search on a particular feature or learn more about how to do a particular task by opening this guide and typing on the keyboard to activate Search.
The “Table of Contents” for the Kindle User's Guide shows you all of the topics covered in this guide. You can get to the table of contents by pressing the Menu button from any page, selecting "Go to...", then selecting 'table of contents' and pressing the 5-way again.
You can also navigate by clicking an underlined word or words like “Learning More”. Underlined words indicate a link to somewhere else in the material you are reading, like a footnote, a chapter, or a website. In the example above, when you navigate the 5-way controller over one of the underlined words, a hand icon will appear. Pressing the 5-way will take you to the beginning of the table of contents. Press the Back button to go back to where you were reading.
You can leave the Kindle User's Guide, or any item you are reading, at any time by pressing the Home button. If you are done reading, you can put your Kindle to sleep by sliding and releasing the power button located at the bottom of your Kindle (you wake up Kindle the same way). Sleeping your Kindle will extend battery life and also lock all of the keys and buttons so you don't inadvertently press one while not using your Kindle. When your Kindle is asleep, you will see an image on the screen. To turn off your Kindle, slide and hold the power switch for seven seconds until the screen goes blank, and then release.
Getting Assistance
If you ever need assistance, you can use the Web or your telephone to contact us. See “Contacting Kindle Support” in Chapter 9 for all of the Kindle Support contact options.
CHAPTER 1
Getting Started with Your Kindle
In the Welcome chapter of the Kindle User's Guide, you read about many of the things you can do with your Kindle. This chapter reviews all of the physical features of Kindle and covers the basics of using the Kindle buttons, menus, and keyboard.
1.1 Views of Kindle
Front View
The front of your Kindle contains the screen, the keyboard, and the navigation controls. These features are illustrated below and explained in the list that follows.
Previous Page button — takes you to the previous page in your reading material. The Previous Page button is located on the right and left side, just above the Next Page button.
Next Page button — takes you to the next page in your reading material. The Next Page button is located on the right and left side, just below the Previous Page button.
Home button — shows content stored on your Kindle as well as content archived at Amazon. The Home button is located on the bottom row of the keyboard, just to the left of the Back button.
Menu button — displays application and navigation choices that are related to the screen you are viewing. The Menu button is located in the top row of the keyboard, just above the 5-way controller.
5-way controller — selects an item or action when you press the center of the controller. Moves the on-screen highlight or cursor up and down when you press the up or down arrow on the controller. Moves the on-screen highlight or cursor side-to-side when you press the left or right arrow on the controller. Press and hold down on an arrow to accelerate the cursor movement, making it faster to navigate through lists or text. The 5-way controller is located on the right side of the keyboard, just below the Menu button, and just above the Back button.
Keyboard — use to enter search terms, notes in your content, URLs for websites, etc.
Back button — retraces your steps on Kindle just like the Back button on a web browser. For example, you can follow a link in a book and then press the Back button to return to your place. The Back button is located in the bottom right corner of the keyboard, just below the 5-way controller and just to the right of the Home button.
Symbol key — presents a menu of punctuation marks, symbols, and numbers. Use the 5-way controller to select the desired symbol or number and press the 5-way to select. You can continue using the keyboard while the Symbol menu is displayed. Press the Symbol key again to dismiss the menu. The Symbol key is located in the second row (from the bottom) of the keyboard, just to the left of the Return key.
Text key — adjusts text size, typeface, line spacing, and number of words per line to suit your reading preference. Also allows you to turn on/off Text-to-Speech, zoom in
to PDF documents and adjust their contrast, and to change the screen rotation settings. The Text key is located in the bottom row of the keyboard, just to the right of the Space key.
Shift key — makes the next key pressed a capital letter. The Shift key is located in the bottom left corner of the keyboard.
Alt key — typically used in combination with another key to enter a keyboard shortcut. See “Kindle Shortcuts” in Chapter 7 for a list of useful shortcuts. The Alt key is located in the bottom row of the keyboard, just to the right of the Shift key.
Bottom View
The bottom of your Kindle contains the volume controls, headphone jack, micro-USB/power port, power switch, microphone, and charge indicator light.
Volume controls — controls the headphone or speaker volume for audiobooks, background music, Text-to-Speech, and Voice Guide. The volume controls are located on the bottom left edge.
Headphone jack — plug in headphones to listen to an audiobook, background music, or content read aloud through text-to-speech. Attaching headphones turns off the built-in speakers. The headphone jack is located just to the right of the volume controls.
Microphone — the microphone is not currently enabled but is provided for future use.