What do "Kindle" and "Nook" mean?

Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet

" Kindle " and " Nook " are the brands of e readers for Amazon and Barnes & Noble, respectively. Both manufacturers are book giants-one is the biggest online store while the other is the largest brick and stone one.


Kindle


By definition given by thefreedictionary, kindle has the following meanings:
- To build or fuel (a fire).
- To set fire to; ignite
- To cause to glow; light up
- To arouse (an emotion, for example).

Pretty good meanings, right?
It is probabily given by the branding agency Cronan according to this article: "How the Kindle Got Its Name".  In the same article, it says: "Kindle means to set alight or start to burn, to arouse or be aroused, to make or become bright."
Nook
However does not sme like having such nice meanings as Kindle: 
- a sheltered and secluded place 
- an interior angle formed by two meeting walls
The nook often refers to a comfortable and secluded place to read or have a conversation with someone inside a room, which might be a good explanation of the e reader brand name "Nook" .What I can think is that Nook sounds like "Look" which is easy to pronounce and memorize. Take a "Nook" (look) at a book. Now Nook is meaningful. 

E Ink

E Ink-The abbreviation of electrophoretic ink. E-Ink tech is widely used in many popular ereaders such as Amazon kindle family and B & N Nook family. Your fist impression when you see a ereader screen with this tech should be "oh, just like real paper". 

    Exactly! E Ink screens look and read just like real paper. Since there is no backlight, you can read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room. Unlike LCD screens, E Ink screens have no glare.

    Several other advantages of e ink are:

• Easy on the eyes
• Less eye fatigue
• Read in any position 
• Sharp, clear text
• Low power consumption

While it is not perfect like everything else in the world, 

• You cannot read in the dark without light
• Currently no color display available ( but it will ...)
• A long time of response. It doesn’t allow to show dynamic content and to use for interactive applications. Running video game? Forget about it. Additionally scaling of documents on the screen is very slow. (hopefully it will also be possible...)
• Screen is very fragile, so be very careful when using it.

Its history dates back to 1997 when E Ink Corporation, was founded based on research started at the MIT Media Lab.  A more detailed history of e ink can be found on e ink official webpage in here. 

The future of e ink:

• Color display 
• Animation allowed

You can find more information from e ink official website.

How to get access to browser to surf internet in kindle keyboard?

To browser internet using your kindle keyboard, follow these steps:

1. Go to home
2. Configure your WiFi settings  Menu=>Settings =>WiFi settings =>Move cursor to your wireless networks enter password
3. Go back to "home" and press "Menu" again =>Turn wireless on
4. Menu =>Experimental =>Move five way controller to Web browser and "launch browser"
5. Now you will see the browser, enter web address and move cursor to the right side press "go to"
6. On the page, press menu => "Bookmark This Page" to save your featured website in your bookmarks.

How to configure your default location in kindle to avoid unrecognized characters?

You may find there are some unrecognized characters (displayed by squares) on your kindle when using foreign languages such as Chinese. Let's take Chinese for example.

1. Go to home by pressing "home"key.
2. press key "enter" 
3. ;debugOn      
4. ~changeLocale zh-CN
5. ;debugOff

Note: step 3-5 should be followed by pressing key "enter", also letter case is sensitive (Capital letters are strict).

After you'v done with these steps, you should be able to see no squares characters.

How to use the "Text-to-Speech" feature on your kindle keyboard?

1. First make sure the Text-to-Speech is enabled ( you will see sth like " Text-to-Speech: Enabled " on the right side of the image of the book on AMAZON website)  for the book you want to read. If not, you cannot continue. 
2. Press the five-way controller to navigate the book, then press the center of the controller to open it.
3. Press the "Text" key (marked with the letters "Aa"), then press the five-way controller to select the "turn on" after "Text-to-Speech". The kindle should start reading the text. You may change the volume by pressing the button which is on the same side of the power switch.
4. If you want to have more options such as   "Turn off" "Pause" , change the speech rate to "slower" "default" " faster" or change the speaking voice to "female" or "male" , press key "Aa" again.
5. Press the "Shift" key ( with an arrow  ) and the "Sym" key simultaneously to stop the Text-to-Speech reading. Press again to resume.

A first taste of the lighted Kindle keyboard leather cover

Yesterday I got my new lighted kindle keyboard leather cover (with a sweet price $1*  for a brand new one but not from AMAZON) which fits the EReader perfectly.It looks nice and feel very solid. It's sturdy and comfortable to hold.  I am deeply impressed by the design and quality. It is much much better than the after-market cover I used before. I am sure it can protect kindle pretty well in case. Actually I once dropped my kindle accidently on the ground and the old cover failed to protect it, a dent and a crack (though not noticeable but annoying) formed. I wish I had this official cover from the first day. Now my kindle looks more like a book, and I can read without the regular light on. The light with the cover is good when you turn off the other lights, and  the uneven lighting issue is not a big concern. CoooooL! The freeze caused by hinges some reported does not occur so far.

UPDATED: Recently found AMAZON has used Kindle Lighted Leather Cover, Black (Fits Kindle Keyboard) for only $22.49, which is a decent deal. Do not be fooled by the "used", usually the condition should be very much like new. My experience with the third-party cover and light is very very bad and a total waste of money. 

How to reboot your kindle 3?

Your Kindle screen frozen or unresponsive? There is a chance that you need to reboot your kindle. Simply follow:

1. Locate and slide the power switch. Hold it for at least 20 seconds then release. The reboot (tree) screen will appear ( with progress bar ).
2. If not successfully, you should recharge your kindle for some time.

Kindle keyboard shortcuts

I do wish there were number keys on the keyboard and it is not quite convenient to type numbers and other symbols on kindle keyboard. Similar to the shortcuts in using PC, a few shortcuts make using a Kindle even more convenient and can further enhance your reading experience.

Keyboard Shortcut	What It Does
Alt+Q	Types 1
Alt+W	Types 2
Alt+E	Types 3
Alt+R	Types 4
Alt+T	Types 5
Alt+Y	Types 6
Alt+U	Types 7
Alt+I	Types 8
Alt+O	Types 9
Alt+P	Types 0
Alt+B	Sets or removes a bookmark
Alt+Home	Goes to the Kindle Store
Menu button	Displays the time and available memory
Right on the 5-Way Controller	Moves to next chapter (when you are within a book). On the Homescreen, pressing the right arrow on the 5-Way Controller brings youto the information screen about the book, blog, or other contentthat you are viewing.
Shift+Sym	Turns on Text-to-Speech
Spacebar	Pauses Text-to-Speech
Back button	Turns off Text-to-Speech
Alt+spacebar	Plays or stops MP3s
Alt+F	Skips to the next MP3
Alt+G	Refreshes the screen
Shift+Alt+M	Plays Minesweeper
Shift+Alt+G	Takes a screenshot of the current screen

Source: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/kindle-3-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

Organize your documents by creating collections

Do you put all your kindle books and documents on the home page without something like folders? Not a good idea. Follow the following steps to create Collections to organize your stuffs.

Step 1: Home=>Menu=>Create New Collection=>Enter Collection Name=>Save  You will see the
            collection you just created on the home page.

Step 2: Move cursor using 5-way controller to the book/file you would like to move and press the right
            arrow on the 5-way controller=>Add to Collection...=> Move cursor to the target collection and
            press the center of the 5-way controller to add. If you want to remove from the collection
            simply press the central button again. This is it!
            If you would like to delete one document from a collection, go to the collection and move
            cursor  to the document, press the right arrow on the 5-way controller, then select "Delete This
            Document".