Kindle: supported file formats

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-31 11:46

E-books are gaining more and more popularity every year and therefore become relevant and meaningful reading devices. Users consider many factors when choosing and are increasingly opting for one of the most popular Kindle readers.

Why Kindle?

The transition from paper books to electronic does not mean that printed publications should be completely abandoned. Nothing can replace the pleasant rustle, the smell of printing ink, and the pleasure of turning the page. Recent polls have shown that readers are switching to electronic media for two reasons:

• Convenience - small volume and weight (up to 400 g). Wherever you go, you can take the reader with you instead of several heavy books.
• Price - Paper editions are not cheap. Paying once for the Kindle, the reader gets the use of a whole library into which you can download the desired book of any format, Kindle recognizes many of them.

Amazon Kindle Story

From English the word kindle is translated as “light”. The e-book fully justifies its name. The release of the Amazon Kindle in 2007 was a huge success. Although the reader contained only 200 electronic files without illustrations and cost $ 399, all prepared models were sold out in five hours. In February of the following year, the second generation of electronic "readers" was released with a memory capacity of 2 GB, the device could store 1500 books.

Since 2009 Kindle has supported PDF format. During this period, the amount of memory, screen resolution and battery life increased. Most importantly, it was the first "reader" with the function of turning text into speech. In 2010, the reader entered the world markets. It was possible to purchase books in the Amazon library through the 3G module and Wi-Fi. The price of the device dropped to $139 and 12 million readers were sold by the end of the year. In January 2011, Amazon announced that sales of e-books read by the Kindle had surpassed sales of paper editions by several times.

The manufacturer began to produce models with “advertising” of goods, which allowed them to significantly reduce their price. In 2011, they introduced compact devices without a keyboard. The new models came out without a headphone jack, audio support and 3G module, but cost only $79. Kindle Touch was the first touch screen reader. Later models came with LED backlight, multi-language interface, E Ink screen, built-in dictionaries.

Cup of coffee?

In the reviews, users of "readers" write that Kindle can do everything, "only coffee does not brew." Is it so? Consider the general characteristics of electronic devices, and also dwell on what formats the Kindle reads. From Amazon, readers are supplied complete with a USB cable, through which both charging and transferring books to the "reader" take place.

On the front panel of models without a built-in keyboard there are keys (two to four) and a four-way joystick. At the ends of the reader are buttons for turning pages. They duplicate each other, thanks to this "reader" is convenient to hold in any hand. The joystick is used to move around the screen, flipping. A separate button is used to call the keyboard. It is inconvenient to write long texts on it, the maximum for which it is useful is a search in books. This is exactly what Amazon planned - to create simple and affordable models without unnecessary features.

The company also offers readers with a touch screen - they do not have control keys. Turning pages and managing the book is done using the screen. For people studying a foreign language or reading books in the original language, such a device has another attractive advantage - by touching you can get a hint from a dictionary much faster than using a cursor.

Dictionary search

Lovers of literature in foreign languages know that one dictionary is not enough for a full reading. In old KindlesYou could upload several. However, the search was carried out only for the default language, and switching to other dictionaries was tedious. In the new models, you can easily jump to what you need from a book of any format. "Kindle" works with word forms - on the word "wind" the reader will open an article en titled "Wind".

Another advantage is that it can be searched in dictionaries other than the language in which the book is written. It is very comfortable. For example, a book is written in Russian, and the hero constantly inserts phrases in French or English. There are also technical shortcomings. It happens that in books from Amazon the language is incorrectly indicated - it is written, for example, in Spanish, but Kindle is sure that English is needed and refers to the appropriate dictionary. In earlier devices, additional manipulations with the downloaded file were required, in the current ones, it is enough to select the characteristics manually.

For the most common languages, dictionaries are loaded into the book reader automatically, at the first attempt of the user to refer to explanations. Additional helpers are available for purchase on Amazon. Before downloading, you need to make sure that this is a dictionary. Not all books titled like this can connect correctly. You can also find unofficial dictionaries for Kindle on the Internet. Their format and quality vary: word forms are processed incorrectly, for example, or the reader itself sometimes freezes when searching.

If the explanation is not in the dictionary, then the device looks for it in Wikipedia, in the version that matches the language of the book. Suchthe user can set the search himself. You can also see phrases there. Wikipedia searches only when the Internet is connected.

Useful Features

For language learners there is a Vocabulary Builder feature. When activated, the Kindle displays all the words that the user has viewed. You can also see text fragments in which they were used.

Flashcards - this option works similar to Anki. The user is shown pictures with the words of the language being studied. Of course, the flash cards in the Kindle lag behind spaced repetition programs. A big plus is that they use words found on the pages of books, which makes memorization much easier.

Word Wise - This feature is for those who read in a language other than their own. Compound words, when activated, are provided with a simple and understandable description. It only works with English-language books that support Word Wise.

Another feature is Bing Translator. Helps out when you need to translate the entire phrase, but it only works when connected to the Internet.

Keyboard and E Ink screen

Models with a full keyboard increase the functionality of the reader. With it, you can leave notes and notes as you read, search for books in the store, Wikipedia and Google. But none of these advantages outweigh the main drawback - the increased weight and volume of the device.

At readers withThe E Ink screen has a higher image contrast, no glare in natural light, it is equipped with a continuously adjustable LED backlight.

Settings and items

All Amazon readers have audio devices and a speaking function. The Article Mode feature allows the browser to select and display body text with headings when viewing. Three types of font can be used for reading:

• serif;
• chopped;
• compressed with serifs.

However, there is no text alignment and word wrapping for Russian.

Settings and navigation on the Kindle is simple - no confusing menus, nor the many options that other companies offer. But Amazon Kindle models have even more positives:

• democratic price;
• attractive design;
• light and compact: minimum weight - 131 grams, thickness - 7.6 mm.

It is important that on one charge the device works even with backlight for up to eight weeks.

What formats does Kindle support?

• Without conversion "Kindle" reads documents in txt, pdf, mobi, azw, prc format. Azw - the same mobi, but protected by DRM (Digital rights management). Books must be uploaded to the root directory in the Documents folder.
• Graphic files (photos/pictures): gif, png, jpg. You can also place them in the Documents folder or, if the file is in a ZIP archive, then in Pictures.
• After conversion, for example in the Caliber program,Books will be available to Kindle in the following formats: html, doc, docx, as well as graphic files: gif, png,-j.webp" />

How to upload books?

Option one. Using a USB - micro-USB cable connected to a computer, you can download books in a format readable by the Kindle. After connecting, the Kindle will open as a "flash drive", in which there will be folders:

• Audiable - for audio publications.
• Documents - for books.
• Music - for music.
• System – system folder.
• Pictures - for photo albums.

Second option. You can also download from Amazon. To do this, you need to connect to the Internet, register in the service or, if you have an account, enter data - mail and password. You can buy books both from your Kindle and from your computer (there are free ones).

Third option. Through e-mail. A mailbox in the approximate format [email protected] is automatically created on Amazon. If desired, you can change it (Your Account - Manage Your Kindle - Manage Your Devices). What Kindle formats will be available? The device itself will take the contents of the box and even unpack the ZIP archive:

• Microsoft Word (doc, docx), rtf, html (htm) will be converted to mobi;
• jpg, jpeg, gif, png, bmp;
• Kindle formats - mobi, azw;
• pdf - converts to mobi if you write the word convert in the subject line.

Optionfourth. Through the browser built into the "Kindle" (Menu - Experimental - launch browser), launch the program and open the desired site.