WiFi on the Kindle via a TiVo adapter someday—to avoid risk of wireless charges for unfettered browsing?
Just how long will the party go on for Kindle owners? Amazon has already said it really would like you to Web-browse within shopping areas and maybe Wikipedia. EVDO isn’t free to Jeff & friends. So might a WiFi hack make sense—getting the Kindle to work with 802.11 wireless via a TiVo WiFi adapter or another? Forward-looking people in a MobileRead forum are already on the case. Here’s rooting for them or others to succeed!
Obstacles remain. As one Kindle fan asks: “Could the store and browser be forced to recognize a different adapter? Is the Kindle’s USB port setup in such a way that it can be used for this type of communication? Are the current Linux drivers” for the TiVo “even usable?” And since Amazon can track how people use the machine, might the company retaliate in some way? But oh how I’m rooting for the hackers to succeed! (Thanks, Kyle.)
Related: Discussion in the jkOnTheRun blog area over the kind of E Ink the Kindle is using—apparently not the second-gen Vizplex variety found on the Sony PRS-505. As noted here earlier, JK is no longer Kindling away due to screen contrast issues. Mike Cane has a few words on the matter, now that JK has visited a Sony store and seen the difference for himself. Even the Sony lacks sufficient contrast between text and background, as I see it, and it’s really time for Sony to addresss this issue via a boldface option. Delay the firmware update, due in the next month or so, if need be. The Cybook Gen3 already offers bolding.
Related: iPhone unlocking explodes despite Apple’s countermeasures (CNet).
January 30th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Three posts does not a discussion make, especially when they are all wrong. The Kindle does not use a first gen screen. I had a 500 before the Kindle, and I had them laying next to each other, flipping pages. The Kindle was noticeably faster than the 500.
January 30th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Well, maybe not just bolding. Perhaps more font sizes too. More is better. (Well, a lot of times… ahem.)
January 30th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
The comment about Kindle prompted me to ask on MobileRead and Alisa pointed out that E-Ink specifically says that the Kindle is using Vizplex: http://www.eink.com/products/customers_type.html
The screens are identical, but the controllers are different. However, most comments I have seen suggest that there is no significant difference in contrast between the Kindle and the PRS-505.
January 30th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Big thanks, Alan. Debate over on the Vizplex question if nothing else. The E Ink page could’t be plainer. David