The Kindle, a beloved companion for global travelers, seems ideal for language translation. Unfortunately, Google Translate, with its 50+ language translation powers, doesn’t work on the Kindle. Enter the Kindlefish web app, which turns the Kindle into a near-universal language translater.

Developed by road warrior SeattleFlyerGuy (a “travel and mileage nut”), Kindlfish enables users to tap into Google Translate via the URL http://kindlefish.t15.org. Kindlefish was designed to eliminate mobile Google Translate’s clunkiness, offers three default output languages you can save, and provides easy-to-read translated text (even Asian languages and others with non-Latin alphabets).

The Kindle browser, however, is notoriously slow and Kindlefish can also be susceptible to accuracy issues related to Google Translate and poor support for non-English input on the Kindle. The Kindle DX may also have a particular issue, although there’s a workaround that the developer created just for DX users.

Those obstacles aside, if you travel a lot with your Kindle or ever wished you could use Google Translate from it, this web app is for you.

The big news for calibre fans is that the Kindle app can now open .mobi files directly from your iPhone/iPod/iPad mail program and Safari browser. Users can also now transfer .mobi files to their device using iTunes on their computer.

For regular calibre users, this facilitates the transfer of converted files to the iPhone/iPod/iPad without any external programs or jailbreaking.

I plan on changing my calibre options to automatically send downloaded periodicals to my iPhone’s email.

For readers used to turning paper pages, e-books invite touch perhaps more than anything else. Many a Kindle screen has been sullied by errant fingers before their frustrated owners realized that readers turn the pages of an e-book using buttons on the side of the device.

Really?  “Many” Kindle “owners” have bought their Kindles online, only to discover that they are not touchscreens?  This is a classic example of an author creating an unattributable scenario in order for a weak story to hold together.

While the article also states that Amazon is expected to release a touchscreen Kindle, Mr. Bezos has said that this would only happen–if at all–once the technology allows for glare-less touchscreens.  Whether the Sony e-readers have accomplished this will have to be seen.

As for me, I really do not feel limited by my Kindle’s lack of a touchscreen.  In fact, since I read my ultra-light Kindle with one hand, having a touchscreen, as opposed to buttons placed in-line with my holding position (which the Sony appears to lack), would be a negative.

Sony touchscreen e-reader

Directions to change line spacing on Kindle 2

Press & hold: ‘Shift’ + ‘Alt’ + (number 1 – 9) with ’1′ yielding the fewest spacing, up to ’9′ yielding the greatest spacing

Below are screenshots from 3 of the 9 available spacings:

'Shift' + 'Alt' + '1'

'Shift' + 'Alt' + '5'

'Shift' + 'Alt' + '9'

If you are a current Kindle 2 owner and want to try to avoid buying the newest generation for as long as possible, stay clear of the reviews–where you will find quotes such as this from Fast Company:

It’s still black-and-white, but really, that’s for the best. The screen almost glows outdoors. In comparison to the iPad, which turns into a pretty but useless mirror in sunlight, the Kindle only gets more readable. This is a gadget that loves the beach.

Meanwhile, iPad supplies have caught up with demand–this based on analysis of shipping times and availability at Best Buy.  Shipping rates have dropped from May’s 5-to-7 business days, down to 3-to-5 days last week, and down to 1-to-3 business days as of two days ago.  Barclays Capital produced this nice graph of the various iPad/iPod models’ availability at Best Buy (notice the huge jump in the last few weeks):

iPad availability at Best Buy

So what does it mean that iPad supplies are increasing? In short, only Apple knows–price has not changed, so either the demand curve or the supply curve has “shifted.” In other words, sales have either cooled a bit or Apple figured out how to increase production by 100 percent in the last week.

The regular cover will sell for $35, but a cover with a built-in LED light will sell for $60. The light will retract into the cover when not in use and draws power from the Kindle (rather than a separate battery).

Built-in light

The big changes:

• Weight drops from 10.2 to 8.7 ounces
• Physical dimensions reduced 21%–from 8 x 5.3 x .36 in to 7.5 x 4.8 x .34
• “50% greater contrast than any other e-reader”
• Page turns are 20% faster
• Battery life increased from 2 weeks to 1 month (10 days with wireless left on)
• Memory increased from 2GB to 4GB
• Improved browser
• Rubberized backing
• Available in white or graphite

There will be 2 models: a $139 Wi-Fi Kindle and a $189 Wi-Fi + 3G Kindle.  You can pre-order now, but both models will not ship until August 27.

Early review are quite posititve:

• PC World – “As soon as I took the Kindle in hand, I knew that this Kindle marked new territory.”
• Engadget.com – “The build quality and materials used did seem slightly more polished than the previous version, and we really liked the new, more subtle rocker. We can also attest to screen refreshes and overall navigation feeling noticeably more responsive and snappy compared with the previous generation.”
• MSNBC – “…it also helps curb comparisons with the iPad: The further apart the two are in price, the less likely there can be a credible comparison. I recently argued that e-book readers would be best served sticking to their core purpose — delivering the calm, distraction-free experience of reading books in digital form — keeping their prices low and steering clear of extraneous features. That’s what Amazon has done here. At this price, it’s not too crazy to think of iPad and Kindle as a pair, especially since any book you buy through Amazon is readable on either device (and a slew of others).”
• 9to5Mac.com – “The most incredible part is the insane battery life which provides a month of usage sans and 10 days with the wireless.”
• Technologizer.com – “Amazon’s strategy is as sensible as any I can think of for the Kindle–make it more like a book and even less like an iPad, thereby catering to all the folks who want the equivalent of a (relatively) cheap, highly portable digital paperback rather than the costlier do-it-all device that is Apple’s tablet.”
• ZDNet.com – (from a well-known e-reader hater) “Like the reptile that inhabits the namesake river and has outlived its Cretaceous ancestors, Amazon and its Kindle will remain the sole survivor of the eReader Apocalypse.”

As the tech blogs and market analysts discovered, the Kindle has been out of stock for 24 hours.  Everyone agrees on two possible explanations: 1) demand for the Kindle, in the wake of it’s lower price, has exceeded Amazon’s expectations (and, thus, their ordered supply from the manufacturer); 2) the yet-to-be-announced Kindle 3 is around the corner.

…one Wall Street analyst thinks the shortage means Amazon has slowed production of the current Kindle as it prepares to release a new device. “Historically, Kindle ‘out of stock’ statements have presaged the launch of new versions,” writes analyst Jim Friedland of Cowen and Co., who estimated the chance of there being a Kindle 3 soon at 80%. He expects a new Kindle to have a higher-contrast screen and be lighter and faster than the current device.
Wall Street Journal

Kindle-haters like to add a third possible reason–supply chain problems–but the first two explanations are far more likely. Both, it is worth noting, would be signs–further dumbfounding Apple-worshiping, non-book reading tech bloggers–of the continued life of the dedicated-ereader:

1. Selling out a 17-month old device (old, by tech industry standards) is an impressive feat.

2. Although details of the Kindle 3 remain secret, Mr. Bezos has confirmed several specifications that signal Amazon’s commitment, and belief, in the ereader:

• E Ink
• Black & white display
• No touchscreen

Notes about the e-books numbers:

• 143 Kindle books sold for every 100 hardcover books; for the previous month alone, the ratio is 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books
• These numbers DO NOT include free Kindle books
• These numbers include ALL hardcover books–even those with no equivalent Kindle edition

The techie websites–you know, the guys who have been predicting the death of the Kindle ever since the iPad was announced–really don’t know what to think (see here; here; here).  They really cannot understand why someone would want a black & white ereader that doesn’t do anything but facilitate reading (well, there is Kindlepad).

Hopefully, publishers are getting the message and will cease delaying Kindle-editions of new books as well as continue to release their backlists.  One of the first books I tried to purchase for my new Kindle was Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels. Six months later, it was finally released and I immediately purchased it–a sale that did nothing to cannibalize the paperback edition of the novel (since I have had this book for over a decade).