Kindle Update Adds PDF Reader, Extends Battery Life

By Geoff Duncan Published November 25, 2009

Amazon Kindle 2 on Book — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Amazon has launched an update to its 6-inch Kindle reader, adding a new battery that the company claims offers up to 85 percent more use, along with software updates that add a native PDF reader and screen rotation to the device. Customers who already have Kindle 2 devices can get the software updates sent to them wirelessly (or grab the firmware themselves and update via USB).

Amazon claims the new battery capacity is the result of six months of firmware engineering effort: the new Kindle 2 should stay functional for up to seven days on a single charge—and that’s with leaving wireless service enables. In addition, the new battery better handles period of inactivity: the battery should stay at its previous level for up to two weeks when turned off. However, customers who purchased the original Kindle who want the new battery life will be forced to buy a new unit: the batteries in the Kindle are not user-replaceable.

Recommended Videos

The 6-inch Kindle also now sports a native PDF reader, and a new capability for users to transfer PDFs to to their Kindles via email. Users can just send them to their Kindle email address; optionally, if they’ve like the PDFs converted to native Kindle format, they can just put “convert” in the subject line of the message. Native PDF support will be available for “some” earlier versions of the Kindle.

Kindle owners with the update will also be able to manually rotate between portrait and landscape modes, with the page-turning buttons operating the same way regardless of orientation.

The battery life improvements give Amazon’s base-model Kindle reader a point against competing readers from the likes of Barnes & Noble and Sony, which boasted significantly more battery life than the Kindle. However, Amazon may already have an advantage for the end-of-year holiday shopping season: Barnes & Noble says it is sold out of its Nook reader, and Sony is already saying it may not be able to deliver enough units of its Readers to retailers by the holidays.

Former Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Topics

Emerging Tech

Google is making Gemini and Search work better with the apps you love

Gemini's guest list is growing, and your favorite apps are invited.

Gemini AI on a phone.

Google has been finding more ways to make Gemini a part of your daily routine, from putting together playlists to ordering groceries through your favorite apps. Now it's expanding those capabilities to more services, with Google Search joining in, too.

The company has announced a new Connected Apps Platform that makes it easier for developers to bring their services to both Gemini and Search. Alongside this, Google is adding new partners to its growing lineup, bringing more of the apps people already use into its AI ecosystem.

Emerging Tech

AI bots are now trying to sabotage public health policies, like banning disposable vapes

Thousands of AI bots voted in a public health poll to block sales restriction on disposable vapes. It's like Big Tobacco is back from the dead.

Woman smoking a vape.

In the broad context of AI and its perceived harms, health and medical risks often pop up in the conversation. The warnings even come from frontier AI labs, such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which have warned about misusing AI to cook up bioweapons. Security experts have already spotted a few such incidents in the wild, especially with the usage of AI models without any solid guardrails.

Well, it appears that the risks run deeper. As per an analysis appearing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), AI bots are now being deployed to influence public policies governing health risks to citizens. In this instance, an attempt was made using AI bots to thwart regulations that aim to restrict the sale of disposable vapes, all while disguising the manipulation efforts as a response from real humans.

Emerging Tech

A tiny smartphone gadget can detect some of the nastiest chemicals in your water

Scientists built a tiny smartphone gadget that can spot toxic 'forever chemicals'

Smartphone-connected drinking water safety sensor Featured

What if checking your drinking water for dangerous chemicals were as simple as plugging a tiny gadget into your smartphone? Researchers in Japan have developed a compact sensor that could make that possible, potentially bringing sophisticated water contamination testing out of expensive laboratories and into people's hands.

Scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have created a portable device capable of detecting extremely low concentrations of PFAS, commonly known as "forever chemicals." The findings were published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, which demonstrate how an inexpensive sensor and a smartphone could make identifying potentially harmful chemicals in water a lot easier.