Kindle Experimental Features

Commenting on Amazon's Test Applications is the Key to Keeping Them

Dec 24, 2008

The Amazon Kindle lists three experimental features, but only two of them are currently active due to lack of percieved consumer interest.

The Amazon Ebook reader offers and unparallelled reading experience. A whole library is available, as is a dictionary and personal notes and highlights.

The ebook side of the Kindle will never disappear; it is the Kindle's raison d'etre. Experimental features, however, are not guaranteed. Amazon reserves the right to change or suspend the features, and they have already shown their willingness to do so by ending the Ask Kindle Now feature.

The Kindle Web Browser

The basic web browser on the Kindle is has an excellent connection through the Sprint network, which enables Amazon customers to buy books from the Kindle store and receive books through Whispernet. The web browser works best for simple, reading related tasks, such as:

Some expert Kindle users describe using for a quasi-gps experience by getting immediate location directions from Google maps and posting in mobile-formatted forums.

Currently, the Kindle web browser is free, and this duration of this free access is debated across Kindle forums. Amazon customer service has repeatedly stated it is evaluating the experimental features, including the web browser, and that users should send their comments about the usefulness of the feature and and suggestions to kindle-feedback@amazon.com.

The Kindle Music Player

Kindles can play .mp3 files that have been saved to an SD card. To access the music, users, can either press the play button on the experimental screen or use the ALT+P shortcut .

The quality of the music player is surprisingly good, considering one is listening to an e-book reader. There is a headphone jack on the Kindle, so music can be listened in an unobtrusive way. Even without headphones, music can be set quite low and the player is not disruptive. It provides excellent background music while immersed in a good book.

Ask Kindle Now Now

One of the most interactive features of the Amazon Kindle was the experimental access to Amazon's Now Now team. Kindle uses could send in questions through the Now Now application, and live people would research the answer and return up to three responses.

Some users reported getting answers immediately; others had to wait several days. The service was an excellent complement to the web browser. Kindle answers were sent via Whispernet to the Kindle and to the user's registered email address, and the users could rate the responses.

After the Kindle's first year on the market, Amazon discontinued the Now Now feature. Users attempting to use the feature received an explanatory Now Now reply, thanking users for their interest and urging them to send feedback the other experimental Kindle features.

If there are features that users want to keep (such as the web browser and the music player), it is important that they write to Amazon's feedback email address and indicate that the feature is valuable. Amazon customer service reads and often replies to the feedback. If there are other features they would like to see, Amazon has been responsive to suggestions sent through feedback email.

The copyright of the article Kindle Experimental Features in Mobile Technology is owned by Alex Sharp. Permission to republish Kindle Experimental Features in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.