
In this article I will try to begin the description of several interesting additional features of this wonderful reader. It will be about the options for Kindle 3g and Kindle Wi-fi of the third generation and some of the things not described in the manuals. I would like to note that it is relatively easy to find information about Kindle, but I think it’s a good idea to collect everything in one note in Russian.
Acknowledgments
First of all, I would like to thank comrade
NiLuJe from the
mobileread.com forum and comrades
Sir Alex and
VVSiz from
the-ebook.org forum for their great contribution to the Kindles tuning.
')
Simple things
For the seed, here are a few tables.
3rd generation Kindle version
Version | The serial number starts with | Price | 3G operator | Body color schemes |
Kindle Wi-Fi: | "B008" | $ 139 or ÂŁ 111 (when purchased at amazon.com and amazon.co.uk respectively). | Not | Graphite |
Kindle 3G (Free 3G + Wi-Fi) US and Canada | "B006" | $ 189 when purchased at amazon.com. | AT & T | Graphite or white |
Kindle 3G (Free 3G + Wi-Fi) Europe | "B00A" | ÂŁ 152 when purchased at amazon.co.uk. | Vodafone | Graphite or white |
The serial number can be viewed on the Settings page at the bottom of the screen. The 3G models B006 and B00A, for the user, are no different, roaming works in both versions without restrictions.
Shared hotkeys
- alt + shift + G - Take a screenshot
- alt + G - Refresh screen (features of partial device screen redrawing)
- shift + alt + m (On the start screen) - Start the Miner toy. After pressing G on the mine screen, another game is available: GoMoku.
- alt + home - Open Kindle Store (need internet connection)
- alt + buttons from the top row on the keyboard - Dial numbers from 1 to 9 and 0
- Menu key - You can view the time by calling the menu. The start screen also displays information about the available free space.
- Slider from the bottom (slide) - By holding it for 7 seconds in the extended position, you can turn off the Kindle. Hold 15 seconds, you can restart the reader. Reboot is also available from the menu (Home -> Menu -> Settings -> Menu).
Hot keys in read mode
- alt + B - Set / delete bookmarks (Page-bookmark is indicated by a curved corner, bookmarks are available from the menu item View my notes & marks. Checked for .mobi, I suspect the same work for all text formats (except .pdf).
- Joystick. Push up. - Displays the cursor at the bottom of the screen.
- Joystick. Push down. - Displays the cursor UP screen.
- Joystick. Pressing right. - The next chapter.
- Joystick. Push left. - Previous chapter.
Text-to-speech
- shift + Sym - Turn this thing on or off.
- back - Disables the thing.
- spacebar - Pause a piece.
- By controlling the cursor, you can control the order of text playback out loud.
Music controls
- alt + space - Enable / disable music.
- alt + f - Next track (in alphabetical order).
More complicated things
Firmware updates
Firmware updates are available in automatic mode some time after the release (with Wi-fi on or 3G available), however, for impatient users or those who cannot access the Internet on the device, there is the following method:
- Go to www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200324680
- Checking your version of Kindle on the settings page
- We carry out simple instructions from the site:
- download firmware for your version
- we connect the reader
- write the downloaded file to the root of Kindle
- disconnect the cable
- Home -> Menu -> Settings -> Menu -> Update Your Kindle
- waiting, enjoying the new firmware
View images
Kindle has a built-in image viewer. For what purposes it can be used, I do not know, perhaps lazy comic book lovers will like it. I advise the rest to convert to .pdf. I checked on .png and .jpg images. In order to enjoy this unearthly opportunity, you should:
- Connect device
- Create a directory named pictures in the root
- Inside the directory to create another one, with an arbitrary name (within reason!), Images placed directly in the pictures will not be displayed. You can create an arbitrary number of directories inside the pictures.
- Upload the required number of images.
Browser hotkeys
- q - increase
- w - reduce
- e - reset zoom
- c - real size
- f - full screen
- r - rotate
Book conversion
Amazon offers its service for converting books and sending them to Kindle
via email , but this is not the most convenient way, in my opinion (but it is and should not be forgotten about it).
To convert books (as well as to store the library), you can use the wonderful
Caliber program.
If you have difficulties with the development of Caliber, you can read, for example, this
entry . Also, for converting doc -> mobi I used the service
2epub.com in
conjunction with Caliber.
"Freebie"
Free collections of books for Kindle in English (and paid, but at a discount), you can see
on the website of Amazon .
Additional dictionaries

Kindle comes with two Oxford dictionaries. However, nothing prevents you from installing your own dictionaries, for example, English-Russian! It is enough to find the dictionary in a suitable format, download it to the device (like a regular book in the Documents directory) and select it as the main one. Details in English and a list of ready-made dictionaries are in the topic on
the-ebook.org (Pay attention to the NBARS)
Complicated things
These are already informal ways to make Kindle a more advanced device. Use them at your own risk.
Jailbreak (mandatory part, perform anyway!)
The first thing to start with is to install this wonderful hack. Despite the title, it is very easy to install it (and all subsequent ones), for this you need:
- Follow the link to mobileread.com
- Download the archive kindle-jailbreak-XXX.zip, at the time of writing this is kindle-jailbreak-0.4.N.zip
- Unzip, find update_XXX_install.bin file, c XXX? corresponding to your version of Kindle
- Connect Kindle to the computer, drop the file to the root of the device
- Unplug usb cable
- [HOME] -> [MENU]> Settings -> [MENU]> Update Your Kindle.
Nameplate of versions and patch names
Model | Serial number start | Patch name |
---|
Wi-fi | B008 | update_ k3w _install.bin |
3g US | B006 | update_ k3g _install.bin |
3g UK | B00A | update_ k3gb _install.bin |
Your screensavers

With this hack, you will be able to replace the official screensavers with your own.
The installation procedure is similar to installing a jailbreak. It is enough to download the file kindle-ss-XXX.zip (
kindle-ss-0.18.N.zip at the time of writing the note) from the
mobileread.com forum and repeat all the actions from the last paragraph.
After installing the hack, the
linkss / screensavers directory will appear in the root of the device, into which you can upload any monochrome .png / .jpg images with a resolution of
600X800 . To find an image of this type is not difficult, for lazy I publish several links:
For those who are few, you can give simple advice to use
Google search in pictures , for example.
If you are preparing Kindle as a gift, you can pour a few photos of this person, I think he will be pleased.
To get the effect, you need to restart the device. However, you can simply put an empty file named
reboot in the
linkss directory (or rename an already existing autoreboot file that is specifically there for this purpose) and the Kindle will reboot 10 seconds after disconnecting from the PC.
The screensavers will be applied cyclically in alphabetical order depending on the file name. To shuffle images after each reboot, just create an empty
random file in the same
linkss directory. After that, with each reboot, the images in the directory with screensavers will be NUMBER_IMAFAYL.
Font change
If for some reason you are unhappy with the official fonts, you can indignantly replace them with your favorite ones. I am satisfied with the standard fonts, so I did not change them and send you to the already legendary theme
mobileread.com for further instructions.
Note also the name of the faces and fonts and their purpose.
Full Russification or only additional Russian layout
<

This is possible too! If something interfered with surfing, it is the absence of the Russian layout. Now these problems are in the past!
Two options are possible (
incompatible with each other!):
Kindle 3G as a modem
If conscience allows you,
you can use Kindle as a modem for a PC / laptop / etc
Short FAQ
- I bought a reading room, put all the hacks and it began to fail in a few days / I bought a new reader, it is buggy and without hacks.
- Maybe it's in the cover. Official covers without backlighting
are seen in destructive activities.- Is it possible to replace such a cover?
-
Yes .
Called, talked.
They recognize and solve the problem immediately, without asking for confirmation or anything else.
The idea is - they throw a backlit case into the basket and a $ 25 gift certificate for it (the difference in cost between a simple case and an illuminated case). At the same time, the “refund” of the cost of the old case and its delivery is promised after you receive a new one and confirm to them (as I understand it - by mail) that you have fixed the problem.
Old cover left on his memory.
Those. In this situation, you are literally given a new case with backlight.
- I accidentally dropped Kindle in a concrete mixer, the screen crashed, what should I do? The device is under warranty.
-
You will not believe !
- I heard there is an SDK for Kindle, why is there no software for it?!? 111 Where do programmers look?! 711111
-
Applications exist , but they are very few, unfortunately. It's all about the difficulties of accessing the
KDK . Try it, maybe you are lucky to become a beta user.
Unfortunately, the article was conceived in a more extensive way, but due to lack of time, work with ssh and some interesting things remained overboard. I will try to correct this unfortunate omission in the near future (or perhaps some of you will do it faster! Thank you for your attention, I hope this note will bring more clarity and help you get even more pleasure from your Kindle!
PS If you know some other interesting features of Kindle or non-obvious nuances when using it, useful links, or noticed inaccuracies in the article, do not hesitate to write in the comments, I will replenish this topic as much as possible.
UPD