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JPropel
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« on: October 21, 2011, 07:47:38 AM » |
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I searched and didn’t see another post about this. Yesterday Amazon introduced Kindle Format 8 (or “KF8” for short) as the new rich media format for Kindles. Looks like yet another advancement that will set the Fire apart from its plain-vanilla android competition. Here’s the official announcement. |
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« Last Edit: October 23, 2011, 08:55:48 PM by Harvey »
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Lambert
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Enjoy Life
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« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2011, 08:38:21 AM » |
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Wow! Good news.
Even IE9 is starting to use CSS3 and HTML5. I wonder what else will be available for the Fire.
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 Power Kindle Books Marketing and Promoting |
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Jan Strnad
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« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2011, 08:59:09 AM » |
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Thanks for this link! Exciting news for comics creators!
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Linjeakel
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« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2011, 11:14:46 AM » |
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Q: Will KF8 capabilities be available on all Kindle devices?
A: Kindle Fire is the first Kindle device to support KF8 - in the coming months we will roll out KF8 to our latest generation Kindle e-ink devices as well as our free Kindle reading apps.
I presume the K3/KK and DX won't be regarded as 'latest generation'. Luckily I tend to read only straight forward text based novels, but I expect this will be disappointing for people who have been wanting more enhanced features for speciality books for some time, especially those who bought the larger format DX for that reason. |
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Linda  "Medicine For The Soul" ~ Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes |
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Elk
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« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2011, 11:33:03 AM » |
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Neat.
Thanks!
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jonathanmoeller
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« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2011, 02:39:17 PM » |
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Though I hope this doesn't result in a two-tiered ebook reader market - reader devices that can handle KF8, and those that can't.
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Toby
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« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2011, 05:53:03 PM » |
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I think the K3 might be included, as it is now called the kindle keyboard.
All this sounds very exciting.
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jmiked
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« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2011, 10:33:36 PM » |
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It's about time Amazon upgraded their rendering engine. The mobi format has been sadly lacking in that department, compared to ePub.
Now if they will just allow users a bit more control over the formatting...
Mike
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"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I've found it!), but 'That's funny...'"
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Crenel
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« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2011, 12:12:12 AM » |
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I think the K3 might be included, as it is now called the kindle keyboard.
The way I read it, "Kindle Keyboard" is just a re-branding of the existing (older, K3) hardware, so that wouldn't be the "latest generation." I guess we'll have to wait and see, since Kindle Fire is the only device supporting KF8 currently and other device (and app) support will come later. I'll be looking forward to the updated publishing tools & guidelines. |
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mrscottishman
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Scott Hogue
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« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2011, 03:15:47 PM » |
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My first Ipod went out of date and orphaned between the time I ordered it and got it!
There are so many kindles now we about have one for every day of the week. New we have new formats too?
Let me off the obsolescence merry go round!
The rest of you can ride all you want.
Scott
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Ann in Arlington
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« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2011, 03:47:41 PM » |
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Nothing is obsolete. The new format will allow for some cool stuff, content wise, but I fully believe that any book in that format will be converted to the old .azw format -- and we won't even notice -- if it is purchased for use on an earlier Kindle. Kind of like the books marked "optimized for a larger screen". They may look nicer on the DX, but they really work just fine on the regular Kindle. So if an author/publisher uploads in the new format, newer Kindles may see specific fonts or better images or something, but older Kindles will still be able to buy the book and read it as. . .well. . . a book.  |
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Ann Von Hagel Arlington, VA |
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Elk
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« Reply #11 on: October 22, 2011, 05:48:03 PM » |
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No matter.
There remains those delightful, beautiful, obsolescence proof physical books.
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J. Eathen
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« Reply #12 on: January 20, 2012, 01:18:37 PM » |
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As long as it leads to embeddable fonts across all Kindles and more control over how text and images are displayed...
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patrickt
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« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2012, 06:43:35 AM » |
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Though I hope this doesn't result in a two-tiered ebook reader market - reader devices that can handle KF8, and those that can't.
Isn't it two-tier now? Those who read books and those who watch movies, play games, and read funny books. |
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Ann in Arlington
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« Reply #14 on: January 21, 2012, 07:52:41 AM » |
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Isn't it two-tier now? Those who read books and those who watch movies, play games, and read funny books.
You speak as though reading books is mutually exclusive to watching movies, playing games and reading "funny" books. They're not. |
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Ann Von Hagel Arlington, VA |
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NightGoat
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« Reply #15 on: January 21, 2012, 12:38:39 PM » |
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My first Ipod went out of date and orphaned between the time I ordered it and got it!
There are so many kindles now we about have one for every day of the week. New we have new formats too?
Let me off the obsolescence merry go round!
The rest of you can ride all you want.
Scott
I miss you around here Sir. And I agree... This doesn't excite me in the least. I am by no means a Luddite, but I only want to read. I don't need anything more than what the Kindle already does. |
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Hadou
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« Reply #16 on: January 21, 2012, 06:16:21 PM » |
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I like playing with the tools to see what I can safely accomplish for future applications. I'm glad they finally released it, anyhow. Now, we'll see just what (if anything) I'll be able to do with it.
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Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.
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Xopher
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« Reply #17 on: January 22, 2012, 09:14:44 AM » |
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As long as it leads to embeddable fonts across all Kindles and more control over how text and images are displayed...
Probably won't. Newer devices might get such features. I would assume that most of the embedded stuff would be stripped out when they convert to .azw for KK/K2/DX... That way, files will work no matter which device is being used. So embedded fonts that show up on the Fire, might show up on the K4 (maybe even the K3), but probably won't show up on the KK or K2. |
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J. Eathen
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« Reply #18 on: January 27, 2012, 06:59:32 AM » |
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Probably won't. Newer devices might get such features. I would assume that most of the embedded stuff would be stripped out when they convert to .azw for KK/K2/DX... That way, files will work no matter which device is being used. So embedded fonts that show up on the Fire, might show up on the K4 (maybe even the K3), but probably won't show up on the KK or K2.
I wouldn't expect it to work on older Kindles. It is long overdue for Amazon to move to a format that allows authors more control over how ebooks are displayed. |
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Ann in Arlington
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« Reply #19 on: January 27, 2012, 07:34:19 AM » |
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The Topaz format already allows embedding of fonts, though it's not been used, generally, to it's full potential.
I do think that Amazon is aware enough of their early adopter customers that any new formats will be backwards compatible. I just don't see them getting to the point where a person can't read a newly published book on an older Kindle. Now, maybe all the fancy stuff won't work, but the book will be readable. That's probably all most people care about.
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Ann Von Hagel Arlington, VA |
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Xopher
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« Reply #20 on: January 27, 2012, 09:57:47 AM » |
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The way I envision it would be something like Calibre on the server side. There was already talks about allowing publishers to submit ebooks to Amazon in ePub format. They would still arrive on the Kindle in .azw format, so they would be converted in the background. The server would just send out whichever format is best for the device. That way, The KF8 format would be sent to the Fire, while the AZW format would be sent to the K1, K2, K3, K4....
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