It also gets a native PDF reader, previously only found in the Kindle DX. The total battery life for the international version measures at seven days with wireless on (up from four days), and two weeks with wireless off (same as before).

It looks like Amazon just improved the wireless usage, which might have come as a result from switching from using Sprint as the provider to AT&T as a provider? Probably not, seeing as previous Kindle users also get the 85% battery life from a firmware upgrade delivered automatically. PDF support comes over OTA upgrade as well, but no timeframe was announced for either. [Press Release]

We could try to justify this post in many ways, but it would be a stretch. We can't even call BS and claim it's Photoshop. The fact is, it's just an owl in a box. And I can't look away. [Reynen's Journal via Jalopnik, BoingBoing]

PDFs are the one major roadblock to a nice intense Google search—you see that little indicator and you have to either download, get the shitty HTML view, or just walk away. So Google is fixing it. Now, when you see the Quick View tag, you get a nicely formatted PDF. Go ahead, try it. You'll like it. [Technologizer]

Someone from the Department of No Shit (actually, it was Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, so pretty close) said that in a current study, most kids like the Apple products. It's really not surprising that most of the time, 100% of kids shopping for MP3 players want iPods, though in the fall, it seems to dip a tad, when Microsoft releases its latest Zune, and about 15% dare to be different. Also not surprising: Among the minority of kids who actually buy music, almost all of those dorks use iTunes. And to top it off, there's currently a spike in iPhone sales among teens, presumably boosted by the $99 3G option. In the next six months, nearly a quarter of teens claim they will buy an iPhone. This study is helpful for Apple bean counters, but it really says nothing at all about taste or judgment, if you think about it. [AllThingsD]

Speaking of those damn kids, they just can't get enough of this "Rock Band" either. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting it on their Apple products. Well, they just might get it, according to this shot from the otherwise mostly boring CTIA phone conference. And it just might have multiplayer mode with Bluetooth. Oh kids. I'll be in the bar. [MobileCrunch]

Well, maybe. The Kindle DX is rumored to sport a 9.7-inch screen, the ability to add annotations (could this mean a touchscreen?), and long-awaited PDF support. The New York Times is rumored to be chopping its monthly subscription costs from $13.99 to $9.99, though we wouldn't hold out hope that this'll save their industry. We'll keep you updated as more info leaks out.

Update: Looks like this Kindle DX is designed to appeal to students and textbook publishers. The Wall Street Journal reports that some chemistry and computer science students at several American universities will receive the new textbook-friendly Kindle. Specifically named so far are Case Western, Pace, Princeton, Reed, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State. It'll also apparently include an actually functional web browser, though we'll believe that when we see it. They'll be looking to compare the experiences of those with the Kindle and those with those ancient glued sheets of dried tree pulp. [Engadget, WSJ]

The developer, Jesse Vincent, swears he didn't "hack" the new Kindle—rather, he wrote a "package" that happens to run on it. The thing doesn't crack DRM files, it just converts specific unprotected files on the fly—from PDF and ePub to Mobipocket, so it feels like they are supported by the Kindle 2. (Not, alas, the first-gen Kindle.)

As Jesse says on his blog:

Savory installs a small program which runs on your Kindle and watches for new files in the 'Documents' directory with names ending in '.epub' and '.pdf'. When the system notifies Savory that a document has shown up, it wakes up and runs an open-source file conversion program called Calibre. Savory also updates your Kindle2's browser configuration file to tell it that the Kindle can now handle .pdf and .epub documents.

That said, Jesse isn't sure what he's doing is totally kosher:

Does Savory void my warranty?
I don't know. If you're not comfortable with the possibility, do not install Savory.

[Savory via O'Reilly Radar (get it?) and Make]

Now, when you click "View" on an attached PDF, you'll get to view it inside your browser with no mess. All the pages show up thumbnailed on the right, and you can view the current page in the main pane. It's quick and easy, as it should be.

Unfortunately, it only works in Gmail. How about a browser plugin so we can avoid Acrobat Reader all the time? [Gmail Blog via Boy Genius]

Essentially, the device works by taking images of each page with one of two digital cameras. The book is initially positioned in the V-shaped cradle, the machine auto adjusts the placement to ensure the pages are flat, once this is done the images are captured and relayed to a connected PC. Editing options are then presented on the computer, via the incorporated BookSnap software. This seems like a great idea, until you realize you manually have to turn each page independently. We spend far too much of our lives turning pages. In fact, we estimate we have spent some fifty cumulative years of our lives turning pages. Fifty years! Given that slight design flaw, this probably isn't that different to a flat bed scanner, but if it is paving the way to an automated device that can rip books for consumers, then we support it...after its price drops $1500. [Krunker]

Using this, you can make word docs, presentations, and professional layout applicaiton docs into something that look good on Sony's Reader. The guide, however, comes in PDF format—presumably optimized for the Reader already so you can read the guide there while optimizing PDFs on your PC. – Jason Chen

Guide [MAKE]

PDF Guide (PDF) [MAKE]

User Manual Guide [via Lifehacker]