# This little web browser trick is going to excite a lot of Kindle 3 owners. (Google Reader)



## kb7uen Gene (Mar 13, 2009)

This article came from the WIRED's GADGET LAB web site.

Simple Tip Turns Kindle into Ultimate News Reader

By Charlie Sorrel

One of the best things about the Gadget Lab is our awesome readership, and this tip comes from Gadget Lab fan Ron Winters. Ron has actually managed to make the Kindle's "experimental" web-browser functional. Better still, it is an always-connected client for reading your own personal news.
Up until the latest version, the Kindle's browser fully deserved its "experimental" tag. In fact, "excremental" would have been more apt. It was clunky, slow and almost impossible to use. Anecdotal reports say that the Kindle 3 has a much better browser, and now Ron has proven it with a great hack for using Google Reader. The trick lies in keyboard shortcuts and the oft-forgotten full-screen mode. It works like this:
First, log into your Google Reader account and use the awkward cursor control to navigate your feed list. Then hit the "right" cursor to enter the news articles themselves. Then comes the trick: just press "f" to enter full-screen mode, instantly turning your Kindle into a custom newspaper. You can scroll through the article with the Kindle's page-turn buttons, and - using Google Reader's keyboard commands - press "j" and "k" to page through articles.
Ron says that "this works best with images turned off in the kindle browser" and with a bigger font size for easier reading: "I happen to like 200%," he says. One of the first things I tried to do with my second-gen Kindle was browse to Google Reader - it's a natural fit - but it was too slow and awkward to actually use. Ironically, given that the Google Reader site is not yet optimized for the iPad, the humble Kindle could turn out to be the best mobile newsreader yet.

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/simple-tip-turns-kindle-into-ultimate-news-reader/#ixzz0yuL84YAD


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## bwbollom (Jul 30, 2010)

I've been hoping that Google Reader would work well with the K3. Mine should arrive tomorrow (my first Kindle / eReader!) and I really want to be able to read RSS news on it. This sounds fantastic and will be one of the first things I try 

Thanks!


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

*Mouth hanging open*

Holy cow, this is FANTASTIC! As soon as I read this, I grabbed my Kindle and tried it. Wow! Brilliant! Amazing! I didn't even turn images off, but I can see how that would help. While you're reading, the images still load and suddenly move the screen down a bit. I'm reading it set to "fit-to-width" and that's fine for me. I read on the smallest font size setting.

Screengrabs of fit-to-width and 200%:

















Now I love my Kindle even more. This just blew my mind. It works SO WELL! Like reading a book! Thank you so very much for sharing, kb7uen Gene! Look how excited I am, I'm using up my exclamation mark quota! 

(This is so awesome, it deserves another big WOW!)


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm happy for the information. . .but I could have used less editorializing as he described the steps.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Very cool, thanks for sharing Gene! =)


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## ron_winters (Sep 8, 2010)

Everyone,

Charlie forgot to mention that you can use the shift+u key to pop up the list of feeds to select a different feed to read in the article. Pressing shift+u again hides the list of feeds. I added it in a post on the Wired blog.

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/simple-tip-turns-kindle-into-ultimate-news-reader/#ixzz0ywby59rb

I'm still working on getting Safari books online to work reliably. At least now they have a message about how they are planning/trying to update their site for Kindle3 owners.

Yes, that Ron Winters. I'm glad you enjoy the tip. Have fun! I'm glad I found the forum!

Ron


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Uuh, paint me a pathetic newb but I dont' get it. I logged into my google reader and it goes to the main google reader page. what do you mean by "navigate to your feed list and hit the right cursor button to enter to news"? i have my subscriptions at the lower left and when i go to "all items" and try to click on something it says "can't open multiple windows...i got the "F" for full screen which is nice and lines up all the articles into an inbox and i can use "J" and "K" to go through them and see the first few lines of the articles but how do I read them in their entirety, all i can see are three lines of the articles as i scroll through my subscription inbox. Maybe i'm using the wrong rss feeds. I have usa today, free darko and the nytimes and all three only allow me to see the first three lines of the article. Any help would be great. thanks...


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

Without doing this myself...

Does this work on the browser for the DX, or is it something that only the K3 browser can handle?


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

Neat trick. Thanks.


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## ron_winters (Sep 8, 2010)

To navigate to your feeds use the cursor pad to scroll down to select a feed, press the cursor select button in the center to select a feed.  You may have to use alt+cursor down to fine tune your downward scrolling movement.  I just tap the down side 4-5 times or whatever is needed to select the feed I am interested in.  If you want to read the top article in the feed you can just press the "j" key - no need to scroll right.  Once you have an article selected/expanded, then press the "f" key for full screen mode.

The number of lines displayed in each article in google reader depends on the RSS feed provided.  Some sites only provide a short summary, some provide the full articles.  If you want the full articles and any comments usually you have to follow the link/title of the article to the actual site.

I only have a Kindle3.  I have been told that this trick is not effective on the Kindle2.  I would like to know if it works on the DX also.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Fantastic. thanks a lot, Ron. Great find using the full screen(f) and the forward back articles...this is definitely going to wow a large handful of us who want to maximize the browser. Now i just have to find some rss feeds that display the full articles and not the short summaries (short summaries don't seem to allow me to link to the article themselves as it says "web browser could not open this link because opening multiple windows is not supported")...i'll try to find full article rss feeds. Great work once again, Ron...


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

If you have tried Ron Winter's trick and shortcuts for google reader and got into the full screen, you'll have had the same expression as most of us which was "WOW" I'm sitting here thinking "s*@t!!!, this is going to completely add to the utility of my kindle 3. *jaw dropping awesome* as the first reply to the thread infers...but all my favourite feeds didn't work cause they just showed summaries and i couldn't link to them. Soo, i thought i'd open up a topic of full rss feeds or websites which load fast(and really great blogs for that matter) to get this google reader maximized...I'll start it off:

boingboing.net
bikesnobnyc
peopleofwalmart

any good one's with real news (and fun random stuff too)?


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

A couple more to try.

Technology:
Crunchgear
Fast Company - Technology

Fun
Not Always Right
Clients from Hell

Movies
I watch stuff

Books
FiveBooks

Science
ScienceBlogs


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## caryanne2 (Jul 22, 2010)

Martel47 said:


> Without doing this myself...
> 
> Does this work on the browser for the DX, or is it something that only the K3 browser can handle?


No. Google reader doesn't work at all with the DXG. At least I can't get it to work. In Basic and Desktop Mode I get "JavaScript must be enabled in order for you to use Reader". This garbage isn't fair at all. DX should get the firmware update!

Edited to add: I found that http://www.google.com/reader/m lets you at least get into the reader, but I can't get any of the fancy short cuts to work.


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## ron_winters (Sep 8, 2010)

This is starting to get a bit off topic but I'll go along.

By my feeds shall thee know me...

I'm sorry about all the finance feeds but after the economy went south I added a bunch. They also tend to have full articles.

The Wired Magazine Gadget lab has some really good articles on using the Kindle. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab even if the feeds are short...

Bargaineering http://www.bargaineering.com/articles

Being Frugal.net http://beingfrugal.net/

Consumerist http://consumerist.com/

CopyBlogger http://www.copyblogger.com/

Craigslist or any Craigslist search or section

Create Digital Music http://createdigitalmusic.com/

Dumb Little Man http://www.dumblittleman.com/

Engadget http://www.engadget.com/ - kind of sad without the pictures though...

Free Money Finance http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/

Get Rich Slowly http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog

Hack-a-day http://hackaday.com/

Music After 50 http://www.musicafter50.com/

Pick the Brain http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog

Seth's Blog http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/

Slashdot http://slashdot.org/

The Happiness Project http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/

The Simple Dollar http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Wise Bread http://www.wisebread.com/all

Work Awesome http://workawesome.com/

Zen Habits http://zenhabits.net/


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

ron_winters said:


> This is starting to get a bit off topic but I'll go along.


No no, we've established that the trick is awesome, now we need FEEDS to use it to the fullest extent.  Nice list!


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## ron_winters (Sep 8, 2010)

I decided to spread the good news so I cross posted at MobileRead. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97936 . Prazzie, NorthOfDivision, I hope you don't mind but I quoted from your comments to try to build some excitement over there. If you object, let me know and I'll remove them from the post. Sorry I didn't think to ask earlier.

Ron


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

Not a problem at all. I'm still excited about this, I can't believe how good it looks. Coupled with the keyboard shortcuts, it's as though the K3 was designed for use with Google Reader.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Ron, thank you for the great feed list and no problem, quote as you please. This is excellent. Prazzie, agree with you completely. I played around more with it last night and found a few more shortcuts: 

o=open/close item
alt+q=expanded view of inbox
alt+w=list view of inbox
shift+a=mark all as read
r=refreshes the unread counts 
g+h=goes to google home
g+a=goes to the all items view


Sadly, i tried it on my kindle 2 also last night and it doesn't work. This is a K3 wifi and/or 3g trick only it seems.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

You guys are totally conspiring to make me want to give up my newish k2 and order a k3!!!


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

hsuthard said:


> You guys are totally conspiring to make me want to give up my newish k2 and order a k3!!!












Never has an avatar matched a post as well as that one...


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Haha...Definitely pick up a K3 (i say splurge and go 3g to have live content access anytime and anywhere) and add this google reader as a bookmark. With this fullscreen inbox option utilizing 3g or wifi, you can have all your info on the go for reading. really simplifies getting your daily fix of random updated live content. I leave the pictures on and it still loads up plenty fast for my needs (mostly reading on the subway,cafe, or park)...calibre for my magazines and newspapers, my blackberry for email/texting, and Greader for feeds/blogs...I was happy with K2 but even more utility with the K3.


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## tomatogirl (Aug 27, 2010)

Wowee! This is fantastic! Thanks for the heads up, link & instructions.


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## Mark Cotton (May 24, 2010)

Thank you for the post.  Should we try to accumulate a listing here of news feeds that include the entire story instead of opening the forbidden second window to read them? I added a bunch of feeds and discovered they only allow me to read the headline and the few additional words they include with the feed since I can't click and open them.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Not sure if this will help you all out... I haven't tried it myself yet.

http://fivefilters.org/content-only/

_*This is a free software project to help people extract content from web pages. It can extract content from a standard HTML page and return a 1-item feed or it can transform an existing feed into a full-text feed. It is being developed as part of the Five Filters project to promote independent, non-corporate media.*_


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## Jonahirt (Sep 16, 2010)

Nice. Can someone tell me if it's possible to open links that want to open new windows somehow?


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Don't think so Jonah... at least not that I've heard of. =(


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

yeah, the clicking onto links would be amazing. in the meantime, tumblr.com blogs work phenomenal on google reader. 95 percent of the ones i've loaded loads up full text and photos (i leave images on cause they load fast)...the toggle of "shift+U" works well at 150% to switch from url to url. textsfromlastnight.com is a good one to add just for a laugh that you can always access with a few quick clicks...i got into the habit of using all the shortcuts and i find myself grabbing my kindle instead of both my macbook and my desktop for google reader...


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## cjottawa (Oct 22, 2010)

Jonahirt said:


> Nice. Can someone tell me if it's possible to open links that want to open new windows somehow?


If you're using Google Reader in the Mobile format, you CAN configure the browser to open links in the same window.

Bookmark this on your Kindle:
http://www.google.com/reader/i/

Visit that site, click "settings" at the bottom of the page.
UN-check "open links in a new window."


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## rsteckly (Nov 17, 2010)

Hi,

If you haven't upgraded to the K3, you can still read blogs on your Kindle using Calibre or Klera...


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