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Nov. 27, 2009

Amazon said late yesterday that it was making two new and important updates to its Kindle eBook Reader by using firmware that is downloaded automatically when users enable the e-reader’s wireless capabilities.

Then device goes into sleep mode.

Amazon says the new update will extend the battery life of the new Kindle by about 85 percent, allowing the wireless device to be on for up to 7 days even with the wireless turned on. The device’s previous battery life was only four days or less.

Battery life with wireless turned off remains at the previous level of up to two weeks. Amazon said the update was the result of a firmware improvement and testing program that began last May.

Although such updates seem unimportant, installing them without users’ consent is unusual. Most computers and other electronic devices ask permission to install upgrades and allow users to opt out if they choose to.

Amazon’s practice of making changes to the Kindle without users consent caused problems earlier this year when it remotely deleted copies of George Orwell’s “1984” and “Animal Farm” when it discovered it had sold books it did not have rights to. Customers were refunded for the cost of the removed books.

This update also adds a PDF reader to the new Kindle, allowing users to read documents in their original PDF format without any conversions. The older Kindle DX already has the PDF feature.

Amazon added that it would not wirelessly remove content from the Kindle in the future, but the New York Times and a few consumer forums have reported other instances of content being deleted from the Kindle by Amazon.

The Terms of Use for the Kindle do not indicate that Amazon has the right to remove content, instead stating that “Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times.”

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Source: Amazon.