Using Your Kindle Tablet App and Chrome 'Send to Kindle' Extension to Read Web Articles

There is not a single day that goes by that I don't use my Kindle apps on my iPads. I have indicated many times before that I am a converted e-book reader, and I can honestly say that I rarely purchase a book now in any other format. In fact, for the first time in my life, whether or not there is an e-book version determines whether I purchase the book or not. There are several titles on Amazon's website that I have yet to purchase simply because there is no e-book version.

While being an e-book reader enthusiast means I am a heavy Kindle App user, I have also found some other features of this app very useful as I work on my doctoral degree. As many who have entered graduate degree programs might know, once you enter this level of graduate degree work, the mountains of reading required grow exponentially. Having a Kindle means I don't have to lug around stacks of books or articles to read. Amazon and the Kindle app gives us doctoral students some options that make the reading even easier.

One of these options are Chrome extensions that make getting web articles to your Kindle or in your Kindle app almost as easy as clicking on a button. Two of my favorite extensions that work essentially the same are "Send to Kindle for Google Chrome" and "Send to Kindle" by Klip Me. Here's how they work.

1. You find an web article you wish to have access in you Kindle document library. Click on the "Send to Kindle" extension button on your Chrome toolbar.

2. A drop down menu appears that gives you three options. One is to Send to Kindle, one is to Preview and Send to Kindle, and a third option allows you send text you selected beforehand. Select the task you desire. I often select "preview and send" in order to see the format before its sent.

Send to Kind Chrome Extension Screenshot

3. Once you have selected preview and send, you web article appears without all the ads and other distracting content. Click the send button and the article is on its way to your Kindle app.

4. Open your Kindle app on your handheld device. Go to your documents library and simply download the article from the cloud to your device. Open the document and read. The beauty of opening the web article in your Kindle app is that now you can highlight and make notes to the document right on your device.

Web Article Opened in Kindle App

Having an Kindle account and using both the Kindle App, Chrome Send to Kindle extension makes it quite easy to send those graduate school articles to you handheld device so that you can read them anywhere and still not have a stack of articles to carry around.

iOS Kindle App Improvements: 3 New Features for the Power Reader

As an avid user of the Kindle app on my iPad, it is always exciting when Amazon releases new versions of their Kindle app with new and improved features. I currently use Kindle for the iPad more than any other app because my reading habits. Recently Amazon released a newer version of their iOS Kindle app with three new features that clearly improve the app's functionality.

Multi-Color Highlight Feature

Users of the iOS Kindle app can now highlight their favorite passages with four different colors. This makes categorizing highlights possible, and these highlights do sync across devices. For those educators using Kindle e-books in their classrooms and for graduate school, this feature makes highlighting much more useful as an active reading strategy.

Multi-Color Highlight Selection Bar

X-Ray for Books

When Amazon updated the Kindle app to 3.5, it included a feature called X-Ray for text books. This feature captures and defines the most important terms found in a book uing Shelfari and Wikipedia. In a word, it provides an instant glossary of key concepts at the click of a button. With this Kindle app upgrade, non-text books in English are now included in the X-Ray feature.

X-Ray Page in Kindle App

Book End Feature

This feature page pops up when you have read the last page of the Kindle book. It allows you to review with book rating, type book review text and share your review on Twitter and Facebook. Those who like to write reviews of their books no longer have to log in to their web browser to write those reviews. It's a great way to start a conversation about the books you read.

Book End Page in Kindle iOS App

The new version of the Kindle iOS app adds more functionality with this latest update.

Kindle Cloud Reader Adds Highlighting and Note Taking

Kindle Cloud Reader just got better with 2 added features that make it as functional as a Kindle or as the Kindle iPad or PC App. Back in December, I listed the Kindle Cloud Reader as one of My 11 Favorite Chrome Browser Apps and Extensions. In that post, I indicated that there were 3 things I wished the Kindle Cloud Reader would give me the ability to do: 1) highlight text, 2) enter reading notes, and 3) access my newstand items.

Users of Chrome's Kindle Cloud Reader app can now:

• Access their Kindle books from their cloud library.
• Highlight text in those books.
• Enter notes about the text.
• Add bookmarks
• Customize reading experience by adjusting things like the font and margin size and the backlighting of text.

Kindle Cloud Reader's Highlighting and Note Taking Features

Kindle Cloud Reader is a functional Chrome app that every serious Kindle user must have. To download the app, visit the Chrome Web Store.

“Send to Kindle” Extension: Easy Way to Send Web Content to Your Kindle

Yesterday, I posted my favorite Chrome Apps and Extensions, and there was one of those extensions that I just have to mention again, the “Send to Kindle” Extension. I am a converted Kindle user and anything I can employ to increase its functionality, I will use. The “Send to Kindle” Extension is one of those extensions every Kindle user must have.

The “Send to Kindle” Extension basically allows users to read web content on their Kindle devices. For example, suppose I discover a rather long Web article that I would like more time to peruse later. With the “Send to Kindle” extension, I click the browser button, and immediately the article is transformed into a simple form, without the border ads or graphics. I only then need to click the “Send” button, and the article is on its way to my Kindle. It is that easy to use! Tools like this make me think guiltily about the all paper I used to make copies of articles during my research. Just another way to go paper. "Oh the possibilities!"

Send to Kindle Screen

The “Send to Kindle” Extension is a must for those who always have their Kindles close by. Check it out in the Chrome Web Store.