How To Strip DRM from Kindle E-Books and Others

You love your Kindle, but you hate the DRM. What do you do? Well, if you like, we’ll tell you how to strip the copy-protection from your e-books, leaving a plain, vanilla e-book file in the format of your choice. This doesn’t just work for Kindle book, either. The method, detailed by Apprentice Alf, will also remove DRM from Mobipocket, Barnes and Noble, Adobe Digital Editions and Fictionwise books, making these stores much more attractive to buyers.

For the meat of the how-to, you should visit Apprentice Alf’s blog post, which is both straightforward and detailed. I managed to get it up and running in a couple minutes. For a quick version – focussing on the Kindle, read on.

First, get a copy of the free e-book manager, Calibre. This catalogs and converts your e-books from format to format. With a couple of plugins, it will also strip all DRM from them.

Next, you need those plugins, also linked from Alf’s post. Depending on what kind of books you want to fix-up, you may have to configure these plugins. For the Kindle, you need only install it in the right place.

Then download Kindle for Mac or Window, and from there download the books you have already bought and want cracked. Then locate the downloaded files on your hard-drive. Mac users will find them in a folder called My Kindle Content, inside the documents folder. 

These are titled with non-human-friendly names like “B002AU7MEK_EBOK.azw”, so just pick anything that seems to be a big enough file for an e-book (500k-plus). Then drag these files into Calibre.

That’s it. Your files are now DRM-free, and you can use Calibre to convert then to any format. EPUB is the one you need for the iPad or iPhone, but you can choose pretty much anything.

Oddly, since I tried this over the weekend, Kindle books have become a lot more attractive to me. Previously I was buying novels and things I might read once only. Now I’m looking at cookbooks and reference books, pricier purchases that I didn’t make before in case one day I stopped using the Kindle, or if Amazon decided to revoke my ownership of a book like it did, infamously, with Orwell’s 1984. Now, with my books safely converted, I can buy anything, and use it anywhere.

Ebook Formats, DRM and You — A Guide for the Perplexed [Apprentice Alf]

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Amazon Kindle 3G Top Selling Device in Amazon's History

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As we mentioned before in our article about Best E-Book Reader Device, In that article we had discussed about Amazon Kindle and Sony E-Reader Device, as they are most top rated E-Reader device today with fully loaded features and now Amazon has confirmed that Amazon Kindle 3rd Generation is the top selling product in Amazon's History.

Amazon confirmed this news in its latest press release of holiday sales figure of 2010 and confirmed that the 3rd Generation Kindle is now the best selling product in Amazon's history. Holiday sales propelled the e-Reader past the previous reigning champ, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The WiFi and 3G version of the Kindle were the #1 and #2 sellers in the electronics categories, beating out the 8 GB iPod touch. The duo also topped the charts for the best-selling products site-wide on Amazon this holiday season. Christmas day was a banner day for the Kindle with the e-Reader boasting of a record number of activations, Buy Once, Read Everywhere app downloads and Kindle book purchases. Once folks fired up their brand new Kindle, they purchased The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which were the #1 purchased and #1 gifted Amazon Kindle book this holiday season.

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Amazon Kindle and Sony E-Reader Review; Best E-Book Reader Device

 

Today, I am going to share my personal experience and review about Best E-Book Readers. Many people always get confused about which E-Reader are suitable for them and which E-Reader they should buy. So here's my Review and Experience about two top E-Readers Gadget from most promising companies. "Amazon Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device" and "Sony's E-Reader Touch Edition (PRS650RC)".

Technically both Amazon Kindle and Sony E-Reader Touch are best in their own way, But some of the different features between them are as follows and you can compare both by these points and purchase the one as per your choice.

Highlight Points of Amazon Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device:

All New, High Contrast E Ink Pearl Screen:
Our graphite Kindle DX display uses the latest generation E Ink Pearl technology with 50% better contrast for the clearest text and sharpest images

Beautiful Large Display:
The 9.7" diagonal E Ink screen is ideal for a broad range of reading material, including graphic-rich books, PDFs, newspapers, magazines, and blogs

Read in Sunlight with No Glare:
Unlike backlit computer or LCD screens, Kindle DX's display looks and reads like real paper, with no glare. Read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room

Slim:
Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Books In Under 60 Seconds:
Get books delivered wirelessly in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Free 3G Wireless:
No monthly payments, no annual contracts. Download books anywhere, anytime

Long Battery Life:
Read for up to 1 week on a single charge with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for two to three weeks.

Carry Your Library:
Holds up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents

Buy Once, Read Everywhere:
Kindle books can be read on all your devices. Our Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your Kindle library and last page read across your Kindle(s), PC, iPhone, Mac, iPad, Android device, and BlackBerry device

Share Meaningful Passages:
Share your passion for reading with friends and family by posting meaningful passages to Twitter and Facebook directly from your Kindle

Global Coverage:
Enjoy wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries. See details. Check wireless coverage map.

Built-In PDF Reader:
Carry and read all of your personal and professional documents on the go. Now with Zoom capability to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics

Auto-Rotating Screen:
Display auto-rotates from portrait to landscape as you turn the device so you can view full-width maps, graphs, tables, and Web pages

Read-to-Me:
With the text-to-speech feature, Kindle DX can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book's rights holder made the feature unavailable

Highlight Points of Sony's E-Reader Touch Edition (PRS650RC):

The Sony Reader Touch Edition is an eBook reader that packs in a lot of features but still fails at delivering an extremely comfortable reading experience. It almost has everything to be a great eBook reader but it falls short with the most basic characteristic an eBook reader should have: an eye-friendly screen. In this review, we'll discuss the pros and cons of the Sony Reader Touch Edition.

Starts with Basic following Points:

• Accessories - USB Cable, Quick Start(TM) Guide, WarrantyFeatures

• Choose more books from more places

• Carry up to 1,200 of your favorite books at a time or more

• Intuitive design with full 6 clear touch screen

• Paper-like display for easy, natural reading

Design
The size of this eBook reader makes it more compact than most popular eBook readers, giving it an edge in portability. The design of the Sony Reader Touch Edition is definitely sleek, complementing its touchscreen display and elegant frame. However, the eBook reader's biggest problem lies in its touchscreen display. There is too much glare on the screen that reading an eBook might become a difficult and uncomfortable experience. This design flaw causes eye strain, which may prove to be its undoing. The touchscreen makes this flaw somewhat bearable if you are not a heavy reader, but if you are constantly reading eBook after eBook, the intuitive navigation provided by the touchscreen display may not be enough to distract you from the fact that it's almost impossible to read comfortably with the constant glare on the screen.

User Interface
The touchscreen interface gives you an intuitive way to turn pages by either flicking the page. The option to set the direction gives you the choice of flicking forward or backward, whatever is more comfortable for you. It doesn't have a flashy interface, which is fine because its main purpose is to let you read an eBook and not be pretty. Swiping, flicking and tapping on the touchscreen makes navigating the user interface a breeze.

Features
The Sony Reader Touch Edition has a built-in dictionary that is not very exhaustive, but still pretty useful in most cases. It's very handy too since you can use it as you are reading a page without losing your place in the eBook. Just tap on a word and this feature kicks in. Double tapping a page calls upon another feature which is bookmarking. Double tap a page and it becomes bookmarked. Double tapping it again removes the bookmark. It's a very handy feature that is easily accessed. Its features, although simple, are quite elegant and handy.

Performance
The battery life of the Sony Reader Touch Edition is one of its strengths. You can use it for up to 11 days before its battery gives out, which is a great way for regular readers to enjoy this device on a regular basis without the hassle of charging it every once in a while.

Conclusion:
So that was my Review and Experience about two most promising E-Readers "Amazon Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device" and "Sony's E-Reader Touch Edition (PRS650RC)".

So now its up to you which one you should purchase and make your life more easier.

Amazon Price Detail:

To Purchase "Amazon Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device" Click here

To Purchase "Sony's E-Reader Touch Edition (PRS650RC)" Click here

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