Kindle easter eggs: Google Maps cell-based location, picture viewer, and more

Apparently, Amazon's wondrous e-book reader, the Kindle, has more than meets the eye -- not unlike some fictional, alien, robotic characters which shall not be named. Users of the device have been plumbing its depths, and have uncovered a handful of easter eggs which will make current owners extra happy, and might push potential buyers over the edge. Amongst the hidden features are access to Google Maps coupled with CDMA-based location-finding, which also allows you to quickly locate nearby gas stations and restaurants (as well as your own custom searches). In addition to the GMaps integration, the Kindle also comes equipped with a hidden picture viewer and slideshow functionality, the ability to snap a screenshot, a clock quick-look, plus everyone's favorite time-wasting game: Minesweeper. Hit the read link to learn all about the unrevealed guts of the innocent little reader.

[Via interface]

[Ryan Trevisol @ Dec 28th 2007 1:31PM]

Somehow this makes the black-and-white only screen even less appealing to me.

[Drew @ Dec 28th 2007 4:21PM]

Dude it's a ebook READER if you want color use you're laptop.

[Salsa Shark @ Dec 29th 2007 9:32AM]

>hands Drew an English 101 textbook

[Bobs @ Dec 28th 2007 1:33PM]

Ever play reverse minesweeper? its that 2 player game MSN has, you have to find more mines than the other player by the end of the game. really quite fun.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 28th 2007 1:33PM]

i want it.

[ScareyJ @ Dec 28th 2007 5:14PM]

I have to say, its becoming more appealing to me too. Portable content with some interesting portable functionality. Does the CDMA locating/maps and other network based functionality all work with the free wireless service that comes with it, or do you have to upgrade it?

[vcx @ Dec 28th 2007 5:17PM]

Yea me too.
I cant believe it took so many weeks for this news to come out.. I have been asking kindle owners to test maps ever since the kindle was announced.
Engadget hardly carriee any kindle related news. Probably because its majority demographic isnt really into books.

[Jordan @ Dec 28th 2007 1:35PM]

Trans.... no, stop, AHHH!!! **head explodes**

[mike @ Dec 28th 2007 1:36PM]

What's the lead time on these things now?

[justin @ Dec 28th 2007 2:01PM]

You know what would be the ULTIMATE Easter Egg?

NOT LOOKING LIKE A TANDY 2000 DISPLAY!

[jivetrky @ Dec 28th 2007 3:29PM]

This is an eBook reader, not a portable media player. It's SUPPOSED to have a black and white screen. Well, at least until they come out with color E-Ink screen. It's main function is to display text from books. This extra function stuff is just that, extra function. And it's easter eggs, so it's not even advertised or intended use function, at least not intended final product function. My guess is that they thought of putting all that stuff in there and then decided that they were getting away from what this device really is.

It's like saying, "oh my Toyota Prius doesn't do 0-60 in 4 seconds, what a peice of crap" Well guess what, that's not what it was made for.

[justin @ Dec 28th 2007 4:18PM]

@ jivetrky

Actually, Kindle's MP3 playback features puts it in the category of Personal Media Player, if we're getting technical. Sure, every e-book reader does come sans color, but does it make it right? With functions such as these built in to the Kindle, a full color display would vastly improve it's appeal and would justify it's hefty pricetag.

These easter eggs may not be advertised, but if they were, in color, no doubt they would be appreciated.

A bonus would be appeal to children. Imagine you're reading to your child and the illustrations come alive via animation or with vivid color.

[Mr.Ortiz @ Dec 28th 2007 5:52PM]

The MP3 functionality is most likely intended for audiobooks, considering that there are no dedicated media playback buttons on the device (play/pause, etc). As soon as color e-ink exists at a reasonable price, there will be color Kindles. That's years away. All color display technology right now requires backlighting, which is not comfortable to read with up close for extended periods. When was the last time you read a novel on your laptop?

[Abuzar @ Dec 28th 2007 9:51PM]

Are books a form of media too? So yeah TECHNICALLY it always was a media player. This was made to be easy on the eyes and conserve battery. It's not to whip out and start rocking out to Breed by Nirvana(great song BTW). That's what I have my Zune for :)

[luke @ Dec 28th 2007 2:36PM]

The real quetion is: Can it play Doom? Seriously, can it? I mean, does it have the processing power? If they can make a HP graphing calculator play Doom, why not this?

[Paul @ Dec 28th 2007 3:26PM]

I am sure it has the processing power to play Doom, hell you can "play" doom on an Ipod, I am sure you can "play" it on a kindle. Just need to get someone with the know-how and the, uh.. inspiration(?) to make it.

[vcx @ Dec 28th 2007 5:19PM]

well.. processing power is hardly the issue.
The real question is whether you can stand doom at 0.5fps on the eink screen!!

[John @ Dec 28th 2007 2:41PM]

Wait, so they included more functionality in easter eggs than they did in the advertised functions?

[SteveS @ Dec 28th 2007 2:46PM]

Will it help me find a nearby Barnes & Noble?

[Wwhat @ Dec 28th 2007 3:52PM]

Evidence that amazon is tracking your ass, and sold by the media as a feature it seems..

Perhaps the NSA should make all your phone-conversation recordings from the last 10 years available to you online and then their spying suddenly could be billed as a wonderful feature!

[Owen V @ Dec 28th 2007 3:55PM]

talk about paranoid

[Wwhat @ Dec 28th 2007 5:49PM]

Oh? why would there be CDMA location information be available then? explain.

[Ben A. @ Dec 29th 2007 3:38PM]

Not to feed the trolls, but you are aware that cell phones communicate over towers, right? The locations of those towers are well-known and can be used to triangulate positions. This is true of any cell phone, not just the Kindle, and is in fact mandatory for E-911 support on most phones.

Amazon has much better things to spend their limited WhisperNet bandwidth budget on than on receiving live updates on where you carry your Kindle with a very rough level of accuracy.

Sigh.

[dv8reality @ Dec 28th 2007 6:57PM]

There's also a switch to disable the signal if you're concerned.

[Bobs @ Dec 28th 2007 7:09PM]

So? the government alredy knows what car you drive, whare you live, whare you work, who your parents are, and who your wife and kids are, unless you are an illegal immigrant. Why would the government care whare my kindle is? if i could access that info with out the kindle, would be pretty awesome "whare the heck did it?" feature.

[lladnar @ Dec 28th 2007 7:11PM]

I'm pretty sure that google maps figures it out for you. The Kindle needs to know what towers its using and google just asks which ones and figures out the location that way. Even so, who cares if amazon is tracking us? If you aren't doing anything wrong it doesn't matter. If you are doing something wrong, its stupid to be carrying something that connects to the internet anyway.

[Wwhat @ Dec 28th 2007 8:30PM]

Here's my reply to all of you: :rolleyes:

[Salsa Shark @ Dec 29th 2007 9:35AM]

Did you get a new tinfoil hat for Xmas?

[Wwhat @ Dec 29th 2007 6:30PM]

Yeah trust the big companies, they will never betray you, they are sent from heaven to unselfishly guard us at no profit to themselves.
HOW COULD I EVER DOUBT IT?? I must be MAD.
They are a lot like the government in that sense, only caring for you and me.

[justin @ Dec 28th 2007 4:20PM]

Gary Glitter everybody!

[justin @ Dec 28th 2007 4:21PM]

that was directed to Wwhat's paranoia concerning all things digital. if you don't know why I said "Gary Glitter" then clearly you aren't up on the news and have more of a social life than I do.

[Jason @ Dec 28th 2007 4:49PM]

Too bad Amazon can't ship them. My wife ordered one for my Xmas gift back on the 4th and it doesn't even have an ETA with Amazon yet.

As far as all the haters go, well, reading e-ink sure as hell beats reading headache inducing backlit displays like those on a laptop screen or smart phone type device.

e-ink is going to phase out paper, it's a fact. All the haters can fondly remember their slamming of e-ink display when they get their first e-ink display device in the next few years.

[ZeroCorpse @ Dec 28th 2007 7:16PM]

Phase out paper? Dude, are you serious?

I'm sorry, but as long as people need to jot down quick notes, phone numbers, addresses, reminders, and telephone messages, there will be paper. As long as people need to wipe their asses, there will be paper. As long as people need to blow their noses, there will be paper. As long as people need to wipe up spills on the countertop, there will be paper. As long as people need to print receipts and write checks, there will be paper. As long as people get traffic tickets, there will be paper. As long as people get junk mail, there will be paper.

Quick-- Show me an e-ink display that is suitable for jotting down a quick note, and then spitting my gum into it later when I no longer need the note. Show me an e-ink display that I could use to wipe my ass.

Oh, wait-- The Kindle.

[Jason @ Dec 28th 2007 9:37PM]

Maybe I should have been a bit more specific. By phasing out paper I am referring to hard print books, magazines and newspapers. They will exist for decades but will increasingly be marginalized as e-ink technology becomes cheap and ubiquitous. Imagine a $99 display with an always on wireless connection and a 14 day battery life. You can beam any newspaper, blog, magazine or book to it anywhere in the world any time. No need to carry around 10 lbs of reading material.

It's coming.

Will people still need to periodically write things on slips of paper or print something out. Sure.

[nVidiot @ Dec 28th 2007 5:44PM]

I live near downtown Seattle and the google maps thing doesn't work for me (well google maps pops up but the location shows up as "Not Available, Not Available" or something like that.

Perhaps I'll give it a try on the road sometime, but I don't really see why :)

This thing makes for a GREAT book reader.. and actually the web features (many don't know it has a browser with free internet anywhere) are quite useful. Not going to do any heavy surfing or "posting" on it but on a lunch break at work it's nice to be able to read blogs and whatnot.

[tfa @ Dec 30th 2007 1:30PM]

"If you aren't doing anything wrong it doesn't matter. If you are doing something wrong..."

Problem is who defines what is right and what is wrong. This kind of comment is the scariest of any comment in a free society. Why should the government, Amazon, or any other entitiy, except with the possible exception of your wife, be able to know where you are? Does not one have a right to privacy to do what one wants to do and where one wants to go so long as does it not infringe on those rights of others in society (we are talking American society-here). Even then there should be probable intent of "wrong doing", and let a judge--not a corporation or a police department --determine if you "are doing something wrong".

We fought a revolution 200 years ago because we wanted to be "independent" and now just willing to cede that independence for the sake of convenience.

[ZeroCorpse @ Dec 28th 2007 7:12PM]

Considering that George L. Jones has been closing Waldenbooks locations since he took over Borders Inc. (and that includes my own store, which announced I'd be sacked as of the end of next month) I can only hope that the Kindle becomes wildly popular and drives Borders stock into the gutter.

Won't happen, but it serves me fine if it does.

[michael @ Dec 28th 2007 11:26PM]

Ahh, no Live Maps integration?

Personally I'm a Live Maps fan, but I guess Gmaps is better than nothing.

Maybe somebody will find a way soon...

[vcx @ Feb 19th 2008 12:25AM]

testing.