Today Amazon has announced that it has begun a rollout of firmware version 2.3 for their popular Kindle e-reader.
Leading the way, v2.3 brings the Kindle DX’s native PDF support to all Kindle models; this is great news for students and business professionals who have often lamented the Kindle’s poor document formatting. The new firmware also allows users to convert PDFs into the Kindle’s native document format.
Other new features include WWAN optimizations for Global Wireless users and manual screen rotation for landscape document rendering. The former, says Amazon, should allow international users to go a full week without recharging, while the latter improves support for wide format material like newspapers and textbooks.
For the Kindle DX, version 2.3 gives the unit better PDF cropping in landscape mode, and has extended the screensaver timeout from five to 20 minutes.
While these changes certainly improve the Kindle’s compatibility with third-party e-book sites, the device still falls well short of the compatibility offered by Barnes & Noble’s competing Nook device. It is not yet known if the Kindle can receive further updates to bring the two devices in line.
Kindles should begin to update wirelessly over the next few days, or they can be manually updated.
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