I was fortunate to be invited to the Gadget Show Preview / Professional Trade Show event yesterday, and it’s nice to see The Gadget Show Live even bigger and better than last year. Whilst last year everything was iPhone / iPad related, this year it was nice to see a wider range of devices supported by the various accessories manufacturers at the show, with Kindle and Samsung Galaxy Tablets also getting a look in.

Even better; if you haven’t already bought a ticket, I understand from the organisers that a limited number of tickets are still available for today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday), although the rest of the week is now fully booked, so don’t travel unless you already have tickets.

Along with the main Gadget Show Live Super Theatre (featuring a massive 360 degrees viewing screen), there are a number of smaller seminar type presentation areas, and a few stands are running their own presentations too. In terms of exhibitors, there are the big guys (LG, Samsung, Sony, Canon, Kenwood, Philips and Pioneer), the larger retailers (PC World, Scan), and even a couple of mobile networks (Orange and O2), both of whom are running Show special deals during the event. As always, there are smaller companies (such as OrbitSound and Bicygnals) who are often worth a look at their slightly more specialised items.

There’s lot of food facilities (though a little expensive), including Subway and Starbucks, and even a chance to try the new Volkswagen Up! car in the driving experience; equally, for gamers, there are plenty of XBox consoles to try out, and a fair few Kinect installations on various stands. If you have children, look out for LeapFrog for younger ones, or something more fun such as the Parrot AR.drone for the older children.

Although The Gadget Show have announced that as from the new series (soon to start) only Jason and Polly will be presenting, all 5 of the “current” presenters will be appearing at the Gadget Show Live this year. For details of the shows and a full exhibitor list, head off to the Gadget Show Live website for more details.

If you want to attend, head over to the Gadget Show Live website and buy your tickets in advance of travelling (if any are left!); also don’t forget NEC charge £8 per car for parking.

Right now (and these offers are often limited, if only by stock availability), you can pick up a refurbished Kindle 3G + WiFi for around £116 (a saving over the usual £152 price).  If you are interested head here.

Failing that, Amazon also have the Kindle WiFi only device available as a refurb for only £80 instead of £111; see here for this offer.

Have you recently purchase the new Kindle 3? If so, I’ve found a couple of links of useful information for you.  Firstly, Terence Eden has posted some really useful tips including how to setup the ability to view comics (such as the XKCD cartoons which are available as pictures).  He’s also covered how to take screenshots and how to access diagnostic screens, which can be accessed here.

Diane Gorman has also produced a wide range of keyboard shortcuts which contains lots of useful information, and can be found here.

Last week Amazon released (a little earlier than everyone was expecting) a new Kindle model, the Kindle 3.  Not just is the device better in many ways (and cheaper!), but Amazon have also launched a UK Kindle Store, and a UK Kindle 3 directly using a UK mobile SIM.  Currently, a Kindle 2 International or Kindle DX International will have a US mobile SIM built into the device, and hence will roam onto the UK networks (although it could roam onto multiple networks, the Kindle does seem keen to stick with O2), whereas the Kindle 3 will have a UK Vodafone mobile SIM built into the device (which is still sealed, so there’s no access to the SIM or the battery).  What’s interesting is that with the release of the v2.5 firmware, all International Kindles in the UK have had access to the “full” internet experience (as opposed to the launch wikipedia-only access), so actually this internet access isn’t that different to the experience available to existing users.

So, what’s new and different with the new device…

• Firstly, it’s available (from 27th August)
• 21% smaller and 15% lighter, and has a 20% faster refresh of the e-Ink screen
• There are two models, the Kindle 3 WiFi, and the Kindle 3 3G/WiFi, which uses Vodafone as already mentioned
• The Kindle 3 WiFi will only come in Graphite, whereas the Kindle 3 3G will come in White or Graphite
• The same 6″ screen size of the existing Kindle 2, but with the better contrast of the Kindle DX screen
• Storage up to 4GB
• Prices are £109 for Kindle WiFi and £149 for Kindle 3G, with neither having any ongoing costs
• Minor changes to the keyboard (improving the 5 way cursor), and providing “previous page” buttons on both sides of the device
• The buttons (especially the next / previous page buttons) are quieter
• Updated web browser technology, to make every element faster
• Whereas before numbers were accessible from the top row of keys, you can now use the Symbol feature (which doesn’t turn off after the selection of the first symbol).  There are rumours that you can also use Alt-Q (for 1) etc., although the numbers are not marked on the keys
• Battery life now listed as 10 days for 3G version, and a month for the WiFi version
• There’s a microphone at the bottom, marked as “for future use”

Another interesting feature; a light for reading at night! No, not included with the Kindle 3, but the all new leather cover from Amazon includes a built in light (and what’s more, it gets powered directly from the Kindle via contacts in the hinge mechanism); personally on my Kindle 2, I have an M-Edge case with the M-Edge e-Luminator light which works well, but building it into the case is even nicer (and cheaper).

The Kindle Case should be available in Black, Orange, Brown, Pink, Blue, Green and Red (do watch out, the case will also be available without the light!) for £49.99 in the UK.

So, what about the pricing?  The Kindle 2 was roughly £200 last Christmas, so the price of the WiFi version is nearly half that, and I think that will make the Kindle 3 WiFi a plausible Christmas present, and with devices like the 3 MiFi, there’s no need to pay extra for the 3G version.

The v2.5.2 Kindle International firmware is starting to hit Kindle devices in the UK.  When we reported about the removal of the $2 wireless delivery charge (see here), we mentioned that we had heard about the opening up of the browser to all websites.  Well, it appears that once you get the new v2.5.2 firmware, you should find that web browsing is now open to all websites, as part of also supporting the Facebook and Twitter social networking functions that arrive with v2.5.2.

This is good news, and it’s nice to see the opening up of the Kindle.

Although it’s not unique to the UK, it looks like Amazon may have recently removed the $2 surcharge for the wireless delivery of eBooks to the International Kindle.  This means that, for example, many public domain books that would cost $2 are now free, as they are in the US.  This is a good move, and brings the pricing of their eBooks back inline with what we would expect; it’s also nice that they have done this across the board, and not created an updated Kindle (or even a “UK Kindle“) and upset early adopters.

We should clarify it looks like the delivery charge is removed but only whilst you are in your home country, so, for example, a UK registered International Kindle would not see the charge in the UK, but would in France.  This however, is a good start (although quite why there’s no charge for data usage of a US SIM roaming in the UK, but there is for the same US SIM roaming in France I’m not sure, beyond a marketing decision…)

Now of course, Amazon just need to open up the browser to offer more than free browsing of Wikipedia, and the device really will reach it’s full potential (although there are rumours this has changed too…)

Having already announced and released the iPhone Kindle application, Amazon have now confirmed that they will be releasing their Android version at some point during the Summer.  The application itself will be free, but will give access to the whole Kindle catalogue of over 540,000 books.  It will also give them access to their purchase books, and will sync bookmarks across the whole range of software (Kindle device, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry) giving a true integrated experience.  Also, unlike some other platforms, the Android version will also allow in-app purchases of new books.  The only downside to this application is you need at least Android v1.6 OS, which (at the time of writing) was not what, for example, the HTC Hero has available in the UK, leaving a lot of UK devices unable to even consider this application.  We hear, however, that the HTC Hero Android v2.1 OS update might be available before the end of the month, and may be as early as Wednesday this week…

In other Kindle news, it appears that the v2.5 firmware update will start rolling out to users shortly as a wireless update.  Personally, I think you’ll need to already be on the 2.3.3 firmware to even have a chance of getting this new firmware, and even then it’s not 100% clear whether this will be made available wirelessly to Kindle Glocal users.  More news over the coming weeks as the situation becomes clearer…

If you have recently bought a Kindle in the UK, whether the Kindle 2 or the newer and larger Kindle DX, then you may find that if you go into Menu / Settings, your firmware (as displayed down the bottom) is v2.2; yet Amazon promote the Kindle as having the ability to download firmware updates over the 3G network; so why isn’t your device on the latest firmware (v2.3.3 in both cases)?

Well, it seems that although the functionality for 3G network firmware updates is now available, you have to be on a v2.3 version for it to work, so a device that shipped with v2.2 won’t ever update.  If you are in this situation, simply head to the Kindle Software Update webpage, where you can download the latest firmware for your device (please make sure to select the right device; chances are you’ll be looking for the Kindle (Global Wireless) version, but make sure first, and then follow the instructions to download and then copy the file to the root directory of your Kindle.  Once you then unplug the Kindle from your PC, you can then go into the menu on the device to apply the update; it will take some time, although you shouldn’t lose any content.

In case you were wondering, the v2.3 firmware also brings with it other features (as covered here); mainly PDF file support, ability to select portrait / landscape mode, and better battery life and although this and all other firmwares “should” be available over the wireless 3G link, this can often takes weeks to show up, and so it’s worth a regular check of the Kindle Software Update webpage in case a new feature makes a new firmware worthy of a manual update.

Amazon have announced that the Kindle DX, the larger brother to the Kindle will now be available in a Global Wireless edition, working in the UK.  With it’s 9.7″ screen (compared to the 6″ screen of the standard Kindle), it offers a much larger display for viewing eBooks.  Available for Pre-Order today (it will start ship in a couple of weeks time), however there is one slight downside; the price is $489 (compared to $259 for the Kindle); which puts the UK price, including VAT & Customs, approaching £400, which maybe a little too expensive for some.

It’s good to see Amazon supporting a range of devices for the UK market though.  Don’t forget, Amazon only ship with a US power adaptor in the box, and although the device will charge from your computer via USB, if you want to charge it directly, you’ll need to buy a microUSB charging cable (see Kindle Accessories from Mobile Fun).

Talk Android are reporting that representatives of both T-Mobile and 3UK have indicated that they are hoping to be able to carry the Google Nexus One in the future too.  One thing that does seem to be becoming clear though, the phone may not be available for sale in the shops in the UK any time soon.  In the same way you can buy an Amazon Kindle from the US, and get it shipped to the UK, it looks like Google will be handling the sale of this phone for the time being, and if you buy it from them, you can either pay for a SIM-free version, or you can buy the subsidised version, which they will then ship out to you.  Whether the Vodafone SIM ships direct is not clear, and there’s no word on whether upgrades will be available either.

Having said all that, getting other networks onboard will be key for Google’s long term plans, and T-Mobile and 3UK are obvious networks, both offering Android phones which they are happy to heavily promote.  I wonder if Vodafone will have an exclusive for a month (or 3) and then these other networks will be able to sell it too…

Rumours are also around that it may be possible to purchase the Nexus One from Google with a Vodafone SIM sooner than “Spring 2010″ implies, with a possibility it may even be within the next month.