Amazon Kindle Touch Getting To Know Manual page 19

Sync or X-Ray button
The last button on the bottom toolbar is either Sync or X-Ray.
Sync allows you to sync to the furthest page read. This is
useful if you read an e-book on more than one device, such as
your Kindle Touch and a smartphone. X-Ray displays if that
feature is enabled in the book you're reading. Tapping X-Ray
brings up a list of words or characters that appear in the
page, chapter, or book along with a frequency graph.
If X-Ray is enabled in the book you're reading, you can still
sync to the furthest page read. Just tap the Menu button —
Sync is the third option in the list.
Part of what made the Kindle
so groundbreaking when it was
introduced was that it was one
of the first widely available
commercial e-readers to use e-ink
in its screen display. E-ink was
first conceptualized by scientists
at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Media Lab; the e-ink
corporation spun off and was
founded in 1997.
E-ink is fundamentally different
from an LCD screen, such as
laptop, smartphone, and computer
screens. With e-ink, thousands
of microcapsules of ink are held
between two layers of polymer.
Reversing the electronic charge
changes the capsules from positive
to negative, which changes the color
from light to dark and, ultimately,
results in the display on the screen.
Chapter 1: Getting to Know Your Kindle Touch
The Kindle display
E-ink requires very little power,
which is why the Kindle battery can
hold a charge for up to a month if
wireless is used minimally. E-ink
isn't backlit, which is less fatiguing
for your eyes; it also more closely
mimics paper to enhance the reading
experience. The drawback is that
you need an external light source
to read on the Kindle. On the plus
side, you can read in bright sunlight
without any glare.
Warning: The Kindle screen is
delicate. Placing heavy objects on
top of your Kindle, especially those
with sharp edges, can damage
the screen to the point that it's
unreadable. Dropping your Kindle
can also break the screen. Because
of this, many people use covers and
screen protectors to protect their
Kindles. (See Chapter 5 for more
about covers and other accessories.)
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