So you thought your Kindle was made only for reading e-books and listening to audio books? Think again. Amazon built a number of features into your Kindle that can't be accessed by the Kindle scroll wheel and menus.

Want to make screen shots of your Kindle screen? How about find your location on and surrounding area on Google maps? What about playing a quick game of Mine Sweeper? You can do all of these things and more using your Kindle's keyboard.

NOTE- the features discussed here are for the Amazon Kindle 1 device. The Kindle 2 device available after February 24, 2009 likely will have different keyboard accessible features.

To access these features you will use a combination of keys on your Kindle's keyboard. Most all of the features begin by pressing the <ALT> key which is the at the lower left-hand side of your Kindle keyboard. You also may have to press the <SHIFT> key which is directly above the <ALT> key and has an upright arrow symbol.

Here are a few of the special features you can access using the <ALT> key in combination with other keys on your Kindle keyboard:

1. Play a game of Minesweeper on your Kindle - From the Home Screen press the<ALT> key and the <SHIFT> key and then the <M> key to access a basic Minesweeper game. The Minesweeper menu lets you control the grid size and the number of mines you have to find.

2. Find-out the time - From the Kindle Home Screen press the <ALT> key and the <T> key. The page number display (i.e. 1 of 3) at the bottom left of your Kindle screen will change to a time display.

3. Find-out the time - From the Kindle Reader Screen (i.e. while reading and e-book) press the <ALT> key and the <T> key. The "Locations" display at the bottom left of your Kindle screen will change to a time that is in text vs. numeric format. For example 1:31 is "Twenty-nine till two".

4. Take a "screen shot" of your Kindle screen - From any screen press the <ALT> and <SHIFT> key, then the <G> key. You won't get any notification that a screen-shot has been taken but you will find the screen shot on your Kindle's SD card. The Kindle won't save screen shots to its internal memory.

5. Find your current location - Open the Kindle's browser - Menu > Experimental > Basic Web then press the <ALT> key and the <1> key. Google Maps will open with your location shown. Your location is "triangulated" from the WhisperNet wireless access built into the Kindle so it's not entirely accurate. But you can zoom in and out on the map to get a better idea of where you are - this gets you in the ball park.

6. View your e-book as a slide show - From the Kindle's e-book reader press the <ALT> key and <0> key to turn on the slide show capability. Then press the <ALT> key and <1> key to start the slide show. Press the <ALT> key and the <2> key to turn the slide show off. Press the <ALT> key and the <0> key again to disable the slide show capability.

7. Control the Kindle audio player - Press the <ALT> key and <P> key to play or stop the audio player. Press the <ALT> key and the <F> key to advance to the next track.

8. Reboot your Kindle - If you Kindle has been acting a bit "flakey" you can do a soft reboot by pressing the <ALT> key and the <SHIFT> key then the <R> key.

The eight features listed above should give you an idea of the capabilities that are "hidden away" in your Kindle. Some of them will make your Kindle experience a bit better, and some will help you when you're trying to trouble shoot problems with your Kindle. Keep this list handy so when you get tired of reading your favorite e-book or listening to your favorite audio book you can give them a try.