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Amazon Releases iPhone Kindle Software
palmsolo writes "The Amazon Kindle 2 just started shipping last week, but Amazon surprised everyone late on March 3rd by placing the Amazon Kindle software for the iPhone in the Apple App Store. With the Whispersync technology you can now keep your Kindle and iPhone ebooks in sync and read everywhere you go. Readers on the iPhone also now get access to over 200,000 ebook titles on the Amazon Kindle storefront. Check out the hands-on image gallery and video of the Amazon Kindle software on the iPhone and Kindle 2."
Amazon Releases iPhone Kindle Software
Finally I won't have to huddle around a pile of tinder in the forest, rubbing two iPhones together just to get a spark to light my campfire.
We lived like cavemen before iPhone software.
My work here is dung.
Do you need a Kindle to use this iphone app? The article only talks about the benefits of using the app with the kindle, but for all of those that don't have one, can we use the app and buy ebooks on the amazon store?
Cue the author's guild bitching about how they lose money because now their ebooks can be read by two devices instead of just one in 3...2...1...
Amazon probably makes plenty of money off eBook sales. With tons of iPhone and iPod Touch users using Stanza and other eBook readers, it only makes sense to support this market. Now instead of having Amazon eBook sales tied to Kindle hardware, they can tie to iPhones and iPod Touches too.
While I don't think this will do anything to get iPhone/iPod Touch users to buy a Kindle, it will certainly quintuple their Kindle eBook sales.
Watch the Kindle software platform become available on other devices (Android, Windows Mobile) in the near future.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
No Kindle is needed. You can buy books using a web browser on your PC and have the books sent wirelessly to your iPhone/iPod touch.
"It's almost like I predicted this"
/., that you predicted that Company XYZ would support iPhones someday.
wait... you predicted that Amazon would someday support iPhones? You're amazing!
What's your next prediction?
mark me as flamebait/troll, i have karma to burn, but come on, that's a pretty dumb thing to say on
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
If Amazon starts allowing its software to be used on _any_ platform, whether it be iPhone, Kindle, Laptop, Netbook, or 3rd Party eBook Reader, would that be an acceptable compromise to the fact that their e-books use DRM?
Valve's Steam has shown that people (even Geeks who notoriously hate DRM) are willing to compromise and use DRM if something of great enough value is offered with it (and possibly because of it).
Surprisingly it is quite readable even on the iPhone's small screen. You just swipe your finger across the screen to flip back/forth through the pages. There is options to change the font size, so really the only complaint you can have is how much/little text fits on the screen before you have to flip a page.
There are some free books on the Kindle Store (mostly classics like Treasure Island and some religious texts like the Bible), so there is no cost to try out the Kindle iPhone app.
Really cool how you buy via your web browser. Next time you open the Kindle app, it just automatically syncs what you have just purchased to the iPhone. Since it is just text, it takes just seconds to sync. Should not be painful to use even in poor signal locations and on EDGE. Plus you can download any purchase you make for free again in the future.
I don't know if if I would buy all of my books this way (I lately have been using the local library), but in a pinch (say on a trip) when I want a book to read and don't want to or can't stop by a bookstore or library, this could work very well.
The screen won't get larger, but most rumors say the next iPhone (much like the G2 launching in April) will feature an OLED screen with much higher resolution. It will use less battery, and be slimmer.
I hope so. Resolution is a big deal. I can easily read text without zooming in on most pages (for instance, this one) on my 640x480 htc diamond display. I tried an iphone briefly after I got the diamond and while it was very slick in a lot of ways, I couldn't handle the lower resolution for web browsing. I have only so-so vision and I imagined pixel density would make high resolution on these little screens pointless, but I was wrong. An iphone with at an 800x600 display would more than double my interest.
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
+1 Darwin
-1 Collateral Damage
Smell that? You smell that? Burning karma, son. Nothing in the world smells like that...
Last I checked you weren't allowed the privilege of purchasing an amazon ebook without having a Kindle registered to your account.
Did you bother to look since this announcement? Web pages do change, or so I've heard.
You need a book light for an ebook reader? Seriously?
You need a book light because it's epaper. Just like regular paper, it doesn't emit any light of its own. The upside with this is that the display only draws power when you turn the page. I think that the convenience of having a device that you can use continuously for days without recharging kind of outweighs the inconvenience of having to provide your own light source.