Amazon has kicked off its Kindle Mobile takeover of the eBooks market – they’re releasing an iPhone and iTouch app that will let users read any books from the Kindle store on their iPhone. The official release date is Wednesday March 4th, 2009.
Amazon has put up a page with a ton of pictures and an explanation of the Kindle for iPhone app. They also have a Kindle for iPhone FAQ up.
Kindle for iPhone, iTouch App
Its not yet available in the Canadian iPhone App Store so there’s a chance it might be limited to the US. It is definitely available in the US App Store as numerous websites have images and links.
Kindle for iPhone App Details
Here are the highlights (via Amazon and other sources) -
- You don’t have to own a Kindle and they claim it’s the best reading experience on the iPhone and iTouch.
- Automatically synchronizes iPhone, iTouch, Kindle 1, Kindle 2 and other Kindle enabled devices via WhisperSync.
- You cannot yet buy books from the Kindle Store from within the Kindle iPhone App. You can however buy it via any browser (even the iPhone browser) and then have it transferred wirelessly to your iPhone or iTouch.
- Search and Browse more than 240,000 books.
- You can read any books from Kindle Store on your Kindle iPhone App.
- The Kindle for iPhone App lets you change font sizes, add notes and highlight.
- The iPhone Kindle app is free.
- Kindle for iPhone will show color eBooks in color.
- There is no Text to speech in the Kindle for iTouch, iPhone app.
- Some additional updates from the Washington Post -
Amazon has been working on the application for several months, said Ian Freed, who is Amazon’s vice president for the Kindle. Freed said the company sees the software as a way to introduce non-Kindle owners to the device, potentially turning them into Kindle buyers. (Amazon does not say how many Kindles it has sold.) It also gives Kindle owners an additional way to read their content while on the go, he said.
I’m pleasantly surprised at how quickly after the Kindle 2 launch, the Kindle Mobile App for iPhone has been launched. Amazon is really doing a good job here – first with having Kindle 2 in stock and shipped promptly, and then with kicking off Kindle Mobile so quickly.
And I do agree with the thought process that using Kindle for iPhone would lead to more people buying Kindle 2 and the forthcoming Kindle Textbook edition.
It’s surprising (in a different sort of way) to see that the official Amazon Kindle blog doesn’t have news of this yet.
Filed under: kindle Tagged: | kindle for itouch, kindle iphone app
The iPhone is tied to AT&T but WhisperNet is Sprint — how can it sync?
Thats a really good point. If you see the image from Amazon you’ll see that it clearly shows WhisperSync. Something interesting’s going on.
It is a pretty cool app. I am leaving for Rome in the morning and was going to take my Kindle and my iTouch…now maybe just the iTouch goes and I can worry about one less thing to plug in…will be interesting to see how long the battery lasts on it when you are reading though…..may be a drawback? Not sure.
WhisperSync is a service that uses WhisperNet for connectivity on the Kindle. WhisperSync on the iPhone will use at&t for connectivity. Any forthcoming Kindle apps for other phones/devices will use whatever data connectivity that they come with. WiFi, GPRS, HSDPA, Edge etc.
Can you listen to music while you read a book? And does it allow reading of public domain books?
Jon, have to check on the listening to music while reading books question.
As far as public domain books, Amaozn has 7K+ free public domain books in the Kindle Store. However, I don’t think there is the ability to upload documents. The Kindle for iPhone FAQ at Amazon doesn’t mention that anywhere.
I only just heard about Kindle for iPhone. Amazon.com seems to be promoting the new Kindle, but not the application for iPhone. Any thoughts why? Any one know when Kindle for Mac download is coming?
Because the Kindle earns them money and gets them a direct connection. Kindle for Mac is supposed to arrive in a few months.
[...] next time I’m traveling, I’m going to download the Kindle app for iTouch. You’ll find me sitting on the plane, with my iTouch placed in the idox case, [...]