Amazon to expand Kindle to general cellphones
Published: 9 February, 2009
READ MORE: e-book
As online retailer Amazon readies an upgrade for its Kindle ebook reader, and Google prepares to enter the book game, there are reports that the Kindle system will be made available for other cellphones, expanding its reach.
Kindle has been seen as an important test of the theory that web services will become increasingly integrated with devices, some of them focused on a single app, and with the cellular link hidden to the user (Amazon uses the Sprint network). Amazon does not break out figures, but analysts believe the product has performed well, though it has not expanded beyond north America. CitiGroup expects the retailer to generate $1bn in sales from the Kindle by 2010, or 4% of its revenue, and calls it the iPod of books.
But as well as reportedly preparing a slimline upgrade, due to debut on Monday, Amazon is also looking to port the software to general purpose smartphones, perhaps offering just a subset of the Kindle Store's 230,000 books, targeting more casual readers. "We are excited to make Kindle books available on a range of mobile phones," spokesman Drew Herdener told the New York Times. "We are working on that now."
There are already programs, such as Stanza, available on various phones, notably the iPhone, that allow books to be downloaded and read, and Google said on Friday that it is making titles from its PC-based Book Search service available for the Apple phone and the Android-based T-Mobile G1. This offers 1.5m public domain titles, which were previously scanned and released for free on the PC. The mobile version will be text-only, rather than scanned book pages.
However, these approaches remain more cumbersome than Kindle's, and in a head-to-head on the smartphone, Amazon's optimized bookstore experience and supply chain reach should win out - even though it might have to be more generous to content partners. It currently takes up to 65% of the list price, with most ebooks retailing for $9.99.
More HANDSET News
More HANDSET News
More LTE News
COMMENTS
Carrier Broadband Performance: Africa & Middle East
Carriers are using mobile broadband as their weapon of choice in the fight against the commoditization of voice and falling ARPU. This...
Voice over LTE: Market Analysis and Forecasts
VoLTE offer unique advantages in lowering a carrier's voice infrastructure economics and promises to improve voice quality, device...
Satellite Phones: Will Dual Mode Help the Phoenix Rise from the Ashes?
Satellite phones have followed an arduous path since their much-hyped launch more than a decade ago. The hype was followed by an e...
