Amazon extends Kindle model to iPhone
Published: 5 March, 2009
Amazon is set to launch another upgrade to its e-book reader, Kindle, by the end of the year, but for now, it has taken the first of its expected steps to expand its market reach, by offering the Kindle service on third party devices, initially the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.
Sources within Amazon say that the 'Kindle 3' will address some lingering weaknesses in the Kindle 2, which was unveiled last month. For instance, it would have a larger reading area and a touchscreen, which would make it more competitive with the Sony e-book reader.
Unlike the Sony product, which is standalone, Kindle has been a testbed for the integration of the device with a web service, in this case buying and downloading books. It has performed well, with a reported 500,000 units sold in the US, and an imminent launch in Europe. But a single-app, single-device proposition has clear limitations, and Amazon is looking to extend its reach, bringing its applications to other hardware platforms.
It has already allowed Kindle to synchronize with cellphones, but at the Kindle 2 launch it failed to deliver a full port of the software to smartphones, as had been widely expected. Now it is taking the first steps towards a Kindle experience across many third party devices, launching a free application in the Apple App Store.
The thinking is that serious book enthusiasts will continue to buy the Kindle, which provides a far superior reading experience to that of any phone, and which drives increased book purchasing - but casual readers will at least pay for e-books, at a few dollars a throw, to read on their regular phones. In this way, Amazon can fight against the encroachment of open source and free book reading applications like Stanza, especially for Android or iPhone.
The program's Whisper Sync service keeps track of a reader's place in their book, even if they move between the Kindle and iPhone.
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