Amazon Kindle Iphone App- Yes You Can Read Books Anywhere-sort of
Author: admin // Category: iphone applications
Thanks to WIRED MAGAZINE’S Blog Network and Charlie Sorrel for this post on the new Amazon Kindle iPhone and iPod Touch app. This FREE app is available on iTunes. The user does not connect to the Kindle store but rather use the Web browser on their iPhone, iPod or computer to buy the content.
The nice thing is that even is you have both the iPhone and a Kindle at home, Amazon’s program will conveniently sych the two so you can keep your place in whatever you were reading and seamlessly pick up where you left off on either. Nice.
P.S. It appears that at least one reader got the app to work outside of the US albeit not over the 3G network - see “update” from a Gadget Lab reader in Japan at bottom of post.
Cruise around WIRED’s Gadget Lab for updates and reviews on other favorite things- cameras, laptops, etc. A very useful site.
March 4, 2009
Kindlers can now read their e-books on the iPhone. Amazon has pushed a Kindle application to the iTunes Apps Store barely a week after the Kindle 2 appeared. We wouldn’t be surprised if the launches were supposed to be simultaneous and the iPhone reader was just delayed by Apple’s problematic vetting process.
The application, like the Kindle itself, is only available in the US of A, which sadly makes sense: you’ll need a US-only Kindle account to use it. The app just grabs the books already bought from Amazon and you can read samples and even buy e-books from the iPhone.
Kindle for iPhone also supports Whispersynch, grabbing updates over the air and letting you read your books on various devices. It even supports auto-bookmarking, so you can put down your Kindle, head out to the shops and seamlessly continue reading on your iPhone as you wait at the checkout.
I’m outside of the US, so I can’t try it. According to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, though, the page turning is a little clunky. Unlike Stanza, where you just touch the side of the page to flip to the next, the Kindle app requires a finger swipe every single time. With the tiny page size of the iPhone’s screen, this will get old pretty fast.
Still, it’s free, and I want it. I also want a Kindle. Sometimes it sucks not living in the US. But hey, at least we have Spotify.
UPDATE: Gadget Lab reader Hunter just got in touch to tell us about the new application. He’s in Japan right now, but his US iTunes account means that he can download and use the Kindle app. Here’s what he told us:
I’m in Tokyo…and have had no trouble using the new iPhone Kindle app.
I have an Amazon Kindle account on a US credit card with a US billing address and get books through the Kindle download-to-computer the normal way. I got the free app about 3 pm today and immediately got access to my 47 already-purchased Kindle books.
I just ordered another (on my computer) and after turning off the iPhone Kindle app and turning it back on again, the new book was registered on it. Took about 2 minutes from order to on my phone.
So yes, you CAN use this app outside the States, and it appears to coming over the wireless connection with my Apple MacBook Pro. Or over Apple Airport. I will be experimenting to see if it also can come over the normal 3G iPhone network.
By way of evidence, see below for an image I snapped a little while ago of a friend’s book.