Amazon Releases Kindle Application for iPhone

Amazon Releases Kindle Application for iPhone: "The app is a free download, and lets you read Amazon’s proprietary Kindle e-books on your iPhone. The Kindle app doesn’t have an interface to the Kindle Store; instead, you buy books (or add free samples) to your account on Amazon’s Kindle web store, then when you next launch the Kindle iPhone app, it downloads any new content in your account. You can get free sample chapters of books, so it’s easy to try without spending a dime"
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(Via Daring Fireball.)

Stanza: Free eReader for iPhone/iPod Touch

This app alone is worth plunking down the cash to get an iPod Touch. And the best part is the freeness. There are other eReading apps in the iTunes store, but this one is the one to beat - and it's the free one. Not only is it free, but from within you can navigate to several different directories of free eBooks (mostly classics, but not all) and you can also purchase new releases from Fictionwise from right inside the app.

Below is a screenshot of the reading screen:

Cool thing about the reading screen is it is completely customizable. You can change the font, font size, font color, background color, line spacing, etc., to find the most comfortable way to read. Page turns happen with a tap and you can page forward or back, you can even designate which side of the screen, when tapped, takes you in which direction.

As an avid reader, I was an eReader skeptic. This app has changed all that. I can carry around a library of books on my iPod Touch, sure, but if I couldn't get comfortable with the read, then what good does it do? But reading from this app on the iPod is very comfortable, you forget all about the novelty of it in a few minutes. Plus you can comfortably read with one hand in a dark room, which comes in handy when my son is asleep on my lap.

So how does it compare to Amazon's Kindle? Well, I haven't used a Kindle - and won't. As I said in an earlier post. Why would I pay $359.00 for a dedicated eReader which boasts "16 shades of grey," and doesn't fit in my pants pocket, when I can buy an 8GB iPod Touch for $229 and have not just an eReader, but a music player, movie player, gaming device, etc. - it doesn't make sense. Plus there's a separate app for reading kindle formated books on the iPod as well.

If you're a reader like me, and you're on the fence about an iPod Touch, this should push you over the edge.

Here's the AppVee Reveiew:

Unboxed: Amazon Kindle 2 gets iPod treatment. Will it sell?

Uh, not much.

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Unboxed: Amazon Kindle 2 gets iPod treatment. Will it sell?: "Amazon's second generation of its Kindle ebook reader takes cues from Apple in hopes to make the new product the 'iPod of books.' Here's a graphical tour of how close Amazon comes to replicating the iPod experience."

(Via AppleInsider.)

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Why pay $350+ for this when you can read books on your iPhone or iPod Touch ($229+) AND play music AND watch movie AND collect photos AND play great games AND AND AND...

What Competing App Stores?

Report: iPhone "miles ahead" of competing app stores: "A report on mobile applications sales ranked Apple's iPhone App Store 'miles ahead of the competition' as the leading software marketplace, based on timeliness to market, the ability to attract developers, and the 'number, variety and appeal of applications available.'"

(Via AppleInsider.)

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This is a headline?

Poor Kids

No iPods, iPhones allowed in Gates household: "The three children of Bill and Melinda Gates may not be allowed to have a product from a certain Cupertino-based rival in their home, but that doesn't mean Mrs. Gates doesn't wish for an Apple gadget every once in a while."

(Via AppleInsider.)