SuperSite Blog : eBook

Kindle for PC Now Available

pthurrott — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:27:18 GMT

Amazon.com today announced the availability of "Kindle for PC," the free application that lets readers around the world enjoy Kindle books on their personal computers (PC). The U.S. Kindle Store currently offers more than 360,000 books, including New Releases and 101 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers, which are typically $9.99 or less. The Kindle Store is the only place to find some of today’s most popular books in digital format. Kindle books can now be read on the Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch and PC. Kindle for PC is now available as a free download to readers in over 100 countries at www.amazon.com/KindleforPC.

Kindle for PC features Amazon’s Whispersync technology that automatically saves and synchronizes bookmarks and last page read across devices. Whether you read Kindle books on a Kindle, Kindle DX, or one of the free Kindle applications, you can always have your reading with you and never lose your place. With Kindle for PC, you can read some on your PC, read some on your Kindle, and always pick up right where you left off. Whispersync helped make the Kindle for iPhone application the most popular books app in the Apple App Store.

Update: I love when people don't get the market. This morning, Wired wrongly guesses that Amazon is somehow "hinting at a future color Kindle" because a screenshot of the PC Kindle on its site includes a color illustration. Um. The Kindle iPhone app has supported color ebooks for months now, something I discussed a while back on the Windows Weekly podcast. I noticed this because a book I was reading at the time had color photographs, which can (and always could) be seen in color only on the iPhone app. So this isn't new. Thanks for playing, though. :)

Introducing the Kindle DX

pthurrott — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:05:36 GMT

Amazon has, as expected, ~~released~~ announced a new large-format Kindle e-book reader:

Amazon.com today introduced Amazon Kindle DX, the new purpose-built reading device that offers Kindle’s revolutionary wireless delivery and massive selection of content with a large 9.7-inch electronic paper display, built-in PDF reader, auto-rotate capability, and storage for up to 3,500 books. More than 275,000 books are now available in the Kindle Store, including 107 of 112 current New York Times Best Sellers. New York Times Bestsellers and New Releases are $9.99 unless marked otherwise. Top U.S. and international magazines and newspapers plus more than 1,500 blogs are also available. Kindle DX is available for pre-order starting today for $489 at http://amazon.com/kindleDX and will ship this summer.

“Personal and professional documents look so good on the big Kindle DX display that you’ll find yourself changing ink-toner cartridges less often,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Cookbooks, computer books, and textbooks – anything highly formatted – also shine on the Kindle DX. Carry all your documents and your whole library in one slender package.”

Conspicuously missing, of course, is color. And a price cut for the Kindle 2. I can't help but be interested in this, but come on: $500 would get you a killer notebook computer these days. Or 1/3 of a low-end Mac notebook. :)

Amazon releases Kindle application for iPhone/iPod touch

pthurrott — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:30:56 GMT

As rumored, Amazon has released a free iPhone/iPod touch application that can access all of the Kindle eBook content.

Amazon.com today introduced "Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch," a new application available for free from Apple's App Store that lets customers enjoy over 240,000 books, including 104 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers, on the iPhone and iPod touch using Apple's Multi-Touch user interface. Amazon's new Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes a customer's bookmark across their original Kindle, Kindle 2, iPhone and iPod touch, so customers always have their reading with them and never lose their place. Kindle customers can read a few pages on their iPhone or iPod touch and pick up right where they left off on their Kindle or Kindle 2.

"We are excited to bring the new Kindle application to Apple's App Store and think customers are going to love how easy and fun it is to read their Kindle books on the iPhone and iPod touch," said Ian Freed, vice president, Amazon Kindle. "Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch is a great way for customers to catch up on their current book wherever they are, like in line at the grocery store or between meetings."

The Kindle application for iPhone and iPod touch lets customers bring their Kindle books with them wherever they go and takes full advantage of Apple's Multi-Touch user interface. With the new Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch application, customers can:

Shop for hundreds of thousands of books on their Kindle or online at http://www.amazon.com/kindlestore, and wirelessly transfer the books to their iPhone or iPod touch

Access their entire library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers

Adjust the text size of books

Add bookmarks and view notes and highlights

Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch is available for free from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

While iPhone access is nice, and probably necessary for the success of the Kindle platform, I would just caution people to not spend too much time reading books and periodicals on that device. The screen type will eventually cause eye strain, something that doesn't happen on the Kindle device.

Amazon ships Kindle 2 a day early ... But is it a dollar short? (Or $150 short?)

pthurrott — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:57:46 GMT

I got my "your order has shipped" confirmation yesterday, and here's the PR from Amazon:

Kindle 2 to arrive on customers' doorsteps one day early

Amazon.com today announced it is shipping Amazon Kindle 2. Already the No. 1 seller in Electronics on the Amazon.com Web site in just 15 days since it was introduced on Feb. 9, Kindle 2 offers revolutionary wireless delivery of content in a new slim design with longer battery life, faster page turns, over seven times more storage, sharper images and a new read-to-me feature. Kindle 2 began shipping today to customers who were in line for the original Kindle and customers who pre-ordered beginning Feb. 9. New orders placed today will be released for immediate shipping.

"The response from customers to Kindle 2 has been tremendous. In order to ensure we ship Kindle 2 by the original ship day of Feb. 24, we started shipping one day early," said Ian Freed, vice president, Amazon Kindle. "We're excited about the new design and features of Kindle 2, and we think our customers will be too."

Kindle 2 builds on everything customers love about the original Kindle and extends the experience to a slimmer and sleeker design.

OK, so that's nice. I was curious this morning to see a few high profile reviews (USA Today, New York Times), the former of which highlighted what might be some deal breakers in this version (The NYT review was pointless):

- No removable battery

- No physical wireless switch

- No SD expansion (though it does come with a lot more built-in storage)

- No included protective cover (an additional $30 option now)

And then there is that price. $359 is simply too much money in this economy. It's giving me a crisis of conscience, and it's going to affect my eventual review, no doubt about it. In fact... I may not even trade up. We shall see. My Kindle 2 should arrive tomorrow, which is pretty good timing: I'm in New York for an all-day Microsoft event today.

Kindle 2 announced

pthurrott — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:28:11 GMT

Yay!

Say Hello to The New Kindle

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images

Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging

More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books

Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns

Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you

Large Selection: Over 230,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available

Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise

Looks great. I can't wait.

1.5 million books in your pocket

pthurrott — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:59:39 GMT

An interesting post from the Inside Google Book Search blog today:

Today we are excited to announce the launch of a mobile version of Google Book Search, opening up over 1.5 million mobile public domain books for you to browse while buying your postage.

While these books were already available on Google Book Search, these new mobile editions are optimized to be read on a small screen. To try it out and start reading, open up your web browser in your iPhone or Android phone and go to http://books.google.com/m.

Amazon preps new Kindle for February 9 launch

pthurrott — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:51:07 GMT

Yay! According to the New York Times Bits blog, Amazon will launch its next-gen Kindle ebook reader on February 9. It looks awesome, and as a Kindle user and fan from Day One, I can’t wait. I still read the Kindle every single day and highly recommend the device, despite it’s still too-high price and tough availability.

Amazon.com will introduce the next generation of its popular Kindle reader in New York City on Feb. 9.

Amazon.com confirmed that its founder and chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, would host the event at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.

The new device corrects some of the design flaws of the first model, adding round buttons instead of those strange angular ones, and smaller side buttons to avoid accidental page turns.

But the biggest changes may be inside the device. The new Kindle likely uses the new Broadsheet microchip from Epson and E-Ink, which makes the display technology for the Kindle. E-Ink’s chief executive, Russell J. Wilcox, described the technology to me a few weeks ago, saying that it breaks the screen into 16 pixel sets and can update them in parallel, allowing for faster screen refreshes and a generally more responsive screen. He added that the technology was somewhat analogous to putting a better graphics card in a computer and would help e-readers become better full-featured devices.

“It’s the same brightness, it looks the same reading a page, but it’s night and day for user activity for anything than other than reading,” Mr. Wilcox said. “If you are reading a book, you are just going to read page by page and it might not make that much of a difference. But if you want to do anything else with your device, zooming in, look up words, whatever, you really appreciate the speed. It’s a major change.”

More photos of the new Kindle here. Nice!