Kindle on iPhone

[igeneo]

Just came across this on another forum:

Free Amazon Kindle Reader for iPhone (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=302584613&mt=8)

[macgirl]

Hot damn! Thanks for this! I'm so surprised that Amazon put this app out - I thought they wouldn't want to encourage this kind of competition with their Kindle reader. I had a Kindle and have a few books in my Amazon library, one of which I never read before I sold my Kindle, so this app will come in quite handy for me.

I wonder if we get the $9.99 pricing for new releases? That would be sweet!

[dcom]

I installed this and it's pretty nice. You have access to all your Kindle books and it'll even sync to the page you're on across devices. On the Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon, your iPhone shows up as a registered device, but in a separate list from any Kindles.

You can't buy books from the app, but if you buy them in the Kindle store, they become available to be synced to the iPhone. It makes your iPhone look like another Kindle to Amazon, without the ability to buy books from it.

[psylichon]

I don't think this will hurt Kindle sales. People that want a Kindle don't really see the iPhone as competition, I don't think. And lots own both, right Drew? ;)

[macgirl]

I don't think this will hurt Kindle sales. People that want a Kindle don't really see the iPhone as competition, I don't think. And lots own both, right Drew? ;)

There are definitely ebook reader snobs who think reading on anything other than an e-ink screen is a mortal sin (I find them over on the MobileRead forums, mostly). However, I'm not that kind of snob and this will definitely prevent me from buying another Kindle. My iPhone is the one device I always have with me and now that I can get Kindle content and prices without a Kindle, I'm never getting another one! Never, I tell you! :tounge:

[patrickj]

I like this app a lot.

Just by coincidence, I woke up last night with a stomach bug after eating out with The Spouse while kiddo is away at grandparents - woke up at 2:30 and could not get back to sleep, found my RSS Reader full of posts announcing this app had launched, and had plenty of quality 'it's the fecking middle of the night' time to get to know the app.

Did a post with quick thoughts on it HERE (http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/iphone-software/quick-look-kindle-for-iphone/) ...

[dcom]

I don't think this will hurt Kindle sales. People that want a Kindle don't really see the iPhone as competition, I don't think. And lots own both, right Drew? ;)

Right, I do have both and don't see this app as something that will hurt Kindle sales. For me, the Kindle has some big advantages over the iPhone for reading eBooks, the eInk display and integrated dictionary being the biggest two. I'd probably use the iPhone as a backup, just in case I'm somewhere and don't have the Kindle but get a hankering to read something I'm in the middle of.

[patrickj]

I agree that it probably won't have much impact on Kindle sales. They are of course stressing seamless syncing features between iPhone and Kindle that sound like they work well (judging by Mossberg at WSJ and other early reviewer comments).

What a great move by Amazon this is - the number of customers for the Kindle Store will now go through the roof. I think this can be for them like the Pandora iPhone app was for their service - we'll soon see numbers saying Kindle book sales have gone berserko since the iPhone app launched ...

[dcom]

It's definitely an impressive app for V1 (as was the Kindle itself). There are a couple of nice features like multiple "go to last location". If you jump around in a book, it seems to remember all the places you stopped and will go back to each one every time you tap the "<" from the tool bar (apparently only up to 3 places). The other is that your clippings/highlights that were set from the Kindle will follow a book to your iPhone so you can see all the notes.

[Nikki205]

I downloaded it and it works great. you can download a chapter for free to try it out and see if it works for you. Also there are free books available for download.
Also you can listen to music while reading.

[jarofclay73]

I'm thinking that if the sales of Kindle books go up, then Kindle sales will follow. The question is - will it be enough for Kindle to catch on? Or will the Kindle burn up like kindling? (Okay, that was bad.)