Kindle App Now Available for the iPhone / iPod Touch

[Vincent Ferrari]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=302584613&mt=8' target='_blank'>http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/...=302584613&mt=8</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Kindle for iPhone allows Apple iPhone and iPod touch owners to read Kindle books using a simple, easy-to-use interface.&nbsp; You can shop for hundreds of thousands books at www.amazon.com/kindlestore, and wirelessly transfer the books to your iPhone or iPod Touch."</em></p><p><img height="359" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1236173329.usr18053.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" width="241" /></p><p>I'm impressed.&nbsp; I downloaded it last night to try it out and I like it.&nbsp; It'll never replace my Kindle, and the reading experience is "ok," not great, but I'm starting to understand the point about the device you have with you rather than the perfect device for the job.&nbsp; My Kindle doesn't get carried with me regularly, but I'm never without my iPhone unless I'm in bed and even then, it's right next to me on the night table.</p><p>On the iTunes store, the blurb says that book marks and positions are sync'ed across multiple devices.&nbsp; Maybe it's because I have a Kindle 1, but it doesn't do that.&nbsp; Kind of a bummer, but no big deal.&nbsp; I always finish off a chapter so it's easy enough for me to pick up where I left off.&nbsp; If they fix that, it would be killer.</p>

[encece]

Downloaded and installed iPhone version today. Went onto Amazon's Kindle section to try it out by buying a NewsPaper (49 cents). Amazon says I dont have a Kindle or iPhone registered. My Online Settings say I do. My phone says I do. Both the same address. Any ideas? Think it takes a little time to kick in fully? Very Strange!

[serpico]

Let me know when I can use this in Canada. This US centric stuff is ongoing, these guys, Amazon and Zune, need to get the going for us too.

[Dyvim]

iPhone app is book only for now, no periodicals. But you can try free samples of the books (first 2 chapters I think). I've tried one today, my initial impressions are favorable. I have been using ReaddleDocs as an eReader and trying to convert my eBooks to text or html for viewing on it, but that makes getting content a huge hassle. While part of me thinks that $10 for an eBook is too much, the truth is that (1) eBooks in other formats are more expensive for new releases, and (2) hardcover is more expensive. So I'll probably buy and try at least one Amazon eBook and see what I think.

[Dyvim]

I saw this in a comment on The iPhone Blog:

If you’re looking for free e-Books to test the iPhone Kindle app: http://tr.im/freekindlebooks
Shows e-Books sorted ‘price: low to high’. Displays old, public-domain titles for testing. Adjust accordingly for current books.


Sure it's old stuff, but by searching you can find all kinds of classics: Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, etc. all for free. Yeah you can find the same things also for free in Google's web Books site and in other places for use with other readers, but you might prefer to use the Kindle app and be able to read offline. I've downloaded 4 books so far to try out (why not? They're free and they're great books too).

[encece]

Well...account seems to be cleared up today. There was some lag between me singing up and Kindle officially remembering that I had a registered iPhone one their service.

Bummer about the no-periodicals. Hope that changes as I'd like to get my local newspaper (Philadelphia Inquirer).

But I did try a free book and it works great. Cant really get my head around buying an electronic version of a book yet tho. There's nothing to put onto my bookshelf when I'm done. And what am I going to do with all of these bookmarkers my kid made for me?!