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Kindle released for Iphone

Brits left out in cold
Wednesday, 4 March 2009, 09:17

AMAZON HAS RELEASED A KINDLE READER application for Apple's Iphone allowing users to access a library of 240,000 books.

The free App is available for download from the Itunes Store... but only if you're American.

We're pretty sure this is all down to international copyright restrictions on cross-border sales but, come on Amazon! Get it sorted.

Some of us Brits can read too, you know. µ

 

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Comments
Gutted!

Wow, gutted if you bought a Kindle recently. Free app to put it on your iPhone - ouch!

posted by : Minish Man, 04 March 2009 Complain about this comment
Hardly a Kindle

I don't think real Kindle owners have anything to be feeling bad about. The main reason people buy Kindles is because the screen is readable like a book. With the iPhone's terrible, fingerprint-covered, low-res screen it's going to be a terrible reading experience. Amazon *is* smart to tap into the e-book market on the iPhone though, for those who don't need the real Kindle's level of readability.

posted by : BB, 04 March 2009 Complain about this comment
Can it read aloud to you?

I'm not exactly in the market anyway, but when Jeff Bezos plugged Kindle II on The Daily Show, I was impressed to be told it'll read the book aloud to you. I don't know if model one does this, or if they do audiobooks properly as well as Stephen-Hawking-style.

I suppose on the iPhone you can call someone and have them read to you...

posted by : Robert Carnegie, 04 March 2009 Complain about this comment
read aloud

"I suppose on the iPhone you can call someone and have them read to you..."

LOL!

posted by : Rockabye, 04 March 2009 Complain about this comment
a no go

I have an iphone and I have the app. It is no where near what the kindle is. Not to mention the screen is so tiny as to make it well, nothing more than just a gesture to get the anti-"lock-in" off Amazon's back.

The app is simple. It does nothing but store and read books. No fancy anything. it is quite primitive and quite useless.

posted by : jdblaich@hotmail.com, 05 March 2009 Complain about this comment
re: a no go

"The app is simple. It does nothing but store and read books. No fancy anything. it is quite primitive and quite useless."

is that not the point? forgive me, i'm in the UK and not seen or tried the app, but what more would you want from it? when i read a book i, erm, do just that, i read it. i cant think what else you would want from it, but then i have no digital books or a kindle or what ever else, so i don't know what "features" might be "missing" compared with other software/hardware. but what ever they are, i cant see them being worth the cost of a kindle if you already have an iphone.

posted by : someone, 05 March 2009 Complain about this comment
re: re: a no go

No that's not the point. It doesn't do anything more than display text. That's it. No facilities that make it easier to read. It's really much ado about nothing. The product essentially is a non-product.

If it allowed me to buy books over the cell data without having to go into a browser that'd be another thing. It does nothing at all and it is a tiny screen to boot. It having the display on for a long time on an iphone eats the battery power. Having it on for a long time heats the unit up, and if you use 3g or edge at the same time it can become unstable to have it on that long.

This is not a knidle. Period. It is a non-product and no one should be giving it any ado.

posted by : Jim Blaich, 05 March 2009 Complain about this comment
re:re:re:re: .... whatever

heat? stability? never had an issue with either of these on my iphone, but then i reboot it every week or so anyway. and the display works fine for reading text on websites in safari so i don't really see what the difference is. the battery comment i can kind of understand... but then i sometimes sit my iphone on my desk at work with palringo running (it leaves the screen on) for 3 or 4 hours a day and the battery still lasts me until i charge it at night. that's on 3g. still doesnt seem like such a bad thing for someone who DOES have an iphone and DOESNT have a kindle. i'm assuming you cant download books over a cellular network with the kindle... right?

posted by : someone, 06 March 2009 Complain about this comment
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