Kindle for iPhone
I’ve am a happy owner of a first generation Amazon Kindle electronic book reader. As a die hard nerdish book worm and early adapter I was immediately in awe of the Kindle. Sure the Kindle has it’s issues but the technology and business model has definitely proved themselves. The Kindle is the size of a paperback and can carry a whole bookshelf, thousand of pages of books without the dead trees and deforestation. The Kindle is small and a perfect size to travel with but its features and capabilities overlap with other small, portable, and mobile devices such as the iPhone and netbooks. Some technology pundits saw the iPhone, with it’s high resolution and elegant design, as a direct competitor to the Kindle. I’ve personally been questioned as to why I carry both devices.
I’ve been using the iPhone since it first came out and love browsing and reading websites on it. But I have found reading PDF documents on the iPhone difficult and awkward at times. The default PDF reader on the iPhone is slow and I have had it crash when loading large PDF documents. To help alleviate the pain points of reading large documents on the iPhone, Amazon has recently released Kindle for iPhone.
Kindle for iPhone allows iPhone users to read Kindle edition electronic books previously purchased on Amazon. Once you download, install, and configured Kindle for iPhone with your Amazon user information, you can download, sync, and purchase Kindle books. Kindle for iPhone uses a technology Amazon calls Whispersync to synchronized the last page read between your iPhone and Kindle devices. With Whispersync you can switch devices without skipping a page or a beat. Unfortunately I was not able to sync my notes and marks between devices and I do hope that feature is in the works. I’ve been using the Kindle for iPhone application while standing in line for lunch when all I have is my wallet and my phone. For long periods of reading, I prefer the electronic ink on the Kindle, as reading for a while on the iPhone can tire your eyes.
Kindle for iPhone is a smart power play by Amazon, and a kewl opportunity for Kindle users to access their content in new devices. What technology pundits saw as competition, Amazon saw as opportunity. Amazon’s Kindle for iPhone application uses the iPhone application marketplace to promote it’s own electronic book marketplace.
In full disclosure, I downloaded but never used the iPhone application Stanza. Stanza allows you to purchase popular books in digital formats. Stanza supports ePub, eReader, PDF, Mobipocket, and MS Reader books.
On last note. If you are using a first generation Kindle, don’t forget to upgrade your firmware. As of this writing, the most current Kindle software version is 1.2.