Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with Kindle e-book reader
Following its Kindle app for Apple Inc.’s new iPad, Amazon announced it will launch this summer a free app for smartphones using Google’s Android operating system.
Consumers will be able to access more than 540,000 Kindle books on Android phones, Amazon says. Currently, customers can read Kindle books on Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, on BlackBerry devices and on Macs and PCs.
Amazon, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, says the Kindle for Android will include Amazon's Whispersync technology, which saves and synchronizes a customer's bookmarks across a Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, PC, Mac, BlackBerry and, soon, Android.
Additionally, the app will enable users to access their libraries of purchased Kindle books, choose from five font sizes, read the beginning of books for free, read in portrait or landscape mode and tap on either side of the screen or flick to turn pages.
Customers can see a sneak peak and sign up to receive an e-mail when Kindle for Android is available at http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid.
According to AndroLib.com, which monitors the Android market, there are currently nearly 60,000 Android apps. About 60% are free and the rest consumers must pay for, AndroLib reports.
As of mid-May according to Internet Retailer research, retailers have launched 66 mobile apps, 55 of which are transactional.
Comments
Sign In to Make a Comment
Comments are moderated by Internet Retailer and can be removed.