March 3rd, 2009
Hands-on image gallery and video of the Amazon iPhone Kindle software
I just posted about the Amazon Kindle iPhone application availability and now I’ll take you on a walk through the software and let you also see how it works with a Kindle 2 device. As you can see in my image gallery the software is easy to use and gives you all your Kindle ebook content on the iPhone. I am not sure if Newspapers or magazines are not supported yet, but plan to try that out soon as well. You can see in the video how the Whispersync technology keeps the Kindle 2 and iPhone in sync so no matter where you are or what device you have with you at the moment (Kindle or iPhone) you can always maintain your current location in your book.
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| Image Gallery:Check out 22 screenshots of the Amazon Kindle iPhone software in use on my iPhone. |  |
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When you first launch the software on your iPhone/iPod touch you log into your Kindle account. I already have a Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 so logging into my account immediately showed me my library of ebooks under the Archived Items category. You don’t need a Kindle to use this software or buy books, but you will need to buy books through a web browser on your computer or iPhone. If you have books like I do already you simply tap the book title in the Archived Items and the book is download to your iPhone for reading.
The AMAZING feature is the Whispersync technology that will now allow you to read on your Kindle and then hit the road and read on your iPhone while maintaining the exact same place in the selected book. This is HUGE for me, and others too I am sure, since I have my phone with me at ALL times while my Kindle is not always with me. I imagine I will be reading a lot more books and this is good for me and Amazon since I will also probably be buying more books.
While Kindle and iPhone owners like myself will greatly appreciate this new software, it will be interesting to see how other ebook fans currently using clients like eReader or Stanza will use this software. The major benefit of using the Amazon service is you should be able to get full access to the Amazon library of over 200,000 ebooks. I don’t think the software alone is what is appealing, but the functionality when combined with a Kindle and the ebook catalog are what sets it apart.
You can save bookmarks, but it doesn’t appear that notes or annotations are supported with the current software. Magazines and newspapers also do not appear to be supported at this time. You cannot read books in landscape mode and there are no custom options for text or backgrounds colors. This is version 1.0 of the software so Amazon may add lots more functionality to it later. I am still impressed, primarily with the ease of accessing my library and the Whispersync capability.
BTW, people have asked me and YES you can use this without owning a Kindle. You buy the books via a computer web browser and they are sent to your iPhone/iPod touch.
Are you as excited about this as I am? Will this energize the ebook market?
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 03/04/09
