Kindle for PC launched; Kindle for Mac coming soon
Kindle for PC, a free application from Amazon for users and would-be users of Amazon’s Kindle, has been launched. Kindle for PC, like Kindle for iPhone, enables you to browse, purchase and read ebooks from Amazon’s Kindle digital book store.
Even if you don’t have a physical Kindle, you can still download and use the Kindle for PC to get a feel of Amazon’s Kindle bookstore. Kindle has a book store boasting 360,000 titles. However, the number of books available will be less in some countries.
While the physical Kindle can access newspapers, magazines and blogs besides digital books, Kindle for PC will be able to able to handle ONLY books. Support for other media formats are not available now on Kindle for PC. “Kindle for PC is the perfect companion application for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX,” said Ian Freed, vice president, Amazon Kindle. “Kindle for PC is also a great way for people around the world to access a huge selection from the Kindle Store and read the most popular books of today even if they don’t yet have a Kindle.”
If you already own a Kindle, you might find the Kindle for PC delightful. This is because Kindle for PC automatically syncs with Kindle. So, if you left off reading page 123 of Hamlet on the Kindle on way to work, while you reach office you can still open Kindle for PC on your office PC – Kindle for PC will open the exact page where you left off. Annotations, page marks etc that you made in the physical Kindle will be before you when you open Kindle for PC on your computer. Amazon makes use of its patented Whispernet to make the syncing possible. It is not clear if the auto-syncing will be available in India as well.
The Kindle for PC is available as a download from Amazon’s website. The executable files weighs a mere 5.17 MB and installs in seconds. Kindle for PC can be installed on Windows XP with SP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Kindle for PC makes use of some of advanced touchscreen capabilities of Windows 7. If you have Windows 7 on your touchscreen PC or tablet computer, you can ‘pinch’ on the screen to zoom in and out of the screen.
Amazon says that in the future, you will be able to turn the pages with a swipe of your finger on touchscreen computers. We will wait for that. Amazon said in a press release that many books can be read in color on the Kindle for PC. You can zoom in and out of text, set bookmarks, view notes and highlights, read the first chaper of any book for free before buying it, and choose font sizes on the Kindle for PC.
Kindle for PC system requirements
A PC with a 500MHz Intel or AMD processor or faster, At least 128MB of RAM, Screen resolution of 800×600 or greater, Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later, or Windows Vista or Windows 7 and 100MB of available disk space.Amazon, which popularized e-reading devices, has been facing competition of late with ebook readers from Barnes and Noble Nook and Sony Reader. Many other hardware companies too are believed to be working on their own versions of the Kindle. Amazon’s Kindle, however, has a drawback compared to many competing models: The digital rights management (DRM) on the Kindle ensures that you can read the purchased books only on the Kindle. The rival ePUB format can be read on a variety of hardware formats. Amazon has aggressively tried to defend its turf, by launching a Kindle for iPhone, and now, a Kindle for PC. Amazon also has plans to launch a Kindle for the Mac OS.
Again, internationally, Kindle has not been able to make a mark. A Kindle international edition was launched recently, but it costs nearly twice as much as much as the Kindle in the US. The Whispernet 3G EVDO which wirelessly downloads the books doesn’t exist in many countries, including India. Amazon has not bothered to consider making the Kindle for GSM-focussed countries. Again, CDMA being a technological dead-end, it is difficult to see where Kindle will find itself in the next few years, when mobile networks move to 4G and LTE. Google, which too has giant ambitions in the e-book market has been trying its best to wean more e-readers away from the Kindle.
The Barnes and Noble Nook has also been direct hit at the Kindle. The Nook is a much swankier touchscreen model, and in comparison to it, the Amazon Kindle looks like a relic from the past with clunky keys. Amazon definitely has the advantage of the 360,000 books on its shelves, but how useful that storehouse will be in the future competitive landscape remains to be seen. The Kindle Store is the only place to find some of today’s most popular books in digital format, claims Amazon on its website.
Microsoft showed off Kindle for PC for the first time ever at the Windows 7 launch event in October in New York. Kindle for PC takes advantage of capabilities in the new Windows 7, including Windows Touch technology Windows Vista. How successful will the Kindle for PC be? We do not see the Kindle for PC as a game-changer in any way. There are many ebook readers available now, many of them technologically superior to the Kindle and the Kindle DX. The world is increasingly moving to the open standards format, which Amazon is not comfortable with. With the expected launch of Apple tablet computer (the Apple Slate?) Amazon will have fresh competition at hand. Instead of expanding the market for the Kindle, Kindle for PC will probably end up as a feeble attempt to keep Amazon’s Kindle readers from straying to rivals.