Monday, June 28, 2010

Kindle for Android app is READY and Kindle to be sold at airports

KINDLE FOR ANDROID APP IS HERE

Get information on what's possible with this Kindle app here

Here is earlier app info and a hands-on report that I collected.

Last night at the forums, while discussing the new Kindle pricing in a thread made by a buyer bemoaning the lack of a refund for purchases longer than 30 days before the new price, a few of us were talking about changes in electronic offerings and pricing, and ultimately focused for awhile on the new Sprint Samsung Epic 4G, which is Sprint's version of the Samsung Galaxy S, except that Sprint alone, among 4 carriers, added a sliding keyboard that includes dedicated number keys.

A big selling point besides the speed of the cellphone is the 100,000 to 1 contrast ratio from its super AMOLED screen, a type of screen eagerly-awaited in the U.S.  I am needing a new cellphone so was immersed in reading on all this.
  I'm slowly getting to the point.

It's also sold by Verizon as Fascinate,  by AT&T as Captivate,  by US Cellular as Galaxy S,  and by T-Mobile as "Vibrant" (those names!).

  It was mentioned that the Amazon Kindle for Android would be available for these, and it turns out that T-Mobile's version, Vibrant, will come with the Kindle app pre-installed.  The cellphone will be available July 21, and I was not expecting the Kindle app to be ready today - a nice surprise.


KINDLE TO BE SOLD AT SOME AIRPORTS
Newsblaze, in a PR piece, tells us that HMSHost has an exclusive agreement to sell the Amazon Kindle in airports, starting June 28, at HMSHost-branded stores: Simply Books and Authors Bookstores across the country.  HMSHost will be the "only travel retailer" of the Kindle.

The airports where the Simply Books stores and/or Authors Bookstore will start selling the Kindle are: Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta; John Wayne in Orange County, California; Charlotte/Douglas in Charlotte, N.C.; Salt Lake City; Dallas Fort Worth; San Diego; George Bush airport in Houston; Miami; Tampa, Fla.; and Minneapolis-St. Paul.  See the linked PR release above for a current listing of stores and airports.

Alhough HMSHost says it has an exclusive agreement, its Senior VP of HMSHost Retail, Joan Ryzner, said that
' "We are very excited to partner with Amazon to be the first airport retailer to offer the highly acclaimed Kindle to people on the go, and to have it available in our bookstores prior to the busy Fourth of July holiday."

"The Kindle's readable 'easy on the eyes' screen and vast selection of titles are sure to delight travelers planning short or long trips." '

Newsblaze adds that Kindles sold through HMSHost's stores are pre-charged and ready to read.  It'll be interesting to see how they handle the registration process before books can be downloaded by the person on the way to the airplane.  If they help buyers at the counter with that, this would be a nice service.

The report reminds the reader that Kindle's Whispersync 3g mobile wireless technology automatically syncs your library and last-page-read with the Blackberry, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, PC, Mac, and now, Android.

Ryzner added,
' "We're making the day better for travelers who will find it convenient to download a book before boarding a flight, on the flight prior to take-off, when making a connection, or even on the way home from a trip." '

(Thanks to Switch11 for the alert.)



Check often:  Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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3 comments:

  1. I've just downloaded the android app on my nexus one. It syncs great, but I had some crashes with one of my books. When it works, it works as well as a reader on a phone can.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christopher,
    That was quick! If the book has the extension .azw1 it is a 'Topaz' file and often crashes on the Kindle even. I don't know why something about embedded fonts and usually a very large file for whatever reason.

    To no more book crashes!

    I AM thinking about getting either the Motorola Droid X or the Sprint Epic 4G or the Verizon Fascinate, all with a display 4 - 4.3" long, and maybe that would help with smaller text, being able to stretch it a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WHY!!!?!
    Stuck on a Motorola Backflip on AT.T......................(Stuck with 1.5, not gonna get 1.6 ever, scheduled to get 2.1 earliest, by late september.... FML. There is a HUGE pop. of android users on 1.5... not smart.

    ReplyDelete

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