Posted 11/18/09 at 05:30:12 PM by David Murphy

It's a pretty slick deal of Amazon to open up its Kindle library to devices beyond those of the company's handheld book readers.  But just because the Kindle software has gone multi-platform doesn't mean that it's a sure winner.  No, it's the ease-of-use and almost iTunes-like functionality of this simple e-book reader that makes it a great piece of software for your desktop or laptop PC. 

You can't do very much with Kindle for PC aside from read books purchased through Amazon's extensive library--which, in itself, makes sense.  You wouldn't really want another piece of software to read PDFs, right?  Joking aside, the one thing this software does, it does well.  Grabbing new book titles from Amazon is as easy as logging into the Web site, hitting download, and waiting for the book to quickly refresh itself in your Kindle for PC home screen. Your collection of digital novels appears as the front covers of each title, and you can sort this list by the order in which you downloaded the e-books, their names, or the author's name.

Read on for more details!

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Posted 11/10/09 at 08:22:27 PM by Jason Barry

Amazon announced today the release of “Kindle for PC,” a free application for Windows computers that allows customers to view more than 360,000 books on their home computer.

Customers do not need to own a Kindle to use the software, now they can purchase and download books on their PC. If you do own a Kindle and have set up Whispersync, you can access your entire Kindle library as well as your notes and marks. The software supports touchscreen gestures on Windows 7 so you can “finger-swipe flip” through pages and “pinch and zoom” content.

They have initially released a Windows only version, but a Mac version is on its way. They hope the new PC and Mac based software will help widen adoption of the Kindle library, in turn getting more publishers onboard.

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Posted 11/09/09 at 07:28:34 PM by Ryan Whitwam

If the Barnes and Noble Nook sounds like a great Christmas present, you might want to preorder one now. Everyone’s favorite bookseller has announced that due to massive demand, Nook preorders have been pushed into December. There are also reports that Barnes and Noble stores will have no in-store Nooks until mid December.

According to a Barnes and Noble spokesperson, “Nook has quickly become the fastest selling product at Barnes & Noble. In fact, there is so much consumer interest in Nook, that pre-orders have exceeded our expectations." The Nook will be selling for $259 whenever you can find one. Barnes and Noble opened their eBook store back in July and it currently offers over 700,000 titles.
 
The Nook will be going up against Amazon’s Kindle reader. B&N is hoping to leverage their brick and mortar stores to gain an advantage over the all online Amazon. Are you considering getting an ebook reader this holiday season?

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Posted 10/28/09 at 05:05:41 PM by Bart Salisbury

The more the merrier, at least it seems to be for Barnes & Noble, which has inked a deal to sell Plastic Logic’s QUE eReader along side its own, recently announced, Nook eReader. This move follows an earlier agreement between the two companies to allow QUE users access to book downloads through Barnes & Noble’s online bookstore.

The QUE is, according to Plastic Logic, about the size of an 8.5 x 11-inch pad of paper, and has a shatterproof touch screen display. The QUE is less than one-third of an inch thick and has built-in WiFi and 3G wireless capability (through AT&T). The QUE can handle PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents, and will come with tools that allow interaction with, and management of, content. Actual design features, however, are pretty much a mystery, as Plastic Logic hasn’t been very forthcoming with images showing the QUE’s configuration.

Barnes & Noble hopes the combination of eReaders will mount a credible challenge against Amazon’s Kindle. According to William J. Lynch, president of BN.com, “Carrying [Nook] and QUE allows us to provide consumers a one-stop destination in Barnes & Noble stores to demo and buy two of the best eBook readers on the market.”

Pricing and availability were not included in the announcement. It is expected that Plastic Logic will announce such details at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in January.

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Posted 10/23/09 at 05:40:50 PM by Bart Salisbury

Brick & mortar stores may be struggling, but the Internet is still printing money for some online retailers. Count Amazon among those who won big in the 3rd quarter of 2009, with a whoppoing 62 percent jump in profits. Amazon chalked-up $5.45 billion in sales during the quarter, an increase of 28 percent from the third quarter in 2008, with a net income of $199 million. Investors took the news well, bumping up the price of Amazon’s shares some 15 percent to $170.07 in after-hours trading.

“Kindle has become the #1 bestselling item by both unit sales and dollars – not just in our electronics store but across all product categories on Amazon.com. It’s also the most wished for and the most gifted. We are grateful for and energized by this customer response.” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

In response to new competition in the e-book marketplace, Amazon has reduced the price of its new 3G Kindle to $259, and has announced the the free application “Kindle for PC” to widen the reach of its e-book offerings.

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Posted 10/22/09 at 03:43:50 PM by Bart Salisbury

Not interested in buying a Kindle? Understandable. But that’s not going to stop Amazon from promoting its Kindle technology as far and wide as it possible can. Today Amazon has announced the availability of “Kindle for PC,” a free eReader application that allows PC users to “enjoy” Kindle books on their own terms.

Kindle for PC is built with Amazon’s Whispersynch technology, which automatically saves and synchronizes bookmarks and last page read across devices. So where ever you get your Kindle on--with a Kindle or Kindle DX, a PC, or an iPhone/iPod Touch, you’ll never lose track of where you are.

Kindle for PC features include, besides the obvious ability to acquire Kindle books, access to your entire Kindle library, ten different font sizes, and viewing notes/highlights made on a Kindle It will also take advantage of Windows 7’s touch technology, allowing pinch-zooming, with finger swipe page-turning (planned for a future release). Kindle for PC is compatible with XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Gizmodo has some screenshots of Kindle for PC in action, running on an Acer tablet. Information on getting your copy of Kindle for PC is available at Amazon.

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Posted 10/20/09 at 09:12:00 PM by Ryan Whitwam

We’ve all experienced that feeling of dread when a gadget is dropped. The more unlucky among us are also familiar with the horror felt after realizing that our once beloved thingamajig is now junk. Paul Gowder must have felt that after dropping his Kindle 2 recently, leading to a damaged screen. He, however, moved past that and decided to get Amazon to replace his Kindle.

Paul felt that it was pretty unreasonable for the Kindle’s screen to break, seeing as it was in a messenger bag at the time. His story fell on deaf ears at Amazon, where he was offered a replacement unit for $200, provided he returned the broken one. He agreed, but Paul wasn’t through with these Amazon folk.

It turns out that Paul went to law school, and he set about crafting a seriously frightening letter to Amazon. Among other things, he cited Amazon’s drop test video for the Kindle 2. Since his Kindle broke after a much less severe drop, Paul claimed that Amazon was misrepresenting the product. All he asked was that Amazon pay him $400. Shockingly, they did. Net gain to Paul: $200 and a new Kindle. Well played, sir… well played.

You can check out Paul’s letter, as well as Amazon’s response at the read link.

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Posted 10/19/09 at 07:36:05 PM by Ryan Whitwam

All the rumblings were apparently accurate. Barnes and Noble is releasing an eBook reader tomorrow according to the WSJ. The new eReader on the block will be called the Nook, and will be priced at $259. Many felt that Barnes and Noble would try to get the price in under Amazon’s Kindle, but that didn’t happen.

The Nook will have an eInk display, and a color touchscreen below the main display. This may have something to do with the price. The new device will also have an, as yet unspecified, wireless connection for downloading books. Apparently the Nook will allow users to, “lend eBooks to friends”. If true, this could be a killer app. With the Kindle having solid control of 60% of the market, the Nook will need all the differentiation it can get. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to get all the deatils. So... interested?

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