Amazon rolling out Kindle for PC

Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:51PM EDT

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You don't need a fancy-pants Kindle e-reader to read your electronic books from Amazon. The company already offers a free application that lets you read e-books on the iPhone, and for its next trick it will let users read books on their PCs thanks to its Kindle for PCs software.

Makes sense: Why break out a special device to read a book if you just want to take a few minutes during your break to pore over a few pages of your favorite novel -- or maybe you simply forgot your Kindle on your table at home before you jetted off on your business trip.

The PC version of the Kindle software offers most of the features of the standalone Kindle hardware while taking advantage of the bigger, color screen on your PC. Books are automatically opened to the last page read no matter what device you read them on, and annotations are shared automatically between Kindle and computer. You can shop for books directly from within the application, too.

One big addition: The PC version enhances the display by offering color thumbnails of each of the books in your e-library. And there's one caveat, too: Magazines, newspapers, and blogs sold for the Kindle are not currently available for the PC version of the software.

Windows 7 users with touch-enabled computers get a bigger bonus: Pinch-to-zoom lets you zoom in and out of text, and pages can be turned by swiping a finger across the screen.

The software will be free when it is released in November. You can sign up to receive an invitation to download the beta software when it launches here. Sounds like a great way to dip a toe in the e-reader world without a lot of commitment.

Comments on Amazon rolling out Kindle for PC

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  • 1 Posted by vixengal on Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    Great idea! People have been reading e-books on PCs for a long time, else why would Project Gutenberg exist? I was reading books on my Ipaq long before Kindle existed. Now Amazon can participate in those markets, and sell e-books to people who have no desire to own a Kindle. Netbook, Kindle? Netbook, Kindle? I'll go with the netbook! It does so much more, and is close to the same size. Any reason the pinch to zoom and swipe to turn a page can't work on a touchpad? (or even with a mouse movement) I think not.

  • 2 Posted by wykafox on Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    sounds like a great way to venture into the e-book venue via my laptop

  • 3 Posted by shutrbug@sbcglobal.net on Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    This app will be a great supplement to my new Kindle 2. I can hardly wait for it to be released. BTW, I've tried reading PDF books on my netbook while on a plane and my eyes do get weary after a while. Not so on the Kindle. But in a pinch, or for an easy introduction to ebooks, this should work well.

  • 4 Posted by wbramlet@swbell.net on Sun Nov 1, 2009 9:13PM EST Report Abuse

    I've been wanting something like this for a while. Happy it's finally coming! Too bad I switched to a Mac over the Summer, but I'm planning to install Windows 7 when the updated version of Boot Camp is released. I'm upset there is no newspapers, magazines, etc. That's most of the physical stuff I read. Because it's not supported yet on the PC or iPhone software, and there is no way I'm paying for a Kindle until I'm out of school and get a real job. Until then, Kindle is losing a ton of money from many people that would use digital over physical, but can't because they don't have a Kindle, just Kindle software.

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