| Amazon puts Kindle on Macs, says iPad version will come soon |
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18/03/2010 17:17 (695 Day 17:48 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Amazon has released its Kindle for Mac software, application which lets regular Mac users buy and read books on their PC. Amazon also said it will "soon" provide Kindle software for Apple’s iPad device.
Released as a free beta application for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and higher, the software allows Mac users to purchase and download from Amazon's growing catalog of over 450,000 eBooks without the need to purchase its $259 Kindle 2 or larger $489 Kindle DX hardware, Apple Insider reports.
According to the same source, with the release, Amazon notes that Kindle books can now be read on many of the world's most popular digital devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Windows PC, Mac, and soon the iPad.
Amazon has its own range of Kindle ebook readers, which have sold well in the United States. The first Kindle device was launched in the UK last October, but British consumers have been slower to embrace the digital reading revolution, according to Telegraph. The online retailer has attempted to expand the presence of its Kindle brand by making the software for downloading and reading electronic books available on a variety of other platforms, such as the iPhone and Windows-based PCs, rather than just Kindle devices.
“Kindle for Mac is the perfect companion application for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX,” said Jay Marine, director of Amazon's Kindle division, as the same source reports.
Amazon said the free application, which supports Mac OS X 10.5 or later, can be downloaded at www.amazon.com/kindleformac, according to the press release, as Channel Web informs.
The launch next month of Apple's iPad, a tablet-style computer, is seen as a major threat to Amazon's dominance of the ebook space, according to Telegraph. The iPad will feature a virtual bookshop, the iBookstore, through which users will be able to download electronic books to read on their iPad.
Apple Insider reports that among the features of the new Mac application are:
Purchase, download, and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store
Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon's servers for free
Choose from 10 different font sizes and adjust words per line
Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read
View notes and highlights marked on Kindle, Kindle DX, and Kindle for iPhone
Read books in full color including children's books, cookbooks, travel books and textbooks
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