Amazon Expands Kindle To the PC

An anonymous reader writes "Windows users will be able to use a new Kindle Books application to purchase, download and read e-book titles from Amazon's Kindle Store service. The PC application will be offered as a free download and will support Windows 7, Vista and XP systems. The news comes as Amazon is suddenly finding itself with a fresh crop of competitors in the e-book reader market. Earlier this week hardware vendor Spring Design entered the market with its Alex device, while publisher/retailer Barnes and Noble presented an even more serious challenge to Kindle when it unveiled its Nook reader device." Worth noting, if you're in the market for any such device: the base Kindle's price is now down to $259.

Re:PDF's?

[maxume]

PDF is an awful ebook format (a big problem is that it specifies exact layout, meaning that users who choose to use a large font will have to deal with scrolling each page instead of flipping pages or scrolling a river, and so forth).

Re:I'll take the B&N Android reader instead

[MrBigInThePants]

I totally agree. I don't know what the love affair with amazon is (well, maybe advertising revenue) but I would suggest that they have shown on several counts that their reader is a BIG risk and that other readers are far better. Triply so if you do not live in the US.

1984 being recalled?
DRM?
Not supporting other ebook types so you can purchase where you want?
Charging a 40% premium in the UK?

Yeah. You can keep your reader amazon, I am just not that stupid. Even Sony is coming to the table with something better and they INVENTED this game. :)

Re:Why Windows XP?

[n0dna]

Extended Support period until April 8, 2014.[2]
Only critical security updates will be provided unpaid. Paid support is still available.
Service Pack 2 supported until July 13, 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP [wikipedia.org]

Want to try again?

Re:And the race begins

[AeneaTech]

Ehh, the Kindle's AZW format is a modified Mobipocket format of which the DRM can be removed by easier methods than you describe! I even have bought Kindle ebooks without owning a Kindle and read them on my iLiad with the DRM removed ofcourse :D

Do a google search for: mobipocket decoder

So, the major geek cred must go to the person who wrote that I suppose ;)

Re:eBook readers

[BStocknd]

There's the Kindle DX [amazon.com], which sports native PDF support and a 9.7" screen, but I haven't tried it myself. There are also a number of 3rd party products, including iRex who makes some with larger screens, but they're pretty pricey. The Kindle DX might be worth a shot if you want to spend the $489 to try it out.. might want to double check the return policy first though.

They're working on a Mac OS X version

[donutello]

According to an Amazon spokesperson [fastcompany.com].

Re:I'll take the B&N Android reader instead

[boilednut]

Below are some pros/cons of Nook relative to Kindle.
Note: I am a very pleased Kindle owner, and I make no pretense of being completely unbiased.

Pros

• Android OS.
• Color Touch Display.
• Native support for more eBook formats -- including PDF.
• LendMe feature.
• Wi-Fi support.
• Memory expansion to 16GB with MicroSD card.

Caveats: The LendMe feature will only allow a book to be lent one time only -- for at most two weeks; and, according to some souces (http://reviews.cnet.com/e-book-readers/barnes-noble-nook/4505-3508_7-33786175.html [cnet.com]), the Wi-Fi connection will only be enabled at the Barnes & Nobles stores.

Cons

• No Text-to-Speech feature.
• No web browser.
• Substantially reduced battery life.