Kindle for iPhone - Review

Category: utilities, ebooks, readers
Price: Free
App Store Link: [Full]

Review: Love it (though room for improvements)
Recommendation: Possibly the definitive eReader. If you like to read, get it.
Ease of use: Good
Frequency of use: Casual

It's finally here--Kindle... for the iPhone and iPod touch. This FREE app essentially turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into an Amazon Kindle eReader (a $359 dollar value). This long-awaited app allows users to read and store Kindle ebooks right on their touch device. This app has many of the same features as other ebook readers, such as adjustable font size, bookmarking, and tables of contents. However, the big difference between Kindle and other readers is that Kindle has access to an instantly downloadable library of over 240,000 titles, including a vast number of popular titles and new releases (most at reasonable prices--9.99 or less). And Kindle for iPhone delivers it all in a very pretty package.

One of the largest advantages of Kindle is the ease of purchasing quality content wirelessly directly to your device. While the app itself does not allow users to shop for content, the app directs users to the Kindle page using Safari Mobile where books can be purchased with amazon.com 1-click. Then as soon as users launch Kindle for iPhone, their purchases are automatically downloaded. The release of Kindle for iPhone finally makes iPhone and iPod Touch viable platforms for eReaders. In fact, it might not be too much of a stretch to say this app will make convince many prospective Kindle users to pick-up an iPod Touch instead of a Kindle. Especially when considering the cost of a Kindle 2 ($360) to the cost of an iPod Touch ($229, $299, and $399).

Now that we've gushed over Kindle for iPhone, lets address some of the short comings. Kindle for iPhone is noticeably missing some of key features of Kindle and Kindle 2 Devices, such as annotations and voiced reading to name a couple. Additionally, it would be nice to be able to access the Kindle store directly from the app itself. All of these features could be easily implemented with a little work from Amazon; however, one must wonder how much effort Amazon will put into improving this app when it will be direct competition with their own Kindle device. Only time will tell.

Click to Enlarge

What we'd like to see in future updates: Annotations; voiced reading; direct Kindle store access; scrolling text
~M@