Seattle
– As the e-book wars heat up, Amazon.com
announced today a “Kindle for PC” free software download that lets
users buy e-books from Amazon directly from their PC for the first time.
Previously, Amazon required users purchase a Kindle or an
iPhone/iPod Touch to buy from its Kindle e-bookstore.
The new Kindle for PC app from www.amazon.com/kindlestore will be
available next month. It was unveiled today at Microsoft’s Windows 7 launch
event in New York City, and lets Amazon match similar PC capability offered by
rival e-book sellers, including BarnesandNoble.com and the eBook Store from Sony.
By extension the app adds more capability to the Kindle because
now users can start reading on a Kindle or iPhone and switch to a PC. The app
bookmarks their place so they resume reading where they left off across all
devices.
Sony’s eBook Store and BarnesandNoble.com are compatible with a
Mac or PC, while Amazon for PC is compatible only with Windows XP, Vista and
Windows 7. Amazon said its app takes advantage
of Windows Touch technology in Windows 7, as users may zoom in and out of text
with a pinch of the fingers and a future Windows 7 release will also let users
turn pages with a finger swipe.
The new app also lets users choose among 10 different font
sizes. It gives PC access to Amazon.com’s 360,000
e-books with newly released best sellers available at $9.99.
Users can sign up to receive notice of when Amazon for PC is
available here.
