Will Kindle make an app for iPad to compete?

[shakenmartini]

Well, Apple doesn't allow competing music store apps on iPhone.
Also, at the Keynote, Apple said "Almost all of your existing iPhone apps will be compatible with iPad"- perhaps an out to kill some competing apps?

On the other hand, didn't Apple announce an in-App purchase process-- which they get 30% cut of anything purchased from within an App? Amazon will not be able to undercut Apple on ebook pricing if they have to give Apple 30%. So that would mean you have to buy an ebook on Amazon online, and then when you run the app, it would sync over (like with iPhone). Something tells me Apple will ban the new Amazon app.

Actually Apple supports many different music stores. Of interest to this topic is the Amazon MP3 store which directly imports into iTunes. This all works via public API methods for import into the iTunes library via the Amazon downloader. It is virtually seamless to buy from Amazon and have the tracks magically appear on your iPhone/iPod

In addition to traditional MP3 type stores, Apple has approved apps such as Rhapsody for subscription music and even allows streaming services such as Pandora. The only limitation to these apps is that at the moment you have to jailbreak to run them in the background, however, I bet this will change soon since Apple is a hardware company and doesn't make any money off of iTunes content sales (30% just barely covers bandwidth costs).

As discussed above, the iPhone already has a kindle App which in its current incarnation will work on day 1 on the iPad and will undoubtedly be updated for the iPad ASAP.

While apple does reject apps that duplicate functionality, these days apple is more interested in apps that use API's and GUI elements properly. By and large most rejections are actually due to these sorts of problems even if it seems off the surface to be due to iTunes store competition.

 

[firewood]

Anyway, how realistic would it be to read a book on a tiny iPhone screen? Even if the screen is blown up to fit the iPad in the compatibility mode, it would be real blurry.... hard to read.

I've read several books on my iPhone using the Kindle app. Handy since I can easily read at night in complete darkness. Problem is that I need my stronger reading glasses to do this. iPad will be nice since I probably can read books on it with just my regular glasses or contacts.

 

[Toadkillerdog]

I read novels all the time on my iphone and it is not blurry and not an eyestrain for me. I am naturally near sighted so don't need reading glasses. My wife reads her Amazon Kindle books preferentially on the iphone. I was very surprised by this. Her e-ink book reader lies unused now.

 

[shakenmartini]

I read novels all the time on my iphone and it is not blurry and not an eyestrain for me. I am naturally near sighted so don't need reading glasses. My wife reads her Amazon Kindle books preferentially on the iphone. I was very surprised by this. Her e-ink book reader lies unused now.

IMHO eINK is very overrated. To me it is everything bad about Palm Pilots from cira 1997 and worse with an even slower refresh rate. The only upside is the screen is bigger.

I have been wanting to buy a Kindle for a long time, but eInk has really put me off. Everyone's Kindle I have tried has had a miserable screen, especially since I like to read (now on my iPhone) in lower light. I stare at a PC fora good part of the day, what is a few hours here and there at night?

 

[SteveSparks]

Will Apple allow an optimized Kindle app for iPad?

If so, will this drive costs of ebooks down?

The iPhone app should port over, but the screen size doesn't work well for reading books.

Yes.

No

 

[racer1441]

Let the kindle app on, and they'll kill with hardware sales.

Who would buy a kindle, when you could get a kindle, along with the web, other apps, apple apps, e-mail, ect...

I love my kindle, not because of the hardware, but the ease of buying books.

 

[elmo151]

it's almost certain that amazon will enhance their iphone app for the iPad. Books are like razor blades for them. The razor is immaterial.

I'm surprised that apple didn't license the amazon book store contents.

 

[anthonymoody]

Yes.

No

+1

 

[bbydon]

I do it all of the time. It's quite nice, actually.

And as of a month ago, I rarely heard the iPhone screen being referred to as "tiny" and hard to read on. Amazing what marketing will do to people's opinions.

I have been hearing how "tiny" it is, for-awhile around my office. Of course i'm the one saying it because i'm far sighted, but thats beside the point. I don't think its marketing, more like, some people are gifted with better eyesight than others.

 

[CylonGlitch]

some people are gifted with better eyesight than others.

Gifted? Hardly, I PAID for my eyesight like so many others. Lasik is an awesome surgery and well worth it!

I have read several novels on my iPhone and LOVE it, the iPad looks like it would be perfect for reading on.

 

[bbydon]

Gifted? Hardly, I PAID for my eyesight like so many others. Lasik is an awesome surgery and well worth it!

I have read several novels on my iPhone and LOVE it, the iPad looks like it would be perfect for reading on.

Funny you should mention Lasik. I PAID for Lasik as well, and paid a ton for it by the same Dr that did Gregg Maddux's eyes (baseball pitcher) still, my much improved eyesight wasn't enough. I know few of people who do enjoy heavy reading on their iphones... I am just not one of them, and look forward to the ipad.