Kindle App For iPad
By Best-eReaders, April 06, 2010
Forget about Kindle vs iPad. It’s now Kindle and iPad.
A day before the launch of the Apple tablet, Amazon’s Kindle ebook reader app has found its way into iPad App list on iTunes. This puts to rest some conspiracy theories that:
-Amazon will create an e reader app for the iPad.
-Apple will block reading apps from rival companies.
Kindle ereader app for iPad: Features
Like the Kindle App for iPhone, iPod, Blackberry, and other platforms, the Kindle ebook reader app for iPad will have the following functionalities:
- Whispersync technology, which allows you to sync your bookmarks, notes, and highlighted texts across compatible devices. It also remembers your last page read, allowing you to pick up your reading from (wherever you left off) using any device.
- iPad users can shop, purchase, and download books from the Amazon store.
- iPad readers can change font sizes and color of text, change background color of display, and animate page turns.
- Taking into consideration the iPad’s multi-capacitive touch display, the Kindle App for the iPad can support pinch, zoom, and scrolling when viewing library files.
- Readers can adjust screen brightness settings to address non-readability issues under sunlight and to help reduce eye strain.
Kindle App for a iPad: Symbiotic Relationship in the Gadget World
What’s so interesting about the Kindle ebook reader app for the iPad is that it will compete directly with Apple’s new iBookstore. Some analysts see the new app as concession of Amazon to Apple and a lack of good strategy on part of Amazon.
How the Kindle App for iPad benefits Amazon
Many disagree, seeing the Kindle iPad app a smart move on the part of Amazon. Rightly so, Amazon is positioning itself less and less as a hardware and more as a publishing platform. Amazon is recognizing the fact that its strength lie on e-commerce; hardware is just its vehicle to a more profitable market: ebooks.
1. For every book sold, it’s a win for Amazon.
“Ultimately, the Kindle store is more important to Amazon than the Kindle device.”
said Ross Rubin of the market research group NPD.
A report by Tech Crunchies says that for every 10 physical books sold in Amazon’s online store, Amazon sells 6 ebooks via Kindle. With a 2009 revenue of more than 20 billion dollars, it is apparent that Amazon’s real profit are in ebooks. Hardware, be it the Kindle, Blackberry, or iPad, is simply the vehicle for moving ebooks from Amazon to consumers.
2. The iPad Kindle App is part of Amazon’s strategy to expand its sphere of influence.
“Amazon isn’t naive enough to think that people will only read in the scenario in which they have the Kindle,” analyst at Gartner Mobile Industry Allan Weitner said. “They’ve adopted a strategy where the content lives in the cloud, and you have the ability to get to that content from whatever device that you’re on.”
3. Research by NPD shows that people read on a variety of devices, even when they have a dedicated ereader such as the Kindle.
NPD’s Ross Rubin thinks cross-platform compatibility is vital for Amazon “because it is not supporting the EPUB standard that would otherwise provide some interoperability for books purchased at the Kindle store.”
How the Kindle App for iPad benefits Apple
So why did Apple let the Amazon Kindle App into its iPad?
Apple’s iBookstore has 60,000 titles only. The Amazon has nearly half a million. By embracing the Kindle App, the iPad becomes a more enticing proposition to people. For every iPad sold, it’s a win for Apple.
Closing thought
The iPad will trump the Kindle? Not so fast.
There’s no doubt that the Apple tablet will impact Amazon’s share of the ereader market. But Amazon seems to be not fazed. Amazon understands hardware is not its endgame strategy so it is going to concentrate on where it sells more: ebooks.
Comments