Amazon was ready for Apple's No-Buy-Here. Kindle Cloud Reader arrives. - UPDATE

AMAZON KINDLE CLOUD READER BEATS APPLE RESTRICTIONS

That was Electricpig's headline last night, which was to the point.

Kindle for Web to the Rescue
Should Kindle Cloud Reader be sporting a cape?  For now, it can fly only in Google Chrome browser and in Safari, but it's very slick, not faster than a speeding bullet but pretty smooth.  All my book covers showed up instantly and I could choose to download any to read offline instead of reading them online from the 'cloud.'

 If you're on Windows and don't have the Chrome browser yet (or if you're on a Mac and want to try Chrome), download it here and then browse to your CloudReader (at read.amazon.com).

On February 24, this year, while the e-reader world worried over Apple's ax falling on rival ebookstore apps, I wrote "Why Kindle books will be readable & sync'd on Apple devices no matter what" -- and the killer reason was Amazon's work on Kindle for Web, which Amazon demo'd December 7, promising that the ability to read full books was coming soon.   What it touted:

' Kindle books can be read ... anywhere you have a web browser.  Your reading library, last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights are always available to you no matter where you bought your Kindle books or how you choose to read them. '

The Home page of the live Cloud Reader (formerly known as Kindle for Web), which is accessed via Chrome or Safari (the latter, for the iPad) has the Kindle Store icon at the right top.  Try getting rid of THAT Buy Button, Apple :-)

The Kindle Cloud Reader is just another tab on the browser, so when I go somewhere else on it (to the touch-optimized Kindle Store, for one thing), I have to remember to go 'back' on the browser to the Cloud Reader's "Kindle" home page, called "Cloud."  It's not separate as the other Kindle apps are.

Also, this will be an additional "device" when you do the initial setup (in that most books can be read on up to 6 devices on your account (publisher decides how many) though your account may have many more devices than that).

There are a zillion articles on this quietly released feature already.  Electricpig's points out immediately that

' Amazon has quietly outed a way to get round Apple’s restrictions on iOS in-app purchases: the Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader.  We thought Amazon had simply acquiesced to Apple when it killed the store link in its Kindle iPhone and iPad apps but it had a Plan B in the works.

 The Kindle Cloud Reader is a totally web-based version of the eBook reader app that works with Chrome and Safari and comes optimised for the iPad.  The iPhone isn’t supported yet but that can only be a matter of time. '

 They said it "works like a charm.  The ability to switch between the Kindle Store and your library on the iPad is also a treat.

TechCrunch points out that Amazon hasn't said anything about it yet but it's already live.  I didn't know about it but received an alert from Corneliu Dascalu while I was browsing Twitter. (Thanks!)

So it's ready for PCs, Macs, Linux and Chromebooks (not Android yet, but Buy Buttons work on the Android).  TechCrunch's MG Siegler adds that though the iPad is very much supported :-), the iPhone currently is not, so for now, keep using the Kindle for iPhone.

  Since Cloud Reader is optimized for the iPad, it feels, to Siegler, like a native app though it's not, and you can (somewhat slowly with a whirling timer) "swipe back and forth to move between pages."  Since you can read from the cloud or instead read a downloaded book offline "thanks to the magic of HTML 5 (or a Chrome browser extension), it looks and works great," Siegel says.  "It's ready to go and it's very good."

Reaction overall, in a quick browse of news stories, is very favorable.  I'm enjoying reader comments too.

Gadget Lab's Charlie Sorrel opens his story with

' Angry and outraged that Apple forced Amazon to pull the link to the Kindle e-book store from within its Kindle iOS app?  So was Amazon, but instead of just sitting and whining about it like you and me, Amazon decided to do something.  Behold, the Kindle Cloud Reader, a web app that behaves just like a slightly slow native app. '

He considers it 'clunkier' than a regular Kindle app but "sleeker than some actual hardware e-readers.

And here's some advice -- "long press a book cover thumbnail to save" -- plus the info that the app automatically caches any book you're reading, for a smoother experience.

  You can't search within a book, but you can use the browser 'Find' to do that, for now.  However, the Chrome browser gives you the number of Finds and then you have to next-page until you come across them in yellow or orange.  It doesn't go directly to the words.  No notes or highlights can be created, but you can see the ones you've done, by clicking on the right-hand column header-icon that toggles the display of annotations.

  Going back to my Cloud Reader's Library, I went to see the two books I'd downloaded and got a spinning wheel in the center of the browser that might have continued until the end of time, it seemed, but pressing the Refresh icon at the upper left fixed that.

Sorrel adds that a request for a sample gets you one loaded up right there in the store area and looks like the regular reader but you have to read it then and there (which I don't think I mind) but the downside is you can't choose to send it to your library to read later.

Google 'cloud reader' to see much more on this.


UPDATE - Since Kindle Cloud Reader doesn't have a dictionary yet, here's a reminder that Windows users can install a great little free dictionary, WordWeb.  Here's what you get:

FREE VERSION
The comprehensive English thesaurus and dictionary includes:
Definitions and synonyms
Proper nouns
Related words
5000 audio pronunciations
150 000 root words
220 000 word senses
Fixed web reference tabs

See full details in the blog article from May 3, 2010.

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For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW:  June  July  Aug 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($139)   DX Graphite

Kindle News: Plans to escape Apple's stern, over-protected grove

APPLE CLEANUP OF OTHER BOOKSTORE LINKS: WHAT NOW?

EBookMagazine in the UK
"Removal of in-app store links prompts anger, complaints and confusion" as a result of the Apple requirement that rival ebooksellers either 1) make a link to purchase at Apple's store, giving Apple 100% of the other bookstore's 30% revenue share of a book sale (the 30% share for a bookseller was Apple's idea in the first place, causing higher book pricing, or 2) remove any and all links to the other bookseller's stores.

  One thing I had not expected to see:

' The Kindle app’s iTunes listing now has a majority of ‘one star’ reviews alongside negative reviews lamenting the loss of the store link."  [How ironic.]
Users have described the updated, link-less app as “defunct” and “a big step backward”.

Other Kindle app users have made use of the reviews facility to denounce Apple’s policy and to insist that they won’t – as some suggest the iPad maker was hoping – defect to its iBooks store. '

Not surprisingly, though, many regular users were not aware that the link that led to opening the Safari browser to go to the bookstores was just the web-location of the online store.  All that's needed is a bookmark on the device that will take the e-reader owner to amazon.com or to bn.com etc.

  But the inconvenience of having to close the reading app first is not intuitive and has been annoying.  EReader owners wind up irritated at both the app and the suddenly not so magical or revolutionary device.

Tight reins: "Staff employed by Kindle rival Kobo have complained that Apple’s rules even prevented them from explaining why store links have been removed from apps.

That is what happens when you become the richest company around, with $76 billion sitting there and apparently not growing fast enough for comfort.


WallSteetDaily: Is Apple About to Lose its Gatekeeper Status?
Juatin Fritz points out that the Financial Times decided to ignore Apple, withdrew its app and released a [web-based] HTML5 app last month, explaining, "There’s not a single thing we couldn’t do in HTML5 that we could do in our native app [for Apple]."

HTML5 allows coding language developers "to create rich, full-featured webpages" without requiring plug-ins like Adobe Flash.

  Apple has been counting on increasing adoption of HTML5 to provide features that Flash currently does, since Apple doesn't recognize Adobe Flash.
  But now, HTML5 may be helping other companies grow their extra features outside that walled garden tended by Apple's heavy thumb.

  Fritz reminds us that "Mobile developers for the iPhone and iPad can use HTML5 to create applications, too. So instead of storing apps on a mobile device, developers can run them on the web." and adds:

' Tech publisher, VentureBeat, says, the “HTML5 movement has so much momentum that it could defeat the native app — an application that’s designed to run on a single platform — in as little as two years.” '

  Developers won't need permission to upload their own apps online, and HTML5 programs can also be used offline, functioning in areas with no connection. They can run on any operating system.  "So instead of customizing apps for each platform, developers only need to create one universal application."

  The Google Books app doesn't seem to be back in the Apple store, Fritz says, and "starting in August, Google will start supporting all of its web apps, like Gmail and Docs, with HTML5."  He adds that Microsoft announced in June that it was going to HTML5 in Windows 8, and Pandora is making the switch also.

  So, we see a couple of escape routes, with apps for the fast-growing Android market and with HTML5

Amazon announced in December their coming Kindle for Web, which will allow full text of Kindle books to be read in your web browsers - no download or installation required.  This will also allow the usual features - synchronizing of your libraries, last page read, bookmarks, notes & highlights, with your other devices.

 And, Amazon adds, "bookstores, authors, retailers, bloggers and other website owners will be able to offer Kindle books from their own sites, let their readers start enjoying the full text of these books instantly, and earn affiliate fees for doing so."


Photo credit: Communicatrix


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($139)   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Amazon launches Kindle for the Web. Amazon Encore Fall & Spring book lists.

AMAZON'S BEEN BUSY - Here's another press release, and I'll quote most of it below.  There had been talk this week of Amazon planning ahead for the ability to charge fees for additional previews someday, but  it was felt by some that these reported moves could be just getting that capability firm IF ever needed.  So, I left in the top-left portion of the new Amazon ad that red-letters the first word in "Free Kindle Reading Apps" title.

The Amazon Kindle Team had previously announced at the forums that they would soon be launching Web previews of books using HTML5, and this is apparently it.  Here's the press release (minus already-familiar  portions described in the introduction), since their choice of wording is more important for a new feature that's a departure from we we've known.   Samples, we're able to read in a relaxed way on our Kindles, and the marketing push of the web version will emphasize blog ads for Kindle books as well as the sharing of content from a book, with quoting now easily more than a blurb.  (Emphases below are mine)

' Amazon Launches Kindle for the Web

Readers can now read the first chapter of Kindle books for free through web browsers - no download or installation required.

Bloggers and website owners can embed Kindle book samples and earn referral fees on sales.  [Some book-oriented blogs will become quite quite a bit fatter, but scroll-windows will help.]

SEATTLE, Sep 28, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Amazon...today introduced the beta version of "Kindle for the Web," making it even easier for customers to discover new books and authors by sampling Kindle books directly through web browsers ...  More information about Kindle for the Web and how to embed Kindle book samples is available at www.amazon.com/kindlefortheweb.

Customers simply click the "Read first chapter FREE" button on a book product page on Amazon or on other websites, and the first chapter will open within the web page.  Customers can change the font size and line spacing, adjust the background color, and share their favorite books with friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail--all without leaving the book in the browser.

"With Kindle for the Web, it's easier than ever for customers to sample Kindle books - there's no downloading or installation required," said Dorothy Nicholls, Director, Amazon Kindle.  "Kindle for the Web is also a great way for bloggers and authors to promote books on their websites by letting visitors read a chapter without leaving their site."

To see examples of Kindle for the Web on authors' websites, go to the blog of author Karen McQuestion at www.mcquestionablemusings.blogspot.com and the free sample of her bestselling Kindle book "A Scattered Life,"  or the website of author John Miller at www.heymiller.com and the free sample of his book "The First Assassin."  [That is heavy support for McQuestion and Miller.]

In the future, Kindle for the Web will include optimization for mobile browsers and other features. For more information about Kindle for the Web, including instructions on how to embed Kindle book samples, go to www.amazon.com/kindlefortheweb. '

For a list of frequently asked questions and other information, Amazon's Kindle for the Web Beta Help page.

Here are three of the questions and answers that may be of special interest:

' What is the difference between Kindle for the Web Beta and Search Inside the Book?
Search Inside the Book is a scanned copy of the physical book that gives you an impression of what the physical book look and feels like.  Kindle for the Web Beta offers an enhanced online experience to give you an impression of the book as a digital Kindle edition.

Can I use Kindle for the Web without making a purchase?
Yes.  It's free to view Kindle for the Web Beta samples, and share those samples or embed them on the web.

Why can't I view more pages from a specific book?
We help our customers discover and sample books to ensure that they'll be satisfied with their purchases.  Our agreements with publishers and copyright holders currently limit how much of the book is available for preview.  We continue to work with publishers to expand these limits (Emphasis mine) '

AMAZON ENCORE ANNOUNCES FALL AND SPRING PUBLISHING LISTS
AmazonEncore announces they'll introduce "eight exceptional new books" this spring:

' The list features compelling works of fiction including "Catcher, Caught" by Sarah Collins Honenberger; "Stalina" by Emily Rubin; "The Summer Son" by Craig Lancaster; "Regarding Ducks and Universes" by Neve Maslakovic; "Faking It" and "Ordinary World" by Elisa Lorello; and "Nickel Plated" by Aric Davis, as well as the physical edition debut of J.A. Konrath's "Shaken" (available first on Kindle in October 2010).

  The spring 2011 list also marks the imprint's first diet book, "Get Real and Stop Dieting!" by Brett Blumenthal.  AmazonEncore books are available in print format at www.amazon.com and as wireless digital downloads in less than 60 seconds from the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore) to Kindle devices and Kindle apps. For more information on AmazonEncore and upcoming titles, visit www.amazon.com/encore. '

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.