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Filed under: Text, Windows, Freeware

Amazon Kindle for PC: Now delivering books to your desktop

Kindle for PC
As expected, Amazon has launched a version of its Kindle eBook reader for Windows. The software is available for Windows XP, Vista, and 7, with a Mac version "coming soon."

As an eBook reader, Kindle for the PC is pretty no-frills. It lets you adjust fonts, read books, and create bookmarks. And that's about it. But the software can also synchronize with other devices. So if you have Amazon's physical Kindle eBook reader or the iPhone version and you've created annotations on it, you'll be able to access them on the PC client. No, I have no idea why you can't create annotations on the PC version.

In order to download books, you'll need to connect to the Amazon Kindle store via a web browser. When you select a title, it will be downloaded to your PC and available for viewing in the Kindle software.

The Windows 7 version of the software also includes multitouch capabilities that allow you to zoom in and out by pinching your fingers if your PC has a touchscreen. A future version is expected to add support for page turning with a swipe of your finger.

The biggest problem with Kindle for PC? It's geographically restricted and won't work in most countries outside of the US. I haven't seen any official statement on this, but a colleague in Canada tells me that the software won't work in his country.

[via Engadget]

Filed under: Internet, Web

Amazon adds over 18,000 free public domain titles to Kindle Store

War & Peace
Amazon has been adding public domain titles to the Kindle eBook store at a frantic pace over the past few days. As of this afternoon, there were over 18,000 titles in the eBook store available as free downloads. Most are public domain works, which means they are no longer protected by copyright.

Of course, Amazon's in the business of selling books, not giving them away. But by giving away these books, Amazon may be able to convince potential customers to buy the Kindle eBook reader... and once they own it, odds are they'll spend a few bucks now and then on newer titles in the Kindle store.

It would have been nice if Amazon had thought of this tactic before launching the Kindle. But the rapid growth of the public domain library in the Kindle store is more likely a response to the fact that Sony eBook readers can access Google's massive collection of scanned public domain works.

So while Amazon's 18,000 public domain downloads are a good start, Google has over half a million titles, which means Amazon still has some catching up to do.

[via The Kindle Nation and C.K. Sample]

Filed under: Business

High schooler sues Amazon for ruining his study notes

When Amazon.com removed copies of George Orwell's 1984 from users' Kindles, there was a big uproar over possible censorship. The irony that the book in question happened to be the most famous literary screed on surveillance since - well, since ever - only added fuel to the fire. The resulting backlash caused Amazon to promise never to snatch customers' purchases off their Kindles again, even if another book has to be pulled from the store for legal reasons. The promise came too late for one high school senior, though, who lost his copy of 1984 AND the study notes he had made on the book.

Now the student is trying to start up a class action against Amazon, suing for messing up the annotations he (and, presumably, at least a few other people) made on their digital copies of 1984. Amazon didn't actually delete his notes, but removing the book means that the notes don't refer back to any text, and renders them useless. The suit alleges that nothing in Amazon's terms of service for the Kindle covers the removal of users' purchases -- the license is supposed to be for life.

[via Wall Street Journal]

Filed under: Internet, Google

Google makes 500,000 free eBooks available for Sony Reader

Sony eBook reader
Sony and Google are partnering to make half a million books that Google has digitized for its eBook project available for free to Sony Reader customers through the Sony digital book store. That brings the total number of books in the Sony store to 600,000, or more than twice the number of eBooks found in Amazon's Kindle store.

The only catch is that these books are all public domain works, most which were written at least 80 years ago. Not exactly the stuff of the New York Times bestseller list. Amazon, by contrast offers a number of new release titles for around $10.

You also don't need a Sony Reader to access the Google library. Any computer or mobile device with an internet connection will do.

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