Amazon has expanded the Kindle service to support devices using the Google Android operating system.

From now on, owners of the Android-powered devices from around the world will be able to download the free app from the Amazon Market and within minutes begin to enjoy the huge selection of Kindle books.

According to Amazon, this new app should bring a completely new group of customers into the Amazon marketplace.

The free Android Kindle allows users to search and read over six hundred thousand books within the Kindle store.

The app for Android users is supposed to offer the same sort of service experienced by Blackberry, iPhone and iPad users, although some other features, such as text search, will be added to the app in the future.

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Amazon offers Kindle for Android

Amazon has brought the world of embedded video and audio into its Kindle e-books, but not for those using the actual Kindle hardware.

Only Apple users on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch will get to enjoy the multimedia enhancements for their Kindle apps.

The new technology is already being put to use in a range of Kindle books, in titles such as Bird Songs, The Best of The Beatles for Acoustic Guitar, Rose’s Heavenly Cakes, and a travel guide to London.

Regarding the latter, Bill Newlin of publisher Avalon Travel commented: “In the new Kindle edition with audio/video of Rick Steves’ London, the embedded walking tours allow customers to listen to Rick as they explore the sites of London.”

“Rick’s narration adds depth to the reader’s experience, while listeners can follow the routes more easily with the text.”

Kindle hardware owners, who have shelled out the real money to Amazon, may well feel somewhat aggrieved that they can’t partake of these advances.

Amazon also added that the Kindle for iPhone app is now optimised for the new iPhone 4’s retina display.

The rest is here:
Amazon Kindle introduces embedded video for Apple devices

Computer users who use Amazon should be aware that emails which look like they come from the book seller could be fakes and contain a Trojan too!

The email appears to be confirming an order, which for someone who has not ordered anything is going to start alarm bells ringing as they may think that their account has been compromised.

The email will have an attachment and if this is opened it appears as a Microsoft Word document but it is, in fact, a Trojan that if activated can do some serious damage to the computer or could download malware in an attempt to steal information.

According to the security firm Webroot, the attachment should not be opened, as the cybercriminals are counting on the user fearing that their bank account has been debited a large amount of cash.

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Amazon email contains Trojan

Amazon is bringing out a Kindle app for the Android platform.

It will give Android phone users access to a library of over 540,000 e-books (in the US, at any rate, possibly slightly less over here).

And unlike the iPhone Kindle app, the user will be able to purchase books directly from their phone.

Users will also be able to access any previously purchased Kindle books on their Android handset, and bookmarks can be synchronised across multiple platforms, from your mobile to PC to iPad, or indeed Kindle hardware.

In other words, you’ll be able to keep your place and notes even while reading the same book and switching between devices.

“Kindle for Android is the perfect companion application for Kindle and Kindle DX owners, and is also a great way for customers to enjoy over 540,000 books in the Kindle Store even if they don’t yet have a Kindle,” said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle.

“We think customers are going to love the convenience and simplicity of having instant access to a massive selection of books from Amazon on their Droid (Milestone), Nexus, Incredible and many more Android devices.”

The Kindle app will be available on Android at some point during the summer.

Whether this will dent the sales of Amazon’s Kindle e-reading hardware remains to be seen, although the company seems to be taking the view that reaching a wider audience has to be a good thing.

Excerpt from:
Amazon Kindle coming to Android

First there was the Kindle. And with the arrival of the iPad came Apple’s iBooks. Now, Google is set to muscle in on the e-book market.

As if it wasn’t muscling in on enough markets these days. Although this move has been coming for a while, the exact form it has taken is certainly big news.

Google Editions will open its e-doors this summer, in June or July, according to the Wall Street Journal which first broke this story.

These e-books will be sold, and most importantly read, just using a web browser.

In other words, the system will be platform independent – all you’ll need is a net connection, and to sign up for a Google account to access the store.

Third party retailers will also be able to sell Google Editions e-books on their own sites, taking most of the profit, with the search giant in line for a slice of any revenue.

Google is hoping it will capture the market with this very open approach, in terms of the accessibility across various devices, and the ability for any retailer to utilise Editions in their own site.

It sounds like a compelling model, and one that might have the likes of Amazon and Apple worried. Who knows, it might even set Steve Jobs off composing a new open letter.

While no publishers are currently signed up to the scheme, it isn’t expected that getting them through the door is going to be a problem. It’s all extra sales for the book barons in the end.

Whether Google will let publishers set their own prices for their e-books or not, is an issue with no clear answer at present.

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Google Editions plans to conquer Amazon and Apple