[leouarz]

JoshNippon,
I live between Belgium and France, and in both AppStores, the Kindle application is not available for iphone, you have to be registered on the US (or apparently also Japanese) AppStore to be able to download the App. I could probably open an Amazon.com account (the Kindle is not selling on the French Amazon site), buy a Kindle and have it delivered to Europe with pricey shipping, then load it using computer + usb, but I was referring the the iPhone app availability...
Thanks for the reply anyway!

[HelgeG]

I hope they sort out international licensing so that the Kindle-app can be sold in all the iTunes stores. For now I will stick to eReader when it comes to books on the iPhone/iTouch.

[PeterNorman]

The Kindle app for iPhone, like the Kindle itself, is only available in the United States. JoshNippon has jetlag, otherwise he might recognize how he misunderstood what leouarz said. Of course you can use the Kindle outside the US but....
To clarify things for JoshNippon and everyone else, Amazon doesn't accept a non-US credit card for purchase of a Kindle and/or Kindle e-books.
When Kindle 1.0 was released and again with news of 2.0, I searched desperately for a way to make it happen but the 'work-arounds' to the non-US credit card problem were all fraudulent - since I live outside the US.
If you're confused about what 'work-arounds' means, imagine deception and therefore fraud and you'll be closer to understanding; then Google for work-arounds yourself and for the love of gadgets, if you discover a legit method (other than buying a house in the US) - come back and let us know! Please!
rock on!

[venezia]

I am an avid reader and iPod Touch owner. I am not ready to invest the $$$ in a Kindle because I am not sure that I will like reading on an electronic device. However, I take extended trips 2-3 times per year. Most of these involve travel by plane. The iPod Kindle app should be great for occasional ereading. I will be able to get books for my Touch (which I always take with me) and will not have the weight of books in my luggage.
The app may not have all the features/advantages of a Kindle, but I will be able to purchase books from the extensive selection of Kindle books.

[albertw]

I say hurray for Amazon and hurray for Apple for staying out of ebooks and concentrating on their own strengths. A Kindle is better for sitting and reading for long periods, but the iPhone or iPod Touch are great for short reads during the day. Good move for both Apple and Amazon.

[waaronw]

I do disagree with the "convergence isn't going to work here" comment, as I find reading from the iPhone screen very easy, and I quickly forget that I'm not reading on paper - that is, when the app is well designed. (trick: turn down the backlight as fas as you can - it helps on the eyes and on battery life)
The lack of a landscape reading mode is a fatal flaw for me. I use Stanza and Bookshelf already, and very quickly switched exclusively to the landscape mode for both. Excerpt from my blog post on this:

"To read a book on Kindle for iPhone, your eyes flick back-and-forth, back-and-forth, a LOT. (About 18 times/page) Then, as with anything featuring a relative small screen, your eyes flick up to the top of the page every time you advance. In a landscape mode, you still have the same number of page turns since you have roughly the same number of words on the page, but you have the back-and-forth eye movement only 10 or 11 times per page, and only half the distance to flick back up to the top of the page on advances. Really, it makes a difference to me (40% less eye flick!) and I found my eyes becoming fatigued much faster in portrait mode"

I've tried portrait mode, and Landscape is a lot better for me. Until they offer it, I won't be a Kindle for iPhone user.

[rlockhart]

I love this app. I don't care about magazines or periodicals on the Kindle iPhone app or on the Kindle itself. I'm only interested in books, and this is a great way to buy whatever I want and read it on my iPhone, whose form factor I like better than the Kindle. With the iPhone I can catch a few pages whenever I'm waiting in a checkout line, on the subway or bus, or just have a few minutes to spare while having lunch. Since the Kindle isn't easy to have in your pocket, I far prefer the iPhone.
I have one suggestion for the iPhone app. I'd like to have the option of turning WhisperSync off. I own both a Kindle and an iPhone. My wife uses the Kindle while I use the iPhone. If we're both reading the same book, but we're at different places, WhisperSync can inadvertently make her lose her place. As a workaround, I've made sure that she keeps wireless turned off on the Kindle, but I'd still like the option on the iPhone app.
Maybe in the future Amazon will figure out how to sell content via the app as well. For now, I am a VERY happy camper.

[Rhywun]

That was weird. I happen to be reading book 1 of the same trilogy depicted in the picture.

[Rhywun]

I can see this as a supplement to the Kindle. But if you don't own a Kindle, I sure wouldn't pay full Kindle prices to read a book on my Touch.

[jmandell]

At least you can read black print on a white background. The ultra low contrast of black on gray with the Kindle is very off putting for me.

[jmandell]

By the way, you can already read every newspaper and magazine on the iPhone without Amazon's service, and almost all of them are free.Why would anyone decide not to use this because Amazon isn't providing this content and charging for it? t

[kirkmc]

To those outside the US, how are you buying books? I can get samples, but when I try to buy a book it tells me no (I'm in France, but I have a US address and account on Amazon...)

[scottmyers]

Im surprised the app is a two part system. Or am I wrong. I want to buy then read and without going out of the app and onto Safari.

[jmandell]

If you're sensitive to Carpel Tunnel, don't get a Kindle. My wife has one, and as much as I'd like to, I can't use if for long stretches. It requires a strong down click for each page turn, which becomes painful after half an hour of use. The iPhone/Touch requires only the lightest touch on a piece of glass to turn a page, just like a laptop touch pad. As a CT sufferer, I find it a zero stress object compared to the Kindle. If you're a person who isn't prone to CT, don't worry about it, but if you are, I wouldn't worry about reading on the iPhone/Touch, at least for this reason.