Amazon opens iPhone-optimized Kindle Store, conflict expected?

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Amazon opens iPhone-optimized Kindle Store, conflict expected?

Ahead of the release of iPhone OS 3.0, Amazon has launched a new version of its Kindle Store optimized for the iPhone and iPod touch. Accessible from the “Get Books” button in Amazon’s Kindle for iPhone app, the new site opens pages in the Safari browser, giving users the ability to make one-click purchases of the Kindle Store’s 280,000 books without using an in-application downloading mechanism. Notably, Apple has announced “In-App Purchasing” as an iPhone OS 3.0 developer tool for adding content to apps, with Apple taking a 30% cut of any sales handled in this matter; the use of Safari appears to be a workaround to enable easy purchasing without Apple revenue sharing. Ian Freed, vice president of Amazon Kindle operations, said, “The most common feedback we heard from customers was that they wanted a better experience for purchasing new Kindle books from their iPhones. We’ve been working hard to respond to that feedback with a new web site optimized for Safari on iPhone and we’re excited to do that today.” Amazon’s Kindle for iPhone application is available now as a free download from the App Store.

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Comments

1

It’s interesting to note that eReader recently took a similar step, setting up its store and the FeedBooks free-epbook site to open in Safari instead of from within the eReader client and even going so far as requiring people offering eReader files for download on their websites to use a new “ereader://” URI protocol to let Mobile Safari know to feed the files to eReader.

They said they did this because Apple’s Terms of Service required them to.

Posted by Chris Meadows on May 11, 2009 at 2:14 PM (PDT)

2

I’m not really sure where the ‘conflict expected’ bit in this story comes from, other than to add drama to a no-drama situation. As Chris Meadows pointed out, eReader did the same thing previously, and Stanza (now owned by Amazon) has had the option of purchasing books or free downloads of books from within the app itself from a few different websites as well.

Just strikes me as odd that Kindle’s implementation of this so-called workaround is somehow considered to be dodging Apple’s own revenue stream when the others aren’t. Dramatic impact to justify the “conflict expected?” part of the story’s tagline where no such conflict will exists?

Posted by Daniel S. on May 12, 2009 at 3:29 AM (PDT)

3

#2: “Just strikes me as odd that Kindle’s implementation of this so-called workaround is somehow considered to be dodging Apple’s own revenue stream when the others aren’t.”

No one’s saying that the others aren’t. But Amazon’s timing and decision to issue a press release for something so small are interesting in light of the impending iPhone OS 3.0 release; the expectation is that Apple may not accommodate out-of-app purchasing schemes once there’s an official, approved in-app purchasing system. Thus, this news appears to be a “get out in front” move to avoid revenue-sharing, press released so that public awareness might help keep it safe in the future.

Posted by Jeremy Horwitz in East Amherst, NY, USA on May 12, 2009 at 6:10 AM (PDT)

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