Kindle for BB!
 

Check it out: Kindle for Blackberry.

I've been hoping for this application, and I've just installed and activated it with my Kindle account. I already had the Barnes & Noble ereader on my Curve 8900, but since I have an actual Kindle, and this app syncs with it, this gives me full access to my main collection of ebooks. It finds all my Kindle books, and lists them as Archived. To read one, I download it to the BB. I can also buy new titles from the BB, which will appear on my Kindle too. But you don't need to own a Kindle to use it, just as you don't need to own a B&N Nook to use theirs (which existed before the Nook was released, in any case).

It has an option to "sync to furthest point read", and I've tried that. It worked a couple of times, and failed once. It has a good selection of font sizes. I discovered with the B&N ereader that the best way for me to read on a small screen is to use a large size, so that I can take in the whole screen almost in a single visual bite--a kind of speed-reading approach. Reading this way is surprisingly easy on the eyes. Using the space bar to page through is very easy.

There's not much else to say. It works. I don't know if the iPhone still has the Kindle app, now that iTunes is going into the ebook trade independently with the iPad. This is a very welcome addition to my BB apps list.

edit: Like the Kindle service itself, this app appears to be geographically restricted to US customers. I don't know if there's a way around that.

Ubizmo

I downloaded this last night and now my BlackBerry says "reload software 552". :? :x

You're not alone

http://www.blackberryforums.com/gene...or-9630-a.html

Thanks for that link. I hadn't looked in that section and it didn't come up on my search.

It seems that it will address only books. :-(

The standalone Kindle allows highlighting and annotating. The BB version doesn't. Maybe it will at some point.

And yes, it would be a good idea if it supported periodicals as well as books.

Ubizmo

For me - again, my opinion - this app is useless. I can't and won't read books on my BlackBerry. That's why I got the Kindle :-)

Kindle for BB
 

I've got a Kindle too and I was looking forward to getting it on my BB. I don't always have my kindle with me and I thought it would be nice to be able to sneak in a few minutes here and there on my BB. Unfortunately, my BB is 9630 running OS 4.71 and the Kindle app doesn't appear to be working.
Guess I'll just have to wait longer for OS 5.0.

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes! :smile:

~Terri

Other carriers have released OS 5 for the 9630, if you're willing to do the upgrade yourself. Instructions on this site for doing so are very clear and easy to follow. But I realize that not everybody is comfortable with that sort of thing.

I realize that reading books on the BB is not for everybody. I firmly believed I would never do such a thing, months before I got a Kindle. But, just for the fun of it, I downloaded the free ShortCovers app (now Kobo), opened an account, and bought a book. I'm 56, and my eyes are just what you'd expect from decades of reading. But I jacked up the type to the larges size and was surprised to find that it was quite easy and enjoyable to read a book on my 8900. No eyestrain at all. I did a little research and learned that one of the main causes of eye fatigue is horizontal scanning. This is why newspapers are printed in narrow columns, and also why a rule of typesetting is that a line of text shouldn't be longer than six inches; preferably shorter. It's why the default margins of the original Microsoft Word were 1.25 inches.

Less horizontal scanning makes it easier for the eyes to take in "chunks" of text. And that's why speed-reading courses use text specially formatted in very narrow columns, and only gradually move back to normal line widths.

Using the largest type size on the BB Kindle app, the letters are actually larger than they are in the average printed book. Pressing the space bar to keep advancing the page is very easy. It would be nice to be able to turn off right justification. Maybe we'll see that in a future release.

I used the B&N ereader quite a bit, and if the Nook had come out before I got a Kindle, I'd no doubt have bought that instead. I also used Mobipocket, which also allows the user to set the space between lines, which is a nice feature.

For anyone who hasn't already tried reading ebooks on the BB, I suggest getting one of these, not necessarily the Kindle, and trying it, with large type. You may be surprised, as I was.

Ubizmo

(y)(y)

For some of us, a Kindle might not be in the budget right now... :razz:

I now have the kindle app on my BlackBerry and am trying it out.

I love it on my Storm 2, works great.

Why do I suspect that you have better eyesight in comparison to my old tired eyes? :oops:

I doubt yours are much worse than mine.

Ubizmo

The text size is adjustable. I can see it fine at the 4th text size and there are 2 more larger.

Oh, and you don't need OS 5.0 for it to work. I still have 4.7.

Here's a screen shot of some Kindle text on my 8900:

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/...824950912g.jpg

That's a tiny bit smaller than actual size, but it's pretty close. That's the largest size. The B&N ereader and MobiPocket allow you to go even larger, but that's large enough for me.

Ubizmo

Which is why I don't like it. Have to change pages after 21 words....

Can't argue with that. Pressing the space bar with your thumb is hard work. Sarcasm aside, I'm not trying to persuade anyone to like this. You've evidently tried it and found that it wasn't enjoyable, and that's fine. I'm just posting for the sake of people who may not have tried it, and who may think, as I did, that it's just not feasible, or that they'll get eyestrain. To them, I simply suggest they try it and see. There are free books available, so they could try one of those, without risking any money.

Ubizmo

Of course I'd rather use the Kindle than the BB app, but I don't always have the Kindle with me. I have found reading on the app surprisingly pleasant--- this app definitely does the job when I don't have the Kindle with me. With the 9700, you can change the page either by pressing the space bar or just slightly scrolling down. Slightly scrolling up brings you to the previous page. As far as I can tell, it seems to store the book on the memory card, so that app memory does not appear to be used up by book storage. (I hope I'm right about that). The "sync to further point" feature is great- overall I'm quite pleased.

I use the Kindle for BlackBerry on my Storm 2 9550 and absolutely love it. I can have an e-book purchased, downloaded, and ready to read in a few minutes. Reading on my Storm screen is comfortable and lines of text are easy to follow. The syncing capabilities are great too. I can see where users with smaller displays might not benefit as much but the convenience of having your reading material with you at any time may make it worth it. I definitely recommend this app for Storm users though.