Kindle

Amazon on Monday updated its Kindle app for iOS with a variety of new features in anticipation of lots digital book sales for the holidays. Book Browser allows iPad users to easily get additional information on any book available in Amazon's massive library. Users can now pull up a book's description, customer reviews and other information by simply tapping the cover of the title they would like to preview.

The Kindle app has also been updated with Goodreads integration. Goodreads allows users to share their reading progress, favorite quotes and so on with other members of the social cataloging community. The "Before You Go" screen also allows users to announce they have finished a title via Goodreads, and will now give information on the next book in a series.

Audiobooks have been a popular alternative to reading for some time now, whether for car trips or just a respite for the eyes. Now you can enjoy them on your iPad, as Amazon's Kindle for iOS (and Android) has been updated to include seamless transition from text to audio versions of more than 45,000 titles.

The "Whispersync for Voice" feature, which the Wall Street Journal called "Amazon's killer new app for books," allows the user to switch from reading a Kindle book to listening to the companion audio from Audible with just one tap. According to Senior Vice President of Amazon Kindle, Russ Grandinetti, "[Amazon is] working hard to help customers find more moments each day to enjoy a great book... Integrating professional narration into our Kindle apps means you never have to put down a favorite book—start reading at home, get in the car and simply tap a button to continue listening without losing your place.”

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels are now compatible with the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Rowling’s website is offering the entire Potter series in ePub format via her Pottermore Shop. The electronic books are compatible with most iOS and Android devices, or other eReaders that work with the ePub format. You can check below for a complete list of compatible devices

The individual books range between $8 and $10 each, or you can get the entire set for $57.54. The Harry Potter novels are not available in the Apple iBookstore, but they can be downloaded from the Amazon Kindle store.

Amazon released version 3.0 of their Kindle app for iOS devices. The iPad version is now optimized for Retina display. Other changes include a new library design where you can view your content in an updated look, and Cloud view to easily access all of your content in the cloud.

The Kindle app allows you to read Kindle books, newspapers, magazines, textbooks and PDFs on your iPad. Early iPad reviews revealed that the Kindle app featured blurry text on the new device. Version 3.0 eliminates this problem.

A year after the release of its Kindle iPhone application, Amazon has announced a beta version of Kindle reader for Mac OS X. The company also said an iPad app of its popular e-reader software is on the horizon, allowing Kindle subscribers to access their library on Apple's tablet.

With over 450,000 books, including most New York Times Bestsellers, Kindle is poised to compete head-on with Apple's own iPad application, iBooks. iBooks will provide access to the iBookstore, Apple's answer to the digital library concept. Other iPad reading apps are also on the way such as the Barnes and Noble eReader.