Content where are the kindle applications??

[mike_bike_kite]

Kindle was giving out an SDK and asking for applications to be developed - did anything get developed? are there neat applications out there or am I forever stuck in the 1980's with minesweeper? I did actually sign up for the SDK myself (only a month ago now) but I heard nothing back - are they still going ahead?

PS I know it's supposed to be an ereader but it's also a computer with full web connectivity and programmable in Java.

[thinkpad]

I was wondering this to, it's been very quite about the whole SDK thing.

[mike_bike_kite]

It can't be because of development time - most developers wouldn't invest that much time in creating an application for an unknown amount of users who use a very specific bit of hardware and who might not want to run applications anyway. I was just going to port a simple Connect 4 program I already had and then just give folks the user the ability to either play the computer or each other. Not ground breaking by any means but it might amuse. I wondered if Amazon had just abandoned the whole idea.

[SamuraiXSendai]

Saving them for Kindle 3?

[mike_bike_kite]

Originally Posted by SamuraiXSendai

Saving them for Kindle 3?

I don't think so as the development site for kindle has a picture of the K2 running a soduko application and it also states "The Kindle Development Kit includes sample code, documentation, and the Kindle Simulator, which helps developers build and test their content by simulating the 6-inch Kindle and 9.7-inch Kindle DX device on Mac, PC, and Linux desktops". There's certainly no mention of the K3 anywhere.

[thinkpad]

Does anyone know if you could use this Kindle simulator for book creation/editing like mobipocket creator emulator. Now that would be a nice feature.

[eboyhan]

If you google on "kindle development kit", you'll get most of the known info. Basically the kdk was released as a closed beta (along with a "special" 2.4 kindle firmware upgrade) back in February. Some documentation on the kdk has been published -- as has some info on app selling and compensation rules.

Some have speculated there will be a kindle app store; others have surmised it would be folded into the kindle store. Some speculation (sorry can't find link) about a fall 2010 release.

There's been a lot of ferment in the kindle space in the past few weeks. My personal guess is that there's still more to come. As the OP noted it's been very quiet -- given the changes to the competitive landscape, and Bezos' recent comments targeting kindles at "serious" readers, they may decide to back off the app idea (

[mike_bike_kite]

Originally Posted by eboyhan

If you google on "kindle development kit", you'll get most of the known info. Basically the kdk was released as a closed beta (along with a "special" 2.4 kindle firmware upgrade) back in February. Some documentation on the kdk has been published -- as has some info on app selling and compensation rules.

Was certainly aware of the KDK - I applied for it from Amazon a while back but still haven't got any real feedback from them. It's quite frustrating.

Originally Posted by eboyhan

There's been a lot of ferment in the kindle space in the past few weeks. My personal guess is that there's still more to come. As the OP noted it's been very quiet -- given the changes to the competitive landscape, and Bezos' recent comments targeting kindles at "serious" readers, they may decide to back off the app idea (

I'd imagine that anyone who's spent time creating an application for Kindle would be a touch annoyed to find out they now couldn't sell it. Following this route would also kill any future application development on the Kindle platforms as no developer would be willing to risk spending the time. The application shown on the KDK site is a Soduko program which isn't exactly an application aimed at serious readers. I'm sure all sorts of small applications could be developed which might be split into various areas ie games, utilities etc.

I'm sure if applications are available and there's minimum cost to Amazon then it could only be a win-win situation. I assume they'd sell an application in pretty much the same way they currently sell a book except that it would probably go into a folder called Applications.

[harryE123]

They have made a royal mess of this amazon (amongst other things), they better get off their lazy and shortsighted behind and enable a proper marketplace a la the app store so people can see their needs met, it's hardly innovative. They must be the most backward tec giant along with google.

[mike_bike_kite]

Originally Posted by harryE123

They have made a royal mess of this amazon (amongst other things), they better get off their lazy and shortsighted behind and enable a proper marketplace a la the app store so people can see their needs met, it's hardly innovative. They must be the most backward tec giant along with google.

Can't help but agree here. I wanted to transfer a few board games that I'd already written across to the Kindle and figured I'd just need to ask for their development kit and then spend a week or two getting the programs to run sweetly on the Kindle.

It's now been weeks since I asked for the development kit and the only response I've received so far was when I complained about hearing nothing. Sadly the email that I received promised nothing and went nowhere. Pretty much par for the course. Not that I'm annoyed or anything

[BVLarson]

The truth is they are not very technical at Amazon. As an author and dev, I've seen it at every step of the way. It is a marketing-driven company from the top down and they don't have any idea how to handle a tech device. That said, they probably don't want to have to deal with scanning for ad bots and hijackers on their kindles, and want to keep their device in the "consumer electronics" category to make things ez and simple for users. In other words, they like to pretend the kindle is not a computer.
-bvl

[Nate the great]

But there already are apps on the Kindle:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...-kindle-store/

[mike_bike_kite]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

But there already are apps on the Kindle:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...-kindle-store/

I don't believe the applications linked to are actually applications. The Tic-Tac-Toe just links to an external website so you can play the game in the browser and the other games "appear" to just download navigable documents which simulate playing a game a bit like those adventure game books you could buy in the 80's.

Originally Posted by BVLarson

The truth is they are not very technical at Amazon. As an author and dev, I've seen it at every step of the way. It is a marketing-driven company from the top down and they don't have any idea how to handle a tech device. That said, they probably don't want to have to deal with scanning for ad bots and hijackers on their kindles, and want to keep their device in the "consumer electronics" category to make things ez and simple for users. In other words, they like to pretend the kindle is not a computer.
-bvl

But they already have a development environment that works. All they have to do is give access to developers and they'll have some decent applications. The only thing currently stopping these applications being developed for your kindle is Amazon!

[eboyhan]

Originally Posted by BVLarson

The truth is they are not very technical at Amazon. As an author and dev, I've seen it at every step of the way. It is a marketing-driven company from the top down and they don't have any idea how to handle a tech device. That said, they probably don't want to have to deal with scanning for ad bots and hijackers on their kindles, and want to keep their device in the "consumer electronics" category to make things ez and simple for users. In other words, they like to pretend the kindle is not a computer.
-bvl

It is probably a mistake to view Amazon as a large monolithic company with a well-defined corporate culture. If you look at their help-wanted sections, or at their orgchart, you will find that they are a conglomeration of fairly autonomous subsidiaries doing a wide variety of different things with locations all over the US. Most of the kindle work is done out of a subsidiary called lab126 located in Cupertino, California, and is by all accounts quite a normal silicon valley tech operation.

Amazon's success with the kindle last year has sparked several competitors to enter their market, along with the big publishers attempting to alter the business model with agency pricing for electronic books.

This in turn has prompted Amazon to retune its strategic model -- most recently articulated by Jeff Bezos in a Fortune magazine interview as "buy once read everywhere". The focus has turned to facilitating the reading of eBooks on as many platforms as possible. They have also repositioned the kindle product line at "serious" readers (whatever that means). Save for some repricing actions on the K2 and KDX, they have not yet shown their hand as to the future of the kindle.

Whatever that future might be, I assume that apps and an app store are bound up with it. The KDK is not overly complex, and in the kindle store, they already have one of the best eRetailing operations this side of the galactic core ). So the delay I guess is one of timing and strategic considerations rather than any operational or technical difficulties

[harryE123]

Cupertino? I ll pay them the cab fare to take a stroll around 1 infinite loop...