Kindle Cloud Reader

Tried it on the iPad. It is bad. Same lacking formatting mentioned earlier of course, plus I forgot to mention there is no two-page landscape view. Another thing, I got an error on a Topaz book purchased through Amazon. That makes sense but it does present a shortcoming for this new reader. The Topaz did display, but it was messed up a bit.

@jocampo, my Moto Atrix has a 4" screen but a resolution on par with the iPhone retina display, which means no fuzzy letters like the iPad. I get extremely sharp text that is much easier to read than the iPad and equal to the iPhone. But on my phone I use FBReader because I can use side loaded fonts. Unfortunately that means converting the mobi to ePub, but that takes very little time or effort. Btw, The Atrix screen has nearly as many pixels in 4" as does the iPad in 9.7", and that makes for a stunning display. I find that I can comfortably read the same amount of text displayed on my K3 on the smaller phone screen, which means using a smaller font size on the phone. But since the dpi rating of the phone is almost twice that of the K3 the smaller font size is just as readable on the phone as the larger font size is on the K3. The same can be said for the iPhone retina display though you get a little less text on it because it is only 3.5". The K3 is still my preferred reader though.

[Readmoore]

Every piece of news on Kindle Cloud Reader says it's rolled out in response to Apple's terms that kinda forced Amazon Kindle app to remove the button to access Amazon store.

I'm just puzzled as to how Cloud has anything to do with apple... It's a reader for the browsers. How does it solve the problem of not having the "Go to Store" button on iPad/iPhones? We could easily browse the internet on a computer and buy books anyway. and whatever books bought is automatically synced with those apple apps to begin with. So how does Kindle Cloud has anything to do with Apple's terms? Do those news reporters really know what they're talking about? Am I missing anything functions of the Cloud?

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Readmoore

Every piece of news on Kindle Cloud Reader says it's rolled out in response to Apple's terms that kinda forced Amazon Kindle app to remove the button to access Amazon store.

I'm just puzzled as to how Cloud has anything to do with apple... It's a reader for the browsers. How does it solve the problem of not having the "Go to Store" button on iPad/iPhones? We could easily browse the internet on a computer and buy books anyway. and whatever books bought is automatically synced with those apple apps to begin with. So how does Kindle Cloud has anything to do with Apple's terms? Do those news reporters really know what they're talking about? Am I missing anything functions of the Cloud?

Apple is clearly the target, given the timing (shortly after Store links were removed) and the choice of supported browsers, which includes iPad mobile Safari but not more 'popular' browsers like IE and Firefox (though Chrome is coming on strong), or even Android browsers, which are also WebKit based and should be relatively trivial to add support for.

It may be more 'symbolic' than anything—I'll still be using the native app, Kindle4iOS, even when they extend the web app support to iPhone/iPod—but it is a useful option in its own right and even, at last, represents a viable option for Linux users. It's also a demonstration of Amazon's competitive vitality and technical competence, which is important in many real ways.

[Edy]

Not sure why I need a Kindle Cloud Reader, apps for my iOS and android devices are fine and usable. I don't really need an in app shop button. I can use the amazon website on my iOS device for buying books.

Hope the direction doesn't go the wrong way and Amazon stops development Kindle for iPad.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by jswinden

@jocampo, my Moto Atrix has a 4" screen but a resolution on par with the iPhone retina display, which means no fuzzy letters like the iPad. .

Hi Jack,

Glad it works for you.

For me, cellphone displays are too small to read or even for any of my computer books. I will have to change pages too quickly because I read fast. Also, most tables and graphics won't display or will be too small.

I tried on my Android phone, it is not comfortable, too small.

Originally Posted by jocampo

Hi Jack,

Glad it works for you.

For me, cellphone displays are too small to read or even for any of my computer books. I will have to change pages too quickly because I read fast. Also, most tables and graphics won't display or will be too small.

I tried on my Android phone, it is not comfortable, too small.

Yes I understand as most people do think the phone sceens are way to small. I certainly wouldn't use mine as my primary reader, but it really comes in handy when out and about and waiting in an office somewhere for an appointment. I also like it for low light situations. But then I spent 10+ years reading books on PDAs with even smaller screens than my phone back before there were Kindles, so the phone is definitely a huge step up from a Palm with 320 x 480 screen!

[FF2]

Problem with it is you need to be connected to the web to download a book and the book is temporarily gone if you power off the device. So, say you are reading a book and then board an airplane. You have to power off. Book is now gone from the browser/device. Now you can power on but no wifi/3g/whatever so you cannot retrieve the book to continue reading. At least, that seems to be the way it works.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by FF2

Problem with it is you need to be connected to the web to download a book and the book is temporarily gone if you power off the device. So, say you are reading a book and then board an airplane. You have to power off. Book is now gone from the browser/device. Now you can power on but no wifi/3g/whatever so you cannot retrieve the book to continue reading. At least, that seems to be the way it works.

Not really.

Once you download that, it works offline or without Internet connection.

We do need connectivity in order to browse our collection and download the book, that's true, but not after downloaded.

On a regular Kindle 3, you need to be connected in order to download your books anyway, so that's no difference than this in that regard.

[Blog Kindle]

It seems to me like original intent behind this release was having a plan-B in Apple feud and hedging against Google/Chromebooks. It does however have a good potential and and good uses even in the current state. Here's my 1000+ words on Kindle Cloud Reader. Would love to hear some feedback and get into a nice civil argument over it

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Blog Kindle

It seems to me like original intent behind this release was having a plan-B in Apple feud and hedging against Google/Chromebooks. It does however have a good potential and and good uses even in the current state. Here's my 1000+ words on Kindle Cloud Reader. Would love to hear some feedback and get into a nice civil argument over it

Agree on most points.

I do not work as a programmer anymore (well, just T-SQL) but certainly moving this to the browser make it easier to reach more people and maintain the whole app.

I managed to install the Kindle app on my Ubuntu computer via Wine, but this solution is fully supported and that's nice.

This is just the initial release and maybe looks like is adding nothing to the existing market, but there is a lot of potential here.

[DiapDealer]

Like with any new development that I'm not being forced to use... I say Yay! It may come in handy for some and all others have the option of ignoring it. Why such rancor?

(this post is obviously not directed at everyone)

None of the Kindle apps/devices have an official way to choose your own fonts... why would they start doing so with this "fluff" app?

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

None of the Kindle apps/devices have an official way to choose your own fonts... why would they start doing so with this "fluff" app?

Using that logic, then none of the Kindles have a touchscreen...why would they start using a touchscreen on a K4? Perhaps a good answer would be to keep up with or even ahead of the competition.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Using that logic, then none of the Kindles have a touchscreen...why would they start using a touchscreen on a K4? Perhaps a good answer would be to keep up with or even ahead of the competition.

Because the flagship device is the most logical place to introduce brand-new features.... not ancillary apps.

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by jocampo

... but certainly moving this to the browser make it easier to reach more people and maintain the whole app.

This is what I thought about the idea. It's a nifty idea, too.

[DiapDealer]

I imagine it will be very handy for lunch-hour reading.