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Take That, Apple! Amazon Bows Kindle Cloud

  • eWeek, Wednesday, August 10, 2011 12:10 PM
In what is being seen as a direct attack on Apple, Amazon just launched a Kindle Cloud Reader, which lets users read Kindle e-books via their Web browser without the need to download and install an app. "We have written the application from the ground up in HTML5, so that customers can also access their content offline directly from their browser," Dorothy Nicholls, director of Amazon Kindle, explained in a statement.

In addition to the ability to read offline via the Web browser, the Kindle Cloud Reader also offers a complete view of the user's entire Kindle library, instant access to nearly 1 million books, an embedded Kindle Store, and automatic software updates. Amazon just launched the Kindle Cloud Reader for Safari on iPad, Safari on desktop and Chrome, while the online retailer plans on expanding the platform to Internet Explorer, Firefox, the BlackBerry PlayBook's browser shortly.

"Amazon's move toward HTML5 plays to the company's increased interest in the cloud, and offers a hard rebuke to Apple's mobile policies," writes eWeek. "It's probably no accident that Kindle Cloud Reader is available first for Safari on the iPad and desktop." As eWeek notes, Apple has imposed ever-tighter restrictions on mobile apps downloadable via its App Store.

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