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Amazon app update turns an iPad into a Kindle Fire

avatar by Published Dec. 21, 2011 4:20 pm Updated Dec. 21, 2011 4:23 pm

CNET
Until today, people with iPads or iPhones could use Amazon’s Kindle app only to read e-books. But a newly released version 2.9 of the app adds access to the over 400 magazines and newspapers that are available on Kindle Fire through Amazon’s Newsstand. This enables iPad users to opt for periodical subscriptions through Amazon instead of through Apple’s own iTunes Newsstand.

The new Kindle app for iOS enables magazine and newspaper viewing.

Apple still holds a couple competitive advantages: Its rules require Kindle app users to make purchases on Amazon.com instead of directly through the Kindle app, and the Kindle newspapers and magazines are mostly print replicas, while the Apple versions are actual iOS apps that may have unique features. Still, Amazon’s move introduces some healthy competition that should benefit Apple device owners, and offers publishers another avenue to reach them. Both Amazon and Apple keep about 30 percent of revenue from sales.

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  • http://thesistown.com/ thesis

    happy holidays to everyone!!!!

  • Anonymous

    Now, can I stream my Amazon Prime content via ipad/Apple TV?  If not, why not?  

  • Anonymous

    True, Don. It is because Amazon wants to handle its own payments and subscription system, which Apple will not allow to be integrated into an iOS app.

  • http://twitter.com/phearlez Don Whiteside

    To be obnoxiously pedantic – Apple does not require the purchases to be through Amazon.com. Apple requires any in-app purchasing to go through Apple (and therefor pay them their 30% commission). Whether that’s obnoxious or not or somewhere in-between is a matter of debate, but Amazon has made the decision to keep the commission to themselves and not have in-app purchasing.