RSSKindle for PC opens in beta, underwhelms
By Tim Conneally | Published November 10, 2009, 4:55 PM
Amazon today opened the beta of Kindle for PC, a free application which can act as a PC-based companion to your Kindle e-reading device or as standalone e-reading software.
While this is the same application that Amazon showed off at the Windows 7 premiere last month, so far it displays Amazon's Whispersync technology and little else. When you start the program up, books you have already purchased in the Kindle Shop appear under a button called "Archived items," and they can then be downloaded to Kindle for PC's home menu. The books can be read and kept in sync with your Kindle with highlights and bookmarks appearing just as they would on the e-reader. It's very similar to the Kindle iPhone application.
But it seems like the missing features actually exceed those present.
You do not have access to content you converted for consumption on the Kindle or directly uploaded via USB, and you do not have access to your newspaper, magazine, blog subscriptions, or clippings. You can shop in the Kindle Store or manage your Kindle account, but neither of those actions take place within the application, and instead launch in your default browser.
Covers and color text show up in full color, and font sizes can be adjusted; and there is touch recognition for Windows 7 users, so Kindle for PC ends up behaving even more like the iPhone app when it's run in Windows 7.
System requirements for the software are extremely modest: XP SP2, Vista, or Windows 7, at least a 500 MHz AMD/Intel processor and 128 MB of RAM, (800 x 600) screen resolution, and 100 MB storage. Conceivably, if it supported Linux-based operating systems or WinCE, such a lightweight app could actually run agreeably on recycled hardware; providing the foundation for a DIY Kindle actually running Kindle software.
But as far as e-book management, conversion, and acquisition, this beta really has a long way to go before it can perform as well as cross-platform software such as Calibre.
i don't undestand the unwhelm comment
THis software is simply designed for one thing. To allow you to view your kindle e-books on your pc. That's it, nothing more. As that is what it is designed to do, and what it delivers then it is successful.
Score: 1
|Probably because "Kindle for PC opens in beta, does what it's supposed to" is far less of a sensational and attention-grabbing headline.
Score: 0
|This is complete pointless software because mainly because of the laced DRM protection. Plus I enjoy my collection of ebooks with no lock on any that I read because I use my laptop & I can read any format on it without copy protection & I can buy & find ebooks every where online, I would be a fool to install this software or a fool to purchase a kindle ebook reader, that's what my laptop is for & plus my laptop can do everything a computer can do & specially what the Kindle can do & then some & plus I like my HD 16;9 17 inch color screen w/VGA/HDMI connections, (not the sad black & white screen that the kindle has),1GB ATI Radeon HD 4650,500GB Hard drive,4GB DDR3,Firewire,usb2.0,DVD player/recordable drive,SD.MS/Pro.MMC.XD card reader way better then a kindle. People my advice go & buy a laptop & bingo with PDF reading software & the built in software included in windows to read CHM ebooks you are set, that is what I do. Why waste the money when you have a laptop already or if not get one & if you can not afford a laptop, then buy a netbook, you will not be sorry because I simply think the kindle & it's software is a rip off no matter which one you decide to use. Us computer geeks have been reading ebooks on our computers for years & plus connect your 1080P 42 inch HDTV & bingo the text is no longer to small, heck sometimes I make the text as big as my hand & why? Because I can, but on a kindle pre put together sizes (Just not for me).
Score: 3
|Seems like a pointless bit of software. It does some of the things a browser does, just with a bit of DRM.
Score: 1
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