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Note: Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader will bypass app stores to bring ebooks to desktop and mobile browsers. Here are early impressions from a try-out on Chrome, Safari, and the iPad.
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Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader Amazon's new browser-based Kindle Cloud Reader brings to life a widely anticipated offering from the bookseller. The ability to bypass the app store and log directly into one's book collection via a browser will free up users from the constraint of having to install an app if they choose not to, and frees Amazon from the threat having its ebook revenues pilfered by Apple. What users may not have anticipated, however, is that Amazon would bring this new service to market for just a few devices.
One of the most broadly touted benefits of a cloud-based Kindle ebook reader was the prospect that it would allow Kindle customers to read their books on any Web-connected device. In practice, as it turns out, that's far from the case--at least for now. As of this writing, the new Kindle Cloud Reader works only in the Google Chrome browser (including Chrome OS), the Apple Safari desktop browser, and the iOS Safari browser found on iPhones and iPads. Amazon has yet to say when, exactly, it will bring Kindle Cloud Reader to other browsers, though the company did state in its announcement Wednesday that "Kindle Cloud Reader will be...