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Amazon to Apple: keep your hands off our iPhone Kindle eBook revenue

by Steve O'Hear

May 11th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsComments

iPhone Kindle app

iPhone Kindle app

At first glance it seems innocuous enough: Amazon has launched a version of its Kindle eBook store optimized for the iPhone’s web browser to make it easier for users of Apple’s device to purchase new eBooks for the iPhone’s Kindle application. “The most common feedback we heard from customers was that they wanted a better experience for purchasing new Kindle books from their iPhones”, says Ian Freed, vice president of Amazon Kindle operations.

In the updated iPhone Kindle app, a “Get Books” button opens the phone’s Safari web browser and takes users straight to the new iPhone-friendly site. Any new purchases made then show up in and are downloadable from the iPhone Kindle app itself.

See also: What Kindle on iPhone says about Amazon’s eBook strategy

The result of which is that Amazon has made it relatively simple for users to purchase Kindle content in a way that replicates the iPhone’s upcoming ‘in-app purchases’ feature, all without giving Apple its 30% cut or, presumably, breaking any terms of service.

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last100 is edited by technology journalist and consultant Steve O'Hear. Aside from founding last100, Steve has written for numerous publications, including The Guardian, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb and Macworld, and also wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary, In Search of the Valley.

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  • The reason they don't break any terms of service is that it launches MobileSafari to allow you to browse the store. They didn't build an ecommerce engine into the app, or embed a mobile safari web view into the app, they make you leave the app and hit the store through the web browser itself.
  • That's what I figured. It's a nice work around Apple's 'In app' purchasing engine though :-)
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