Amazon to demo Kindle for the Web on Tuesday
Amazon plans to demonstrate a new version of Kindle for the Web on Tuesday, one day after Google launched its Google eBooks and eBookstore strategy.
An Amazon spokeswoman said via an e-mail to Computerworld late Monday that the new Kindle for the Web will “enable users to read full books in the browser and [enable] any Website to become a bookstore offering Kindle books.”
The spokeswoman didn’t elaborate, although it was clear the device isn’t ready for sale. It could get an official launch at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, said Allen Weiner, an analyst at research firm Gartner. The Kindle for the Web concept first surfaced about a month ago and seemed like a “natural evolution” of Amazon’s e-book strategy, he said.
Weiner said he expects Kindle for the Web to still run on a proprietary Amazon operating system, something that he said Amazon needs to change to be fully competitive with Google’s new e-book system.