[xweb10]

I apologize for my ignorance as I do not read books on my tablet.Why do I read that we need kindle on the PB? Isnt there an ebook app called Kobe? Is kindle that much better or just prefered?

[adamkesher]

I apologize for my ignorance as I do not read books on my tablet.Why do I read that we need kindle on the PB? Isnt there an ebook app called Kobe? Is kindle that much better or just prefered?

I don't know exactly how many books Kobo has, but if you're like me, you had dozens of purchased Kindle books already, that could be read on laptops, tablets, kindles, phones, mp3 players, and you assumed the Playbook would have kindle (seeing as how just about every other electronic device does). IMO, Kindle is better.

[grover5]

I apologize for my ignorance as I do not read books on my tablet.Why do I read that we need kindle on the PB? Isnt there an ebook app called Kobe? Is kindle that much better or just prefered?

I agree. I always used Kobo on my phones and now my tablet. Kindle is fine but not my preference.

[Mojoski]

I've been reading some stuff on Kobo and it is fine for me.

Also, the Kindle Cloud Reader seems to work well on the PB. There is a thread here about it and its limitations.

I'd like to see a native Kindle app, but the Android one should work with the new Android Player when it is released in October as well. I tried it with the leaked Android Player a month or two ago and it seemed to work well.

[xweb10]

Thanks for the feedback. I understand now that if you already have kindle books you want access to your library. Although, I do not often re-read books, but that is me.

So, you CAN read Kindle books on the PB as of now through the cloud reader?

[tayl0rd]

Supposedly, but the page has only loaded successfully for me ONCE. Thankfully, I have the app on my phone.

[Beakman]

From my experienceas an avid reader, Kindle offers the most or most varied titles, followed by Barnes and Noble's Nook. Another reason is that the books are on the drive, able to be backed up and are persistant. Did you know that if you are in a foreign country of where the publishers don't have a copywrite agreement, you cannot purchase or download those books. Will the cloud reader do that too, making it a latent disappointment?
Ex ellent ereaders of the past were the PalmReader and Mobibook, ported to most every known pbone and ppc OS but soon died out with the arrival of the kindle. That's where all the titles went.

[Beakman]

Supposedly, but the page has only loaded successfully for me ONCE. Thankfully, I have the app on my phone.

I think the browser needs the privacy setting off and all the options with content on.

[xweb10]

so... Can you use kindle with the browser?

[Beakman]

Yes. Put Kindle Cloud Reader or similar in the browser address bar and you'll get to it soon enough.

[xweb10]

that is great so the playbook has kindle support! where is the marketing?

[FF22]

There was a thread yesterday, that if there's a glitch, you lose your "offline" book until you can get wifi/cloud connection again. So if still has some issues apparently.

[simsim]

Kobo is fine, but as has already been said some of us have plenty invested in Kindle books. and not just already read books either. I regularly hear of a book or read a review and immediately buy it from Amazon and add to my "To Be Read" folder. It currently runs to 18 books!

I tried the cloud reader and it is fine from zero until you get up to go, but fails for persistent reading wherever-whenever. Keeping the browser page open and having internet every time you want to read a few pages is possible, but VERY inconvenient and annoying.

I've resorted to carrying a real Kindle around with me again.

[Scott8586]

The kindle cloud reader+PB combination requires an active wifi connection to start the "app" This is a no-go for the places I want to use it the most, plane, train, and where I don't have internet.

I also have more than one amazon formatted ebook that does not render in the cloud reader.

[lawguyman]

The Playbook Project Manager on the Beta Zone says this about a Kindle App:

"I don't have information about a Kindle app for PlayBook. They do have one for Android though...yes? Just food for thought

John"

So, it looks like the Android App will work on Playbook.

[ubizmo]

Reasons to want the Kindle app:

1. Some of us actually need to be able to consult books again and again; it's not all pleasure reading where you read a book and never look at it again. So having a book collection under a single account is an advantage.

2. Kindle has more titles, especially in non-fiction and academic areas. For recent popular fiction, I think Kindle, Kobo, and Nook are about equal.

3. For some of us, it's important to be able to create highlighting and annotations in books, and to be able to access these from any device.

At the moment, only the Kindle devices and the iOS and Android apps offer all of this functionality. The Cloud Reader works on PB, but doesn't support highlighting and annotation. You can see the highlights and notes that you created elsewhere, but you can't create new ones. The same limitation is true (frustratingly) of the BlackBerry smartphone Kindle app.

The Cloud Reader can't be opened offline, but does work when the PB is Bridged. The Android app worked pretty well in the leaked Android player, although the ability to change the type size was limited and a little glitchy.

Since Kindle uses in-app billing, the recent announcement of restrictions on Android apps for PB may entail that it will be blocked. We don't know yet.

[dollface]

I love my Playbook for browsing, games, email, movies, etc. but for pure reading pleasure nothing beats the 3rd generation Kindle, with non glare screen and the best e-ink I ever seen. No device will do everything flawlessly and the Kindle is thinner than the PB, so I carry both too when I go away.

[guerllamo7]

KOBO works well enough but Dianeselwyn has a good point. Some people already used Kindle and have books there. Eventually, the Kindle app will come but in the meantime the Kindle Cloud Reader (web-based) will work fine for Kindle books.

Interesting that Steve Jobs said the 7-inch tablet was doomed to failure yet the biggest competitor (in content at least) launched a tablet that looks like a playbook with the same size. The Playbook form factor is awesome and unlike the Kindle Fire, it can video chat, record voice or music, take pictures and just a ton more. I can currently watch movies right from the Amazon website on my Playbook and read their stuff on the Web-reader as well. If they don't provide the app then I will keep using Kobo. I don't mind, with the PB I can create a web-link on my home page that looks just like an app for the cloud reader and my digital videos.
The Playbook is very nice and for the current price I can get two of the hardware superior device for the cost of an iPad. You can upgrade software but not hardware. I think the Playbook is a great device.

[kb5zht]

Kobo is NO substitution for kindle, no more than Amazon prime is a substitution for netflix (hint hint, rim)

Kindle has way more titles... and then there is simply those consumers already using kindle that would like to keep doing so on the playbook without having to rebuy the titles on nook, kobo or whatever.

[xandermac]

I apologize for my ignorance as I do not read books on my tablet.Why do I read that we need kindle on the PB? Isnt there an ebook app called Kobe? Is kindle that much better or just prefered?

It depends where you buy your books i suppose. I'm invested in the kindle and honestly find the competition lacking. Amazon cloud storage and whispersync work on the kindle device and the app, so i'd like it for that reason.

[DenverRalphy]

I apologize for my ignorance as I do not read books on my tablet.Why do I read that we need kindle on the PB? Isnt there an ebook app called Kobe? Is kindle that much better or just prefered?

Sure their are other eReaders available, and some could argue the merits of some eReader apps as being better due to supporting more eBook formats. If you're a casual reader that doesn't place much emphasis on eBooks, then it's a non-issue. However, there are millions of people worldwide that prefer the Kindle format simply because Amazon and it's Kindle services are arguably superior to other eBook retailers and services.

Is Kindle needed for a specific user? Maybe, maybe not. Is Kindle needed on the PB? If the PB wants to compete with other tabs based on consumer demographics, most definitely.

[Craterz]

Many of the above posts advocating why a native Kindle app is important are very good. I would also like to add to them.

Another poster mentioned the merits with highlighting and annotation concerning non-fiction and academic books. I would like to add to that concerning fiction books. There seems to be trend with "series" related fiction novels, as a fiction reader (as well as historical, non-fiction, academic, and the like), its a benefit to be able to access your library and re-read a book in a series when a new book is released related to the same series. Especially when there may be two or three years between them. Coupled with reading novels and books completely unrelated to that series. This is something I do, just to bring my mind back into the story-line of the series and to be able to remember the given situation of the characters involved.

Switching to another e-reader makes this impossible without re-purchasing at least one past book in a given series.