Kindle App for Windows Phone 7 Is on the Way

Amazon keeps rolling out software applications for nearly every device it doesn’t make itself. Next up is the new player in the smartphone market, Windows Phone 7. The forthcoming WP7 Kindle app has virtually the same function as other mobile Kindle apps, but will have Microsoft’s look and feel.

I may have been the only e-reading-focused reporter at the Windows Phone 7 debut event. I asked everyone I could find about e-reading applications for the device. “Just stay tuned,” I was told.

I still couldn’t believe there wasn’t one or more e-reading apps announced at the launch. It’s become an assumed part of app-capable smartphones and tablets in what has to be record time. Having an app for Kindle is like having an app for Facebook or the New York Times.

Think about it: just a year ago, there were only a few e-book apps, some by companies that are dwindling if not long gone. Now nearly every e-bookstore has a reading app on every screen you can carry.

Kindle joins just one other e-reading application that will be in the application Marketplace: Wattpad. Sometimes called “the YouTube of eBooks,” Wattpad is a service where users share their own original writing; half e-book commons, half social network.

Wattpad looks great — but it’s neither an e-bookstore nor an e-book reading application as we’ve come to recognize it from the Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBooks, Stanza or MobiPocket smartphone apps (this list goes on and on).

The Kindle app for WP7 may not be ready when the phones are officially ready for sale. If history is any guide, this won’t be the last e-reader app announcement you’ll hear between now and then.

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Kindle for Windows Phone 7 revealed, due ‘in the coming months’

As sure as the sun, Amazon’s just announced it’ll be bringing Kindle to the Windows Phone 7 platform sometime “in the coming months.” The app was shown briefly today at Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC 2010) and, based both on that and the official screenshot from Amazon’s teaser page (above), it’s definitely wearing that stylish WP7 aesthetic quite well. Press release after the break, and check out More Coverage for a couple screenshots from its PDC presentation (care of istartedsomething’s Long Zheng and his Flickr account). And while you wait for its inevitable release, we have full confidence you’ll be able to find another platform to enjoy your Kindle books. Trust us.

Continue reading Kindle for Windows Phone 7 revealed, due ‘in the coming months’

Kindle for Windows Phone 7 revealed, due ‘in the coming months’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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10 Ways to Fix Windows Phone [Windows Phone]

Windows Phone 7 could be amazing. It’s not, yet. Right now, it’s a good start. This is what’s broken, and what Microsoft has to do to make it truly awesome. More »

Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac moves to public beta

That didn’t take long, did it? The promised beta of Windows Phone 7’s Mac-friendly companion app is now available, bringing basic media sync capability — notably with iTunes and iPhoto integration — to that shiny new Microsoft-powered phone of yours. In fact, Microsoft delivered the client so fast that it beat every single American WP7 device to market — so AT&T and T-Mobile folks, you can rest easy knowing that you’ll be Mac-compatible from day one. Notably, the so-called Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac lacks any Zune functionality; Microsoft has never written a true Zune client for Mac, unfortunately, but at least this is a critical first step that makes these things usable for Mac owners that aren’t tied to the iPhone. Let us know how the app treats you in comments, alright?

Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac moves to public beta originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adobe confirms Flash Player 10.1 is coming to BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 and more

We’ve already known that Adobe would be bringing Flash Player 10.1 to Windows Phone 7, but the company has just now made that fully official at its currently-happening MAX conference (alongside its Air 2.5 announcement), and it’s also confirmed exactly which other mobile platforms the plug-in will be headed to. That includes WebOS 2.0, which we’ve already seen first hand, along with BlackBerry OS, Symbian, MeeGo and, last but not least, the LiMo platform — those will all of course join Android 2.2, which already supports the plug-in. Unfortunately, there’s still no timeline for a release on each platform, with Adobe only saying that Flash 10.1 is “expected” to hit each mobile OS. Head on past the break for the relevant snippet from Adobe’s press release.

Continue reading Adobe confirms Flash Player 10.1 is coming to BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 and more

Adobe confirms Flash Player 10.1 is coming to BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 and more originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No custom ringtones for Windows Phone 7? (video)

We just sat through an eight minute long video of someone at Pocketnow sampling every ringtone on his HTC Surround. Why did we do this? Just wanted to see if we could stand it; suffice it to say, we never want to hear a ringtone again. Perhaps more importantly, our man points out that Microsoft seems to have left the ability to add your own custom ringtones out of Windows Phone 7 altogether. The Surround itself has a couple recognizable fan favorites that we recognize from AT&T and HTC phones past, so it looks like manufacturers and carriers will be able to bring their own to the table, but for the end user, it looks like you won’t be able to roll your own — at least for the time being. And now we’re going to go put our phones on vibrate.

Continue reading No custom ringtones for Windows Phone 7? (video)

No custom ringtones for Windows Phone 7? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show – 014: Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7, Google TV, MacBook Airs, Palm Pre 2, Halloween Costumes, and more!

Get ready humans, because we have an all new, amazing Engadget Show fresh out of the box. For your viewing pleasure, Josh sits down with Microsoft director Aaron Woodman to chat Windows Phone 7 and demo nearly all of the new devices, including the Dell Venue Pro. Next up, Darren Murph joins the round table for a bunch of demos, including the new MacBook Airs, Palm Pre 2, and more Windows Phone 7. Nilay leads a thorough demo of Google TV via the Logitech Revue and Engadget editors Ben Drawbaugh and Tim Stevens make some unbelievable cameos. We’ve got highlights from the New York Reader Meetup, plus a Halloween costume contest that quickly gets out of hand. To round it all out, Kris Keyser brings the jams with a rocking set of chiptunes music with visuals from noteNdo. What are you waiting for? Watch it now! Hit up the new video stream after the break, now with convenient chapter markers!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Special guests: Aaron Woodman, Darren Murph, Ben Drawbaugh, Tim Stevens, Tim Stevens’ dog Bowser
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger
Edited by: Danny Madden
Music by: Kris Keyser
Visuals by: noteNdo
Reader Meetup music by: Zen Albatross
Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec

Taped live at The Times Center

Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 014 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 014 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show – 014 (Small)

Subscribe to the Show:

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Continue reading The Engadget Show – 014: Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7, Google TV, MacBook Airs, Palm Pre 2, Halloween Costumes, and more!

The Engadget Show – 014: Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7, Google TV, MacBook Airs, Palm Pre 2, Halloween Costumes, and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC 7 Pro squares away its FCC approval?

So, here’s what we know: a Windows Phone from HTC just earned its FCC wings, it’s production (meaning non-prototype) hardware… and it’s a CDMA device. That alone is notable considering that Microsoft has said that CDMA won’t be available until the first half of next year, and here we are in October with an FCC-approved, production-ready device waiting in the wings already. We’re not the type to be floating conspiracy theories, but could it be that we’re dealing with an artificial delay here, or is the CDMA software stack really that far away from being solid? Anyhow, if we had to guess, this is probably the tilt-sliding 7 Pro, seeing how that’s the only CDMA Windows Phone 7 device to bow so far, equipped with 802.11b / g / n alongside Bluetooth + EDR. Sprint, let’s make this happen.

HTC 7 Pro squares away its FCC approval? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show: live with Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7, Google TV, and costume contest!

Good news, we worked out our streaming issue! So keep your eyes tuned to this post — because at 6:30 PM ET, we’ll be starting The Engadget Show live, with Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7 devices, Google TV, and more! Josh and Nilay on hand, plus we’ll have music from Kris Keyser with visuals from noteNdo and much, much, more. You seriously don’t want to miss it. Check out the live stream after the break!


Continue reading The Engadget Show: live with Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7, Google TV, and costume contest!

The Engadget Show: live with Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7, Google TV, and costume contest! originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show returns today! With Windows Phone 7, Aaron Woodman, Google TV devices, and our first Halloween costume contest! (update: no livestream)

Attention all humans and empathetic robots: The Engadget Show is back in a big way today, October 23rd at 6:30pm! To get things started, Josh and the gang will be taking a first-hand look at a plethora of Windows Phone 7 devices with Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, then we’ll be demoing Google TV, and Engadget’s own Darren Murph will be joining Josh, Nilay, and Paul on stage, Guinness World Record in hand. What’s more, we’re hosting our first ever Halloween costume contest! There will be giveaways at the show for the best costumes (as voted on by you, the audience), so get to work on your winning masterpiece now! We’ll also have the usual random giveaways, but why leave it to chance when you could win stuff with a little creativity and a black turtleneck? There will also be music from Kris Keyser and visuals from noteNdo and plenty of other giveaways at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person. We have a new ticketing policy, so if you’re coming to the live show, be sure to read about it below. If you’re geographically incapable of joining us in New York City laster this evening just tune into the stream right here on Engadget.

Update: Due to a technical issue, we won’t be livestreaming the show tonight.

Update 2: Or maybe we will! We appear to have worked out some of the issues, so head on down!

The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are — as always — free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served… so get there early! Here’s the updated info on our new ticketing policy that you need to know:

  • There is no admission fee — tickets are completely free
  • The event is all ages
  • Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:00PM today, Saturday October 23rd, doors will open for seating at 5:45PM, and the show begins at 6:30PM
  • We now have assigned seating, so the first people to get their tickets — and the Sprint text-to-win winners (see below) — will get priority seating. This also means that once you get a ticket, your seat is guaranteed — you won’t have to get back in line to get a good seat.
  • We still had plenty of tickets left over at the last taping, so just because it’s 5:00pm and you finally finished Halo: Reach doesn’t mean you won’t get a seat at the show — so get your butt up to the Times Center this evening!
  • Ticketing will continue until all tickets are given away
  • You cannot collect tickets for friends or family — anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket
  • Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we’re full, we’re full
  • The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break)
  • The show length is around an hour

If you’re a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we’ll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
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The Engadget Show returns today! With Windows Phone 7, Aaron Woodman, Google TV devices, and our first Halloween costume contest! (update: no livestream) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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