Amazon's allows libraries to loan Kindle e-books
Amazon has announced that Kindle owners will be able to borrow Kindle books at 11,000 libraries across the US which could strengthen the company's hold on the e-book market
Amazon has announced that Kindle owners will be able to borrow Kindle books at 11,000 libraries across the US which could strengthen the company's hold on the e-book market
Amazon has announced that later this year, Kindle owners will be able to borrow Kindle books from 11,000 libraries around the United States.
Kindle, Kindle 3G and DX are portable readers which wirelessly download literature to display in a high resolution electronic ink that looks like real paper, Amazon said in its press release.
Anyone with a Kindle, or a Kindle application on a smart phone or tablet, will be able to take out a Kindle book at their local library and utilise Amazon's Whispersync technology to highlight passages, synchronize notes, return to the last page read.
Amazon is also extending the technology to allow margin notes while reading that will reappear the next time the customer checks out the book, but will not appear for any other users checking that book out.
The company will be working with OverDrive, a provider of digital content solutions to over 11,000 public and educational libraries in the United States.
TechNewsWorld reported that working with OverDrive could be a big step in strengthening Amazon's hold on the e-book market, since the Kindle had previously not been supported on the OverDrive platform. Analyst at Pundit-IT Charles King said this was a point of differentiation for Amazon's competitiors, "not a good thing in a tightening market for e-books".