Kindle for Android due this summer
It's more surprising that it took this long than that Amazon's reader app is coming to Google's mobile OS.
This summer, the Kindle franchise is extending to Android.
It's no surprise, given that Amazon already offers its e-reader software for Kindle devices, the iPhone, the iPad, Windows, Mac OS X, and BlackBerry devices. In the bigger picture, with Android phones going up against iPhones at the same time Amazon is going up against iTunes, Google is a natural ally.
What does surprise me is that it's taking this long. Amazon's announcement Tuesday that Kindle for the Android will arrive later this summer came the same day I griped about its absence, and offered some praise for a rival application, Aldiko, that I use daily. While I was waiting, I discovered the large number of worthwhile and free out-of-copyright books that are a nice complement to Amazon's sizable selection of more current current releases.
What I will like about Kindle for Amazon is WhisperSync, which keeps track of your place in a book across multiple devices. I've been moving among different Android phones of late, and it's been a minor annoyance figuring out just how far through "Captains Courageous" my son and I are when reading time comes around.
What I won't like about Kindle for Android is what I dislike about it now: there's no way to share a book with your spouse without having a shared account, or to resell a book's rights to a friend.
