Taking up the prime real estate in varying sections of Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) today is the announcement of the new Kindle for Android application.
The free download allows users of Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) operating system to download books from the Kindle store and read them on their tiny device. There are already similar apps for the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone and Research In Motion's (Nasdaq: RIMM) BlackBerry.
Serious tech-savvy readers will no doubt stick with a dedicated e-reader such as the Kindle, but there is an overlooked aspect of the free downloads. These apps are great supplements to the Kindle itself. If you don't have your device with you, you still have access to the Kindle store and, more importantly, to all your books. You'll also remain in sync across all devices with the last page read. Also, as larger tablets based on Android are released, the application will offer an experience similar to Amazon's Kindle app for the iPad.
Still, as nice as the phone displays are, I can't see reading more than a few pages in a pinch. What about you -- have you read a book on a phone? Tell me about your e-reading experiences and preferences in the comments section below.
