Amazon adds Apps to Kindle

January 22, 2010

Amazon Thursday (January 21, 2010) announced a SDK (software development Kit) for its popular Kindle e-reader. These tools will let developers create and sell Apps (applications for the Kindle). The news comes days before Apple is expected to announce a new e-reader/device that is expected to be part e-reader and tablet computer, The Yankee Group projects in a new forecast that the U.S. e-book reader market will nearly double to $2.3 billion by 2013, from $1.3 billion this year.

The competition from Apple will be the Kindle’s most formidable competitor to date. It also comes a day after Amazon said it was hiking the royalty rate for authors for each e-book sold via the Kindle to 70% — the same rate Apple pays developers on app sales through iTunes.

Some Kindle Apps in the works include a Zagat guide for restaurants worldwide, games from Electronic Arts and word games and puzzles from smaller game publisher Sonic Boom. The third-party apps won’t be available in the Kindle Store until later this year. Starting next month, Amazon will allow developers to download the software development kit in a limited beta.

“We’ve heard from lots of developers over the past two years who are excited to build on top of Kindle,” said Ian Freed, vice president, Amazon Kindle, in a statement. “The Kindle Development Kit opens many possibilities — we look forward to being surprised by what developers invent.”

Apple, has been coy about its designs on the e-reader market. But recent reports that the company is in talks with a wide range of publishers including HarperCollins and The New York Times to supply content for its forthcoming tablet device suggest it’s taking dead aim at the Kindle.

The release of yet another App Store and digital marketplace shows the trend for Apps and Digital Content to grow over the coming years (see the Mobile App Stores Sales expected to hit $6 Billion in 2010 article).