Kindle iOS App Update Offers Hints about Future Kindle Stores – Spain, Italy, and Brazil
Yesterday I posted about an interesting little detail buried in the K4’s settings menu. This morning Amazon did me the favor of proving my point for me.
The Kindle iPad app got an update this morning. Along with the usual bug fixes and tweaks, the app got a number of minor improvements including better page turn animation, a reorganized info menu, etc. Amazon also added one notable change; the iPad app now has menus with localized language support for French, Spanish, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese. (There’s no mention of German, but I’m just going to assume it’s there.)
The most telling part of this new feature is that these aren’t user accessible menu options. I was going to get a screen shot to show you the options, but I can’t. Amazon may have added these features, but they didn’t do it for the user. They did it because IMO they’re planning to open Kindle Stores in Spain, Italy, and Brazil. I expect Amazon to launch a Kindle Store in those 3 countries some time in the next 6 to 8 months.
You heard it here first, folks.
Update: I’ve been reminded on Twitter that Amazon launched Amazon.es a few weeks back. This is true, but they didn’t launch a Kindle Store.
Comments
Beth October 8, 2011 um 10:01 am
They also updated my droid app, but after the update, my nook app froze up and could not use it until I uninstalled the kindle app. Anyone else having this problem? If Amazon starts playing dirty, they will lose my $$$.
Nate Hoffelder October 8, 2011 um 10:07 am
Good point.
Amazon updated the Android app yesterday with the same language support:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.amazon.kindle&feature=search_result
Stephane October 8, 2011 um 12:25 pm
Language choice is active in the new Kindle app. It’s just not a choice that the user made within the app. I’m french-speaking, so therefore my iPad and iPhone are in French and now, the Kindle app is also in French. It automatically sets the same language as the iPad is set to.
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