Everything Bianca

I said on Monday, "I'd buy a kindle if I didn't already have an iPhone."

It was with great excitement that I downloaded the Kindle app in the App Store [for free, mind you].

Reading on a small screen. I was already doing this with eReader. It doesn't bother me.

Prefering Paper Books. I don't. I actually prefer audio books, but not every book has a good reader, and I do prefer a 'lively' reader. So, the lack of the "computer reader" that comes with the kindle is no loss at all.

No newspapers / magazines. No problem. I wasn't interested in those anyway.

Purchasing method. I go to the amazon website, find a kindle book, purchase (or preview!) it, and it syncs with my iPhone. Now, the eReader app has a fancier font / color, but I'm sure with time will come improvements. No, I can't buy books through the app, but this isn't the Kindle. It's the Kindle-lite.

Previewing. This is the greatest thing, really. You can check out a chapter of the book before deciding to buy it. Now, this is a true tribute back to the book buying experience, standing in the book store, reading those first few pages, waiting to see if something catches your interest. I've missed this. Buying books through the internet (the paper kind) robbed me of this experience.

Interface. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I flick my finger across the screen, the page turns. It bookmarks where I leave off. I don't need anything else to read a book. No, you can't go widescreen, but I've never tried to read that way in the first place.

All in all, I'm incredibly happy with this offering. I have more eBooks available to me, and more ways of reading them.

One thing is amiss, Amazon says this will hopefully raise Kindle sales, but this app has finally put the death knell in any tickling I had to get one. I now have *everything* from it I wanted - the ability to read kindle-books from Amazon.

Update on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 03:57PM by Nysidra

Purchasing / Preview: You can buy the book from within the app once you've reached the end of a preview.

That is an extra dose of cool.

Two weeks ago I finally got my iPhone.  I nearly got the Blackberry Storm, but I thank the many reviewers who stopped me from making that horrible decision. Kudos to you, bloggers of the world.

Why did I get an iPhone? I wanted a laptop. I nearly considered getting a 3G card for my Samsung Q1. I had a need to be able to do Google searches no matter my proximity to a computer. I could have gotten an iTouch, but for the money, I might as well have gotten the phone, so I did.

My Favorite Apps

Sudoku

I am not into playing games on my phone. I have a Nintendo DS for games, but this was one game worth getting. I love Sudoku. This app keeps time, but does not penalize for a mistake (entering the wrong number, tapping hint instead of the number 9). The note taking feature is easy to use. I got the paid version, and if you can solve an 'expert' rated puzzle in under 10 minutes on a good day, I suggest you do the same. (creator: Mighty mighty good games)

Loopt

Most of the phone calls between my husband and I amount to "Where are you right now?" We use this app mostly for fun. He lets me know when he's having a delicious meal. I tell him where I had lunch. When it's 9pm and he isn't home yet, I ping him asking what he's near. He pings me to know if I'm heading home yet. This app has so many great applications if you have friends with iPhones in the area, but it's neat even for its one-on-one connection.

Pandora / Facebook

Listed together because they are requirements. If you use these, then you know why.

TwitterFon

I tried a few Twitter apps, but this one was the best. 1) I can see the latest updates on my own friend list. 2) I can easily see what the trends are 3) I can look at twitters according to a search term. That's all I use twitter for anyway. Perfect.

WhosHere

As a married woman, this app is boring when I filter by females only, and annoying when I allow both sexes. If you're single, this app is nothing but fun. I'm going to give this one a few more chances. I'm imagining it would be nice to make some female friends in the area via this app.

Zintin

This app allows you to share pictures under any name you want. If you see pictures you like of someone else's, you save them to your wall. Hrm, anonymous sharing of photos. No good comes of this. Trust me. I love this app.

GuitarToolkit

My new guitar tuner, chord and scale reference. Cost $10, and worth every penny. It has its limitations, but with all it can do, it's a steal for that price.

eReader

I'm reading Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Series). It's a very nice interface. I bought, downloaded, and am reading the book all though my iPhone. Better than a kindle? Well, certainly cost effective.

And that's it, so far. ^_^

I really love my new phone. It has exceeded the expectations I had of it.