Amazon has announced support for embedded video and audio clips in its Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
The first books to take advantage of this new technology are Rick Steves's London and Together We Cannot Fail by Terry Golway.
It's a tiny improvement, given the small number of titles that support audio and video embeds, but it has interesting implications. The Kindle experience is now officially more advanced on the iPad than on the Kindle.
Of course, the Kindle is a very different beast from the iPad; its e-ink screen aims, first and foremost, to make reading books an enjoyable, effortless experience. The iPad's screen, while far more advanced in other areas (at least in theory), is not so easy on the eyes, especially in longer reading sessions.
Amazon is primarily interested in selling books --not devices -- and the company has long claimed that its strategy is not centered on a single platform. Still, one can't help feeling that the Kindle device now feels rusty compared to the iPad, even if one's primary reason for owning a tablet is to read e-books.