Amazon.com Inc. claims that its Kindle for Windows Phone 7 will be the first major ebook application available for the Microsoft-owned smartphone platform. 

Kindle for Windows Phone 7 will be released later this year and includes all the same features of the existing Kindle applications, plus new features such as personalized book recommendations and the ability to send a book suggestion to a friend. Kindle for Windows Phone 7 will let customers buy once and read anywhere.

“Our philosophy with the Kindle Store is buy once, read everywhere,” said Kinley Campbell, spokeswoman at Amazon, Seattle. “We want people to be able to read their books anywhere they want to read them – that’s their Kindle, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android-powered devices, Windows Phone 7-based phones and more devices they may own in the future.”

Amazon’s Kindle for Windows Phone 7, readers will take advantage of access to more than 725,000 books in the U.S. Kindle Store – the largest selection of the most popular books that people want to read – including New Releases and 108 of this week’s 111 New York Times Bestsellers.

With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books purchased from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in a customer’s Kindle library on Amazon, where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.

The integrated shopping experience within the application allows customers to shop without leaving the app. 

The application also provides users with a customized reading experience, with five different font sizes and three background colors to chose from.

Users also have the ability to read in portrait or landscape mode, and to turn pages by tapping on either side of the screen or flicking.

Additionally, users get the option to try the beginning of a book for free before buying.

“Kindle for Windows Phone 7 includes the features customers love about all of the Kindle apps, plus new features built into a Kindle app for the first time, such as personalized book recommendations on your Kindle app home screen and the ability to send a book suggestion to a friend from any book in your library without leaving the app,” Ms. Campbell said.

“Beyond that, I’ll have to ask you to stay tuned for when the app is available so you can try out the user experience yourself,” she said.