Amazon.com’s Kindle reading experience is preloaded on many Android devices running on the Verizon Wireless network and will be available on more handsets in the future.

Kindle for Android lets customers discover, buy and read more than 700,000 books in the Kindle Store. It is now preloaded on the application screen of the new Samsung Fascinate, which has a 4-inch Super Amoled touch-screen display, as well as on Droid 2 and Droid X by Motorola.

“We try to identify certain apps we think will have broad appeal to our customers, then work with the developers to bring them to our devices and make them easy to find and access,” said Debra Lewis, spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, Basking Ridge, NJ.

“Kindle from Amazon is one of the most recent,” she said. “Blockbuster Mobile, NFL Mobile and others are also in this category.”  

Amazon.com’s Kindle, Kindle 3G and Kindle DX are portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to an electronic ink display.

Kindle 3G and Kindle DX use the same 3G wireless technology as advanced mobile phones, so users never need to search for a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone, operates a wireless voice and 3G data network serving more than 92 million customers.

Kindle for Verizon’s Android devices
Kindle for Android lets customers to browse, download and start reading their favorite books directly from their Android phone.

Features of the Kindle application include Amazon’s Whispersync technology, which syncs consumers’ bookmarks across devices, so they can pick up reading where they left off.

With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books purchased from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online, where they can be re-downloaded at any time.

The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 700,000 ebooks, including new releases and 107 of 111 New York Times Bestsellers.

More than 575,000 of these books are $9.99 or less, including 80 New York Times Bestsellers.

Customers can also find the application by searching for “Kindle” in Android Market.

“We’ve mentioned the Kindle app in other device-focused news announcmeents in order to let customers know what’s available,” Ms. Lewis said.

Final Take
Dan Butcher, associate editor, Mobile Commerce Daily