Samsung has announced a new partnership with Amazon. This will bring the launch of “Kindle for Samsung” which is described as being a custom-built eBook service. Along with access to millions of books, the launch will also allow users to get up to 12 free books per year through something called Samsung Book Deals.
First things first though, Kindle for Samsung will be launching in April for those carrying a Galaxy S5. In fact, Galaxy S5 users can already download the app from Samsung Apps, just look in the Galaxy Gifts section. The app will also be coming to other Samsung devices running Android 4.0 or later.
Shifting back to the 12 free books per year. This comes as part of the Samsung Book Deals offering and means users will be picking one title per month. To further that, the one title you pick will need to come from a pre-selected group of four. Basically, once a month the Kindle for Samsung app will show you four books and you get to pick on for free.
Samsung has yet to offer a complete set of details on how those four books are picked, but this makes us think of Kindle First, which is an offer available for Prime members. Otherwise, the Kindle for Samsung app will offer what one would expect from an Amazon Kindle app. That is to say users will be able to buy books, read books and also get features such as Whispersync.
SOURCE: Samsung Tomorrow
Was able to download and install from Samsung Apps on my Galaxy S3 without any trouble. The free books deal does indeed look similar to Kindle First for Prime members (although not the same titles — this month’s selections are “The Fort” by Aric Davis, “Elizabeth Street” by Lauria Fabiano, “Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End” by Manel Loureiro, and “Bone River” by Megan Chance).
I’ve been using the Amazon Kindle app on Android for years. I never liked the design of the app, but since I get most of my books from Amazon or the library, it’s the app I use most often for reading.
I was able to download the Kindle for Samsung app on my Note 3, and I am liking the design of this app better than the official Amazon version. And the books that they offer as part of the Samsung Book Deals seem to be decent selections (i.e. they all have hundreds of positive reviews, they’re not just junk $.99 books).
For all the complaints that Samsung gets for its ‘bloatware’, they certainly have been stepping up their game recently. Did I need another music streaming app? No, but Samsung Milk (I hate that name btw) is pretty awesome. Did I need another Ereader? Nope, but getting a free book a month is pretty sweet.
Nice job Samsung.