Amazon to roll out Kindle e-reading app for upcoming BlackBerry tablet

Amazon making Kindle app for BlackBerry tablet

SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc. said Monday that it will roll out a version of its Kindle e-reader app for Research In Motion Ltd.’s upcoming tablet device, the PlayBook.

Amazon already offers Kindle apps for an array of devices, including Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad, phones that run Google Inc.’s Android software, and RIM’s own BlackBerry smart phones.

The Kindle apps let users read books they have bought from Amazon’s online Kindle store. The apps also keep track of your place in a book, so you can start reading on a Kindle e-reader and continue on the same page on a BlackBerry or another device that has the Kindle app.

The software is a way for Amazon to enlarge its e-reading system, making money from e-book sales from people who might not own the Kindle, which starts at $139 for a version with Wi-Fi capabilities for downloading books wirelessly.

RIM expects to start selling the PlayBook in early 2011. It will come with a 7-inch screen — half the size of the iPad — and cameras on its front and back.

The tablet will be able to act as a second, larger screen for a BlackBerry phone, through a secure short-range wireless link that will not store sensitive data like company e-mails once the connection is cut off. It will work as a standalone tablet, too.