Appsolutely
Amazon is believed to be courting iOS developers to bring apps to the Kindle in a bid to compete with tablets.
According to Apple Insider, Amazon is particularly keen on porting educational apps to its e-reader platform.
The website said it has been contacted by an app developer called Henri Hansen who is behind Atomium, a periodic table app. He reportedly said that Amazon has invited him to bring his app to Kindle and is targeting iOS developers who have created education-based apps.
The firm has also reportedly scheduled a conference call between itself and third party developers to discuss Kindle plans on 29 March.
While Kindle's the e-ink black and white display is great for reading text thanks to its lack of glare and super-long battery life, it is relatively slow to refresh and has obvious monochrome limitations, so it is not known how it would cope with apps in its current state, especially fast-paced games.
Perhaps this is why Amazon seems to be particularly keen to focus on reference apps, which also fit well with its book store offering.
While adding apps to a dedicated e-reader might entice some people away from the pure tablet market, previous research has reportedly shown that many consumers will probably invest in both pieces of kit so perhaps the real competition is between rival e-reader offerings.
Sticking to its forte, Amazon said that Kindle users who subscribe to The New York Times via its Kindle store will also now get access to the website for free as the newspaper has tightened its pay wall, Tech Crunch reported.
While the Kindle subscription to the paper reportedly costs $19.99 a month, users will get free access to the site from an unspecified date but it is unknown whether owners of Barnes and Noble's Nook e-reader will get the same deal.
