SleepyEgg

Amazon has finally launched a Web-based version of its Kindle reader, allowing users to read their Kindle purchases on any device with a Web browser, without having to download special software. The Web-based reader, called Kindle Cloud Reader, sports both an online and offline mode and can even sync your last page read (among other things) across Kindle devices. But while Kindle Cloud Reader could be used by almost anyone, it's clear that the design was largely made for the iPad, allowing Amazon to sidestep Apple's in-app content constraints and even offer the iPad-friendly Kindle Store it couldn't implement in its native iOS app.

Since I'm an avid Kindle book reader on my iPad, I gave the new HTML5-based reader a spin on that platform to see how it differs from the native Kindle app. Upon logging in via read.amazon.com (which can be accessed from a browser, iPad or not), Amazon warns you that you'll have to authorize the Web app to expand its local database size up to 50MB so that you can download and store books for offline reading. If you're worried about the space, you don't have to store books offline—you can read them directly from the "cloud," so long as you have an Internet connection. However, as most Kindle users can attest, there are plenty of times in which you are likely to find yourself in the mood to read but without a connection—the train, the beach, during a power outage—so the offline feature is a definite plus.