Electronic book battle heats up as Amazon offers free Kindle e-reader software for Android

Kindle DX
Devices such as Amazon's Kindle have accelerated publishers' new emphasis on digital books.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Amazon.com is hoping to snag even more customers for the electronic books it sells.

It is releasing a version of its Kindle e-reader software for phones that use Google Inc.'s increasingly popular Android operating system.

The free "Kindle for Android" software will join a growing roster of programs for such products as Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry smart phones. The software will be out this summer.

"Kindle for Android" lets users read books they have bought from Amazon.com Inc.'s online Kindle store and keeps track of where you are in a book.

So if you have the $259 Kindle e-reader, you can start reading on an Android-based phone and continue at the same place on your Kindle.

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