Amazon welcomes Microsoft files into Kindle cloud
'Send to Kindle' for Macs coming soon
Amazon has released an application that will let Kindle users synchronize and view Microsoft files held in cloud storage via their devices.
The “Send to Kindle” for PC application, - according to Amazon, adds a right-click option on any Windows application that adds a Send to Kindle option to the Select Printer list in the Print dialog. Send to Kindle then converts the file to the Kindle’s .azw format, boots the image up into cloud storage via email, and synchronizes with the device. PDFs, however, have to be converted separately.
There's no escaping Redmond's tentacles now
In practice this covers most basic file types, such as Word documents and JPEGs, but don’t expect to be flicking through PowerPoint presentations or Excel spreadsheets with the application as it now stands. It will also sync notes, highlights, and bookmarks as stored in the .azw format.
System requirements shouldn’t be a problem: 100MB of storage, a 500MHz processor and 128MB of RAM is within the capabilities of most smartphones these days, let alone PCs – and Amazon's app covers Windows users from XP to Windows 7 64-bit. The application will work with the Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, as well as with iPad, iPhone, and iPod apps.
So far it’s a Redmond function only, but Amazon has promised a version for Mac users “coming soon”. No word on the open source community, however, although that group or worthies is rather good at coming up with homebrew solutions. ®
COMMENTS
Hmm
While the indexing and search is absent from the native PDF reader and there are other things that could be better tuned to the form-factor of the device, I use Kindle PDF extensively and much prefer it in certain uses to Mobi.
For reading long tracts you are right that Mobi has the edge, but it is really an issue of the screen size rather than the PDF format/engine itself. Mobi presents the information in Kindle screen-sized pages. Images are not clever in my experience with Mobi. If they are small they cannot be zoomed (at least the ones I've come across can't). PDF's work with the screen pinch gesture.
@Sordid Details
>And PDFs can be sent to your Kindle, albeit as PDFs and not in native Kindle format.
PDF and Kindle Fire aren't the best of buds, I've tried. Its unpleasant. I currently use Calibre (available on Win/Mac/Lin) to convert my PDF's to mobi, and then it emails my kindle.com acct. Pretty slick really.
What I'm getting at, is that if there is a way to "print" the file directly to the Kindle, then that would save a step or two.
Not anymore...
I have a few personal docs (ie not purchased through Amazon) that I have emailed to my Kindle. They sync with the Kindle apps on my ipad and iphone just fine.
Just have to make sure that whenever you stop reading on a device you sync it to the furthest page. Should work fine then
What would be real cool would be to send The Reg articles to your kindle
So you can read them latter.
I dont mean click on each articly and then Print Kindle but to go to the home page
and Print Kindle all the articles.
A bit contrived
Why does it need the cloud? Couldn't I just do the same thing directly over wifi or usb? I suppose that is the direction companies would like to go and undoubted find a way to charge you for the privilege of allowing them to handle the "complicated" data shuffling process.
