Amazon Confirm Ebooks Coming To Mobile Devices

Buried in among the Kindle 2 press release this morning is confirmation that Amazon plan on distributing ebooks to mobile devices other than their own Kindle ebook reader.  Although details are still scarce, the release does say that "Kindle 2 will also sync with a range of mobile devices in the future" using its new wireless Whispersync technology.

Whispersync takes advantage of the Kindle 2's 3G CDMA connection – that uses the Sprint network – to keep track of which page a reader is currently up to.  That information can then be used to "open" the ebook to the same page no matter which device it's next accessed on.

Word of Amazon's plans to support non-Kindle mobile devices was first heard last week, when Amazon spokesperson Drew Herdener told the NY Times that the company is currently developing the new system:

Also Thursday, Amazon said that it was working on making the titles for its popular e-book reader, the Kindle, available on a variety of mobile phones. The company, which is expected to unveil a new version of the Kindle next week, did not say when Kindle titles would be available on mobile phones.

"We are excited to make Kindle books available on a range of mobile phones," said Drew Herdener, a spokesman for Amazon. "We are working on that now"

The assumption is that Amazon will release a Kindle app of some sort, that can be installed on the mobile device and used to open DRM-protected ebooks.  No timetable for the release has been given.