First Apps for the Amazon Kindle Released
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Every Word (left) and Shuffled Row, the first two apps for the Kindle.
CREDIT: Amazon |
The first two apps – both word games – have come out for Amazon's Kindle, transforming the device into more than just an e-reader.
Amazon had announced back in January that it would be launching a Kindle App Store this year. Given the Kindle's grayscale screen and limited interface, however, colorful action-packed video games are not an option for the device.
Instead, crossword, Sudoku and Scrabble-style games are anticipated. These apps could spice up the Kindle as it faces heavy competition from other e-readers with games, such as Barnes & Noble's Nook, and versatile tablet computers such as Apple's iPad .
One of the free new Kindle apps, called Every Word, might be familiar to online word game fans. Six or seven jumbled letters appear and the player tries to form as many words of three letters or more as possible before the timer runs out; getting the big words means bigger points.
The second game, Shuffled Row, is similar in that players form words from a group of letters in a row at the top of the screen. Once a letter is played, it is replaced with a new letter, and a total of 60 letters appear before the round is up. Longer words with less common letters up the point totals.
Amazon has not announced when more apps will arrive. Meanwhile, the new, third-generation, slimmer, faster Kindle set for deliveries on August 27 is listed as being temporarily out of stock.
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