- New rules for Apple's App store mean Amazon must hand over 30% of profits made through its Kindle app
- As a result, Amazon last week removed 'Kindle Store' button from its app
Last updated at 1:59 PM on 2nd August 2011
Apple has angered iPad and iPhone users after its new rules for app publishers forced Amazon to make buying books via its Kindle app more complicated.
Since the end of June, all publishers of apps purchased through Apple's App Store must hand over 30 per cent of any profits from content they sell via those applications.
For Amazon, this meant a huge loss in revenue made by selling electronic books through its hugely popular Kindle app.
As a result, the company last week removed the 'Kindle Store' link button from its app.
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos launches the Kindle in 2007. His firm last week removed the 'Kindle Store' link button from its app after new rules meant Amazon must hand over 30 per cent of any profits made through it to Apple
Kindle: But users now have to navigate directly to Amazon's website to buy books for the app
Instead, users now have to navigate directly to Amazon's website to buy books for the app.
The move has left users angry with Apple over what they see as 'shameful behaviour' and recent feedback on the Kindle's App Store page has highly critical.
One user, MMTTCC, wrote: 'If you can't download books from the app, what's the point in having it? Nice going Apple!'
Others are more critical of Apple business practices, and see the move as a ploy to make users buy books from its own iBooks app.
Odylih wrote: 'Apple are trying to monopolise the book buying market by not allowing any competition at all.'
Salwinder said: 'All Apple has done is convince me never to buy any more of their overpriced books through iBooks ever again. I'm sticking with Kindle.'
Last month, Google stepped into the breach with the launch of its own e-book reader that will target the same market as the Kindle and iBook.
It is the first e-reader to be fully integrated with Google's eBooks platform.
The product, which was launched in the U.S. two weeks ago, will be called the Story HD and will have a built-in QWERTY keyboard.
Some iPad and iPhone users see the move as a ploy to make users buy books from its own iBooks app (pictured)
Amazon's Kindle has proved popular, but some analysts believe the e-reader's days might already be numbered due to tablet computers.
Apple is currently working on enhanced eBook features for its iBooks platform according to Patently Apple, a blog that tracks the patent applications made by the firm.
It found one such submission that 'describes systems, methods, and techniques for interacting with text displayed on a touch screen, such as text in an electronic book ('eBook' or in Apple's case, 'iBook')'.
This opens the door, the blogger states, for images, animations, video and interactive content.
02 Aug, 2011--
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2021528/Apple-App-Store-rules-force-Amazon-pull-link-button-Kindle-app.html?ITO=1490
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