Season 2 of A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin starts tonight on HBO, so what better time to get caught up on the story than now? You can purchase books from the series via Kobo for your BlackBerry smartphone or PlayBook, and if you've got the Kindle app side-loaded on your PlayBook, there are a slew of offerings over at Amazon you'll want to look into. No, seriously, a slew. Everything from the original books to graphic novels, TV show tie-ins, cookbooks, audio books and more. And if you're looking for wallpapers, definitely check out the wallpaper gallery to see what your fellow CrackBerry members have uploaded, and you can even find a few super hi-res images over at iMore that were uploaded by Rene Ritchie that you can use on your PlayBook.

After you're all set with the books and wallpapers, why not join a BBM group to discuss the show or books? There are a couple in the the PIN sharing forums already, or you can start your own!

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If you love Harry Potter and all things Hogwarts, you're going to be really happy to learn that the books are now available in eBook format. No more lugging those heavy books around when you need your wizardry fix; fire up your favorite eReader app and read to your heart's content. Sounds great, and it is, however there are a few catches.

First, the Harry Potter series eBooks are only available through The Pottermore Shop, so you'll have to buy them there and then send them to your eReader. Not a huge deal, as they've covered their bases with the formats and pretty much anything you need is available. The second catch however is a bit more annoying as a BlackBerry PlayBook owner, and I'm just going to come out and say it. The Kobo app for BlackBerry and the BlackBerry PlayBook is pretty crippled, and as such you won't be able to read the Harry Potter books you purchase in the Kobo app.  Fortunately, there are alternatives to Kobo on the PlayBook, such as Book Reader (available for $.99 in App World) or side-loading the Kindle app. I had no trouble at all importing the .epub file into Book Reader and in seconds was reading away.

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Get the Kindle app on your BlackBerry PlayBook!

So you've got your BlackBerry PlayBook loaded up with the OS 2.0 software, and now you want the Amazon Kindle app as well? Not a problem!

While Amazon jumped the gun when they announced they would make an official Kindle app for the BlackBerry PlayBook available, it is still nowhere to be found.

Don't fret because you can still use the Amazon Kindle app on your PlayBook running the OS 2.0 software.

If you've got a few minutes to spare and a bit of tech know-how, you can load up the Android version of the Kindle app on your BlackBerry PlayBook and be reading all of your books in no time at all.

Just grab the BAR file for the Kindle app, then keep reading for a walkthrough of how to load this and other Android applications on your BlackBerry PlayBook.

 

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Best Buy Canada got a bit of a jump on things when they listed the PlayBook OS 2.0 software as "coming soon" in their recent ad, and now they may be getting a bit ahead of themselves once again. As listed on their PlayBook product page, Best Buy notes that PlayBook owners will be able to access both Twitter and Kindle apps.

Plug in to BlackBerry App World and read, write and game like never before. With thousands of apps for every use, you'll never run out of new and exciting options. Pick up Angry Birds or Cut the Rope, read the latest magazines, or connect online with Facebook and Twitter apps. With access to Kobo and Kindle, you can enjoy new late night reading without ever leaving your living room. 

We still haven't heard any news regarding either of these apps, but they have topped the most-wanted list for PlayBook apps for quite a while. If you recall, Amazon had announced a Kindle app before the PlayBook ever saw the light of day yet we've heard nothing on it since. So this could be a big "oops" on Best Buy for dropping the ball, or just a crazy mix up that is getting us excited for no reason. In any case, we should find out very soon.

Source: N4BB

Now that the developer build of the PlayBook OS 2.0 is out, many folks have been also testing the Android Player Repackaging Tools. There is a great guide in the CrackBerry forums showing just how to convert Android .APK files to BlackBerry PlayBook compatible .BAR files and one app that a lot of people are being drawn to is the Amazon Kindle app.

Since we know Amazon will be releasing the Amazon Kindle Fire soon, there priority of launching a native PlayBook version of Kindle is probably pretty low on the list but no matter. When converted to a .BAR file, the Kindle for Android app instantly becomes a Kindle for PlayBook app that functions pretty flawlessly. You can login, see your library and read books as you would expect.

If you're looking to try it out, you'll need the developer build of the PlayBook OS v2.0 installed and since the conversion was already done in the CrackBerry forums, you'll be able to install it easily without the need for doing the conversion yourself but the guide is there should you wish to try out other apps. You'll find Kindle and many other free Android apps already converted for you.

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Last week Amazon introduced a cloud reader solution for the Amazon Kindle. The motivation for this development was specifically for the Apple iPad due to Apple's new money hungry in-app purchase rules, Amazon need to find a solution outside the Apple App Store. Since Apple has a hate-on for Flash and directing all of their effort to move the world to HTML5, Amazon took advantage of this and developed the HTML5 Kindle Cloud Reader.  The big news for us BlackBerry people is that the PlayBook fully supports the HTML5, therefore the Kindle Cloud Reader works quite nicely with the BlackBerry Playbook.

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Are you an e-book reader or are you still loyal to paper?survey software

This past Friday a colleague lent me a book to read. And when I say book, I mean an actual book. Hardcover. 252 pages. The title looked interesting and the content was relevant to me, so Saturday morning I picked it up and started reading in bed whlie Miss CrackBerry slept in.

There was nothing odd about this scenario, or at least I didn't think there was, until at 23 pages into the book it dawned on me... apparently I now hate reading physical books. Though I had attained this book for free, I put it down, grabbed my PlayBook, fired up the Kobo app, bought the book for $20.69 (could have bought it on the Kindle for $9.88 so Amazon had better get that Kindle app for the PlayBook out asap!), downloaded it, then continued to read happily for the next two hours.

For the past few years I've mainly done my reading on E-Book devices. I was a relatively early adopter of the Kindle, own an iPad and iPad 2 which when I do use them it's mainly for reading, and since getting the PlayBook have done a lot of reading on that. And when I don't have any of these bigger-screened devices around I'll read on my phone. But as much as I've been an adopter of E-Book readers, it wasn't until this weekend that I really reflected on why I prefer reading on a digital device.

I'm sure there are many more reasons than this, but here are mine:

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Listen Now!

We're bacccCKKKK! I guess we're getting pretty good with this bi-weekly podcast thiing. In this CrackBerry Radio episode we go through all of the BlackBerry news that was Mobile World Congress 2010 and we catch up on other app announcements and BlackBerry news and rumor.

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[ youtube video link for mobile viewing ]

The long awaited Kindle app for BlackBerry is finally here. While not the biggest screen to read on, most of us carry our BlackBerry everywhere we go, so being able to read a book at any given moment is definitely welcome. The app has a fair amount of features (it could still use a few more options) and everything loads super fast. You can store and read Kindle books, as well as browse and purchase from the huge selection in the Kindle Store. Check out the video above for a look at the app, and head to amazon.com/kindlebb to download it free.

• Download Kindle for BlackBerry free >>

Been waiting for the Kindle for BlackBerry app? Sure you have. Now, provided you live in the US you can now head on over to the Amazon website and download Kindle For BlackBerry for free. The feature breakdown looks like this:

• Search and browse more than 400,000 books, including 101 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers.
• Find New York Times Best Sellers and new releases for $9.99, unless marked otherwise
• Get free book samples - read the first chapter for free before you decide to buy
• Books you purchase can also be read on a Kindle, computer, or other Kindle-compatible mobile device
• Kindle newspapers, magazines, and blogs are not currently available for Kindle for BlackBerry
• Kindle for BlackBerry is available to U.S. customers only 

Have to admit that I am disappointed that it's only currently available for the US. But, that said glad to see it arrive for those that can use it and surely, it won't be long until we see a Canadian release as well. Go grab it, check it out and let us know what you think in the comments folks. Can't wait to see hear what you all think.

• More Information And Downloads Available Via The Amazon Kindle Website>>
• Download Direct The Kindle For BlackBerry App To Your BlackBerry OTA>>

 

Fresh into the tip line we have some good information about the upcoming Kindle app for BlackBerry. From the looks of it, the app will have plenty of features to keep both Kindle owners and new adopters happy. You'll be able to access Kindle books even without your Kindle on hand, and automatically synchronize your last page read and annotations between devices. The Kindle app for BlackBerry won't support newspapers, magazines or blogs, but you will be able to search for and purchase all the books from the Kindle library, as well as check out free book samples. Still no word on just when the app will hit or for what devices, but you can head over to this page and sign up to be notified when the app becomes available. Hit the jump for a few screenshots. Thanks to Jessica for sending this in!

• Sign up to be notified when the Kindle app is available >>

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The news itself really isn't that new. As good friend of CrackBerry, Al Sacco mentions in his article the news of Kindle on BlackBerry is rather old now having first shown up on CrunchGear back in October. What is new however, is the fact Amazon has now updated their webpage to show that it is indeed "coming soon". Not exactly sure when that means it will be released but we know it's closer now then it was back in October. As Al points out, there is other apps out there such as eReader and MobiPocket but the Kindle services are more widely used then those offerings and they do not support the Kindle format. Will be exciting to see how Kindle on BlackBerry will be, as we know it has really taken off on the iPhone platform.

[ CIO ]