Amazon welcomes Microsoft files into Kindle cloud

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 …

[Eddy Ito]

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.

[HipposRule]

Presumably

to convert to azw. In reality it's only an email to your kindle.com account so has to get there somehow,

[Bill B]

Kindle.com account

What kindle.com account? I have Kindle on iPad, buy my books to read on that app but as far as i can tell, Amazon will not give me a kindle.com account because I haven't bought their hardware

[JDX]

So how is this better than simply emailing the file to your Kindle email in the first place, other than saving you about 10s? Does downloading the data come under the same price policies on 3G?

[Sordid Details]

Redmond?

<pedantry>Office for Mac is made in Redmond too, surely.</pedantry>

But Office for Mac users already have a work-around since the Mac print dialog includes an option to 'print' as a PDF file. And PDFs can be sent to your Kindle, albeit as PDFs and not in native Kindle format.

[admiraljkb]

@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.

[Stevie]

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.

[admiraljkb]

@Stevie

I've been reading mostly dry technical and service manuals and such that started as PDF's and the Kindle PDF reader as recently as early December didn't like scrolling through them very smoothly, or handle the formatting right, at least for me. Given the variety out there, it doesn't surprise me that some PDF's might be better native.

Hint on the images in mobis on the Fire. Double click (tap) it for the full sized image. I fell into the same trap there of trying to pinchzoom and going WTF. :) HTH's.

[kevjs]

Neat

Been looking for something like this for a while!

It's ideal for printing receipts and the like - especially for those of use that prefer Google Mail to a full blown email client (i.e. Send to Email doesn't work on Windows) - Works very quick too - no need to faff around converting into a format Calibier supports then converting to AZW and then connecting the USB cable - just right click on the file, hit Send to Kindle and it appears around 30 seconds later.

Shame you can't set it to prompt you to login each time - bit rubbish when you are on a shared PC!

The simplicity of it all means I can now read those long documents/webpages on my Kindle rather than resorting to dead trees :)

[Anonymous Coward]

What about Android?

Does it work with the Android app?

[deshepherd]

Why to the cloud ... because (unless you tell Amazon otherwise via the "manage my kindle" web pages) all PDFs that you email to your kindle are now stored by Amazon in your account. Perhaps useful if you want to be able to access the files from a Kindle app on your phone as well as on your kindle but also, I'd assume, a reason that corporate IT depts will be rapidly working out how to roll out a path to disable this feature on all their PCs. N.b. going via "the cloud" rather than via USB does have definite advantages that you don't need to have the device connected directly to the PC to send the data (or even turned on at the right moment)

[Absent]

Kindle devices only

Kindle documents still only sync with your actual Kindle device. I would like and surely it wouldn't be that hard for them to make the same documents sync with the Kindle apps on my computer and phone at the same time.

[Fuzzy Moose]

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

[Matthew Garrett]

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.

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a Kindle email registered to the Kindle app on my iPad, currently the Kindle email support is limited to Kindle devices and IOS Kindle apps.

[John H Woods]

PDF Creator ...

... should get a mention here. It's a free open source product that "looks" like a Windows printer. You print to this printer, fill in the dialog and boom, nice .pdf to do whatever you want with. Can't for the life of me work out why it is not more popular.