Amazon Kindle beta for PC available to download

Amazon is perhaps the best placed to really push the eBook reader as a global solution and with recent announcements confirming that local libraries will be offering eBook rentals there seems to be plenty going on in this area to warrant further support. To this end, Amazon has officially released its Kindle software for the PC, allowing users to purchase, download and read hundreds of thousands of books from the official store.

Previews are available before you buy, it’s possible to view notes and highlights made on Kindle devices or the iPhone/iPod touch and all previous purchases are stored online for easy access on both a Kindle and via a PC.

Windows 7 users with touchscreens will also benefit from multi-touch pinch zooming and finger swiping to turn pages, and of course you can adjust font size and add bookmarks.

Currently at beta stage, the free software is available for download on the PC here, and though no version is yet available for the Mac, we’re promised one in the near future. Improvements in the full version will also include word or sentence searches, zoom and rotation of images and the ability to create notes.