Amazon has just expanded the audience for its ebook format with the Beta release of its free Kindle for PC application. That’s a good thing too, considering all of the competition they now have. The app will allow you to read the Kindle format on your Windows PC.

A version for Mac users is “coming soon”. How many of you will use this? Or will you just opt for a different ebook format? If Amazon would do away with the proprietary stuff and use a common standard they would widen their audience even more and we wouldn’t have to sync across a few devices.

We knew that the Nook would shake up the e-reader market, but it looks like it is having a major effect very quickly. Amazon will be canceling the US-only Kindle by consolidating their family of 6″ Kindles, lowering the price to $259 from $279.

On top of that, in some countries limited web surfing has been unlocked on the device so that they can take full advantage of the Kindle. The competition is heating up.

Amazon is preparing to launch its Kindle application for Windows PCs. The app will let you download and read content that was previously available for the Kindle. There’s also an iPhone app already available. You don’t need a Kindle to use the Kindle app for Windows, but you will need to create an account.

The thinking is that Windows 7’s new touch features might make it a good reading platform, plus it gets the content into more hands. Don’t worry Mac users, yours is coming soon. Maybe on a Mac Tablet.

After months of waiting and some competitive pressure from other e-reader players, Amazon finally goes international with the Kindle. Now you will be able to wirelessly download content in over 100 countries. Other than that the 6-inch device is the same. The $279 price tag on the Kindle U.S. & International Wireless is $20 more than the standard Kindle.

Speaking of the standard Kindle, the price has fallen from $299 to $259 and is now called the “Kindle U.S. Wireless”. You can place your pre-order now, and figure out what books will read well in foreign lands on October 19th.

In the old days we blamed it on the dog, but today we can blame our gadgets. In this case, the Kindle. When Amazon pulled the novel 1984 from thousands of Kindles earlier this month, Justin Gawronski’s electronic notes for a summer assignment instantly became useless.

So now a class action lawsuit has been filed that seeks punitive damages for those affected by the deletion as well as an injunction that stops Amazon from improperly accessing Kindles in the future. Despite the fact that Bezos did apologize after the 1984 fiasco, most will likely agree that they had this coming.

One of the few gadgets that I have found myself actually wanting to own is the Kindle DX. I haven’t bought one because I was waiting for the price to go down and I want to be sure that there is a decent science fiction catalog available for the device.

Anyone who plays an instrument will be happy to hear that FreeHand Systems is now offering sheet music in digital format for the Kindle reader. The company offers all sorts of music genres from jazz to pop and country music.

Jeff Bezos wants the Kindle to have some healthy competition. That’s why Amazon just released their source code for all the Kindle devices. It’s basic Linux underneath (kernel 2.6.22 on the latest 2.1 software), but includes E Ink drivers and other hardware support.

We don’t know whether Amazon stripped out its various DRM and licensed codec support, MP3 and Audible seem very likely candidates for explosion, even if turns out Amazon did leave in its own Kindle Book DRM. Hopefully manufacturers can take and repurpose this code to build their own Kindle clone.

Everyone wants an e-reader with a color screen. You live in color, so you want to see in color. It’s not like you bought the Kindle to watch old episodes of The Honeymooners or The Andy Griffith show. Not that you can watch shows, but you know what I mean. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said today that a color version of the Kindle is not imminent, but that “I know it’s multiple years. I don’t know how many years but it’s years.”

Obviously color e-ink isn’t ready for our use anytime soon, but it’s still disappointing hearing it from the Kindle’s daddy. It’s black-and-white for a while yet. Maybe someone will make some cool glasses that fool your eyes in the meantime.

Here’s an E-reader for those who like to burn their literature after reading. A clever wood worker fashioned this Kindle out of wood using a laser cutter and dubbed it the Amazon Kindling.

Some advantages: The battery will never betray you. It will provide warmth if you burn it after reading. Termites will eat something intellectual. And it will biodegrade long before Amazon’s version.

Word on the street is that Amazon will be rolling out a larger version of its Kindle e-book reader sometime this week. A model designed to help the tanking newspaper business, with a larger screen for displaying newspapers and magazines, even textbooks.

The textbooks aspect should be interesting, as school kids have to carry all those heavy ass books in their backpack. Also this is bound to tick off the makers of those physical books who have until now profitted nicely on their overpriced tomes.

One of the Kindle’s drawbacks is that it has no color screen. That may soon change if Bridgestone has anything to say about it. This is the best attempt yet at a color e-paper screen. It’s still experimental, but this 13-inch color e-paper screen even accepts pen input. Better then that, the screen refresh rate is quick. Only 0.8 seconds.

Those are some nice advancements. But it isn’t ready for prime time just yet. Right now the panel is noticeably dim, with little contrast and we’re assuming that battery life leaves something to be desired. But color e-paper screens are getting closer to being enjoyed in our everyday lives.

The Kindle has been a huge success. With that success, some copycats have emerged. Some of those plan to have a larger screen. So, to keep up, Amazon is planning to develop another Kindle according to the WSJ. Supposedly this comes from people who have seen a version of the device. This one would have “a larger screen”.

The idea is that the bigger screen would make it easier for newspaper companies to easily transition their content to a large form e-reader. No comment from Amazon which is not surprising. What’s surprising is that the report gives the device at least a chance of debuting before the 2009 holiday season.

Rumors continue to swirl around whatever(if anything) Apple is building. Reports are that Apple has ordered 10-inch touchscreens from Taiwan. That part is looking more like fact. So the question is, will those screens end up in a netbook?

Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun-Times has a slightly different and interesting theory about the device. He thinks it might be an ebook. Which makes more sense as the only real competitor they would have is Amazon.

If you already own a Kindle, now you need to download the Kindle app for your iPhone so you can keep reading on your iPhone. Amazon has announced the Kindle app for the iPhone and iPod touch, which gives users access and read Amazon’s ebooks. The app is a free download from the Apple App Store.

You can also use the iPhone or iPod touch Safari browser to buy new titles from Amazon as well as synchronize what you’ve already bought. Amazon’s new WhisperSync technology will keep your ebooks bookmarked across both devices.

You may have noticed that e-book readers are starting to catch on. If this is news to you, you probably don’t own a Kindle. And since reading e-books is all the rage, we should see more manufacturers jump on board in due time.

iriver Japan (not iRiver from Korea) hopes to join in on the reindeer games by releasing their own e-book reader. Their offering looks more ike a rebadged version of the Netronix reader which was released last year. Apparently the iriver Japan device will be capable of handling PDF documents, have a simple joystick control interface, an SD memory card slot and audio file playback.