Amazon brings audio/video to Kindle for iOS

Kindle apps for Apple devices--iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch--get audio and video enriched content

Amazon has decided to give iOS users the special treatment by introducing audio and video supplemental content for a select few titles available on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch via the Kindle app.

The titles currently supported include a selection of 2010 Rick Steves travel books (Paris, Rome, Florence & Tuscany, London, and Venice), Knitting for Dummies, Best of the Beatles for Acoustic Guitar, Lie Down in Darkness, Lullaby Baby, Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song, Les Miserables Vol 9, and Together We Cannot Fail.

In general, the audio selections should prove to be successful complements to the text. It would make sense to listen to that Beatles song before tackling it on the guitar in the same way that it might be easier to track down a bird's call in the wild after just hearing it played.

What kind of videos make it into book selections (are they randomly chosen videos from public archives or are they videos specifically selected by the author) will determine how useful they actually prove to be.

Because the quantity of available titles is so limited right now, it's clear that Amazon is just testing the waters. (For comparison, the Kindle Store carries over 600,000 titles.) The megalithic retail company is completely dedicated to dominating the e-reader market, though, especially as competitors like Barnes & Noble step up their game. And testing out innovation is a part of that competition.

It was exactly a week ago today that Barnes & Noble officially unveiled the Nook Wi-Fi, a less expensive version of the Nook 3G. Priced at $149 and $199, respectively, the devices were clearly trying to undercut the Kindle. Immediately responding to the Nook announcement, however, Amazon slashed the price for the 3G-equipped Kindle 2 from $259 to $189. If this weren't already the case, the e-reader war is in full swing.