Amazon is currently testing "Kindle Unlimited" an ebook subscription service
GigaOm is reporting that Amazon is currently testing a subscription service called "Kindle Unlimited". The service will consist of over 600,000 of Amazon's selected ebooks, and thousands of audiobooks for $9.99 per month. This will apparently be separate from Amazon Prime's $99 annual subscription service, which allowed a Kindle owner to borrow one book per month, along with other perks. Signing up gets you a 30 day free trial, and will also get you a three month Audible membership with access to more than 150,000 titles. In the Q&A section it states "Kindle Unlimited is currently available only to US customers but we plan to expand this service to other countries. Please stay tuned." Wondering if you need a Kindle device for this service, nope. "You can read Kindle Unlimited books on your Kindle device or your phone, tablet or computer with our free Kindle Reading apps."
This wouldn't be the only ebook subscription service in town. Scribd has over 400,000 titles and Oyster has over 500,000 books. Both do unlimited for $8.99 and $9.95 per month, respectively. Book listings on the three services are also a bit different, as GigaOm points out. Scribd and Oyster both have Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, while Kindle Unlimited currently does not have any of the top five publishers. Audiobooks are a different beast altogether as Kindle Unlimited has "Whispersync for Voice", while both Scribd and Oyster have no audio option.
Amazon famously in 2009 had to remove the Text to Speech function of the Kindle 2. The Authors Guild and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), stated that the function was the same as an audiobook and should be charged extra as one. That was one of the reason in 2008 Amazon purchased Audible for $300 million, so they could have all of their bases covered for the future.
As you can see on the right, you'll get the option to still purchase the book or "Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited". On the left under the price, you'll get the identification icon for kindle unlimited with narration.
There hasn't been an official announcement yet, so not everyone may have these options available.
via: GigaOm
source: Amazon Introducing page
