Evening Standard unveils new Kindle edition

The London Evening Standard has launched a Kindle edition of the newspaper in the US.

For $9.99 a month, Kindle users can sign up to receive a daily copy of the Evening Standard via wireless as hard copies hit the newsstands in the UK.

The London freesheet has launched its electronic version with a 14-day free trial period in a bid to attract US readers.

It joins other British titles to be made available on Amazon’s e-reader, including the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, The Times, the FT and The Independent.

Most UK titles run with a higher monthly subscription fee of $22.99, with the exception of the Financial Times’ UK edition, which is priced at $27.99.

The Evening Standard is also understood to be planning a UK launch, although a time-frame for the roll out is still to be confirmed.

Last month, Amazon released the Kindle DX in the UK with a £370 price-tag.  The Kindle device already owns around 60% of the e-reader market share in the US, according to Forrester Research.

However, Apple’s latest iPad creation is set to rival the Kindle and other e-readers on the market.  The tablet-style iPhone/laptop offers a similar design to most e-readers but includes additional functionality such as emailing, gaming, videos and apps.

With new devices being released all the time, publishers are expected to be working on new digital formats, which are compatible with e-readers, the iPad and iPhone, as a means of reaching more consumers, boosting circulation figures and generating extra revenue streams.

Setting an example in the UK, The Guardian‘s iPhone app, which GMG claims is the “UK’s first official paid-for news application”, was downloaded around 70,000 times in its first month alone.

Magazines are also witnessing impressive take-up when it comes to apps.  GQ‘s single-edition magazine app has already been downloaded 20,000 times in the US – a figure that counts towards the magazine’s total circulation.