Kindle app updated for Android Honeycomb tablets

Amazon.com has updated its Kindle Android app with features designed to tap into the Honeycomb interface currently found on the Motorola Xoom and T-Mobile's LG G-Slate.

Available now at Amazon's Appstore for Android, Kindle for Android 3.0 is geared for all Android devices but takes special advantage of the larger displays and other attributes offered by Honeycomb-powered tablets.

The updated version offers a virtual bookshelf that stretches across the screen to let people visually browse and view titles at the Kindle store. The new interface also provides quicker access to customer reviews, recommendations, and other items of interest to book buyers. Further, Amazon has tweaked the layout for magazines and newspapers so that readers can now see full color images on their tablets.

Beyond the improvements for large-screen tablets, the Kindle Android app now gives people the ability to pause and resume downloads of any item. A built-in dictionary with more than 250,000 entries and definitions is also included, according to Amazon. Finally, the update throws in a slew of bug fixes and support for the German language.

"We've...created a beautiful new user interface and a seamless shopping experience tailored to the look and feel of Honeycomb tablets," Amazon Kindle Director Dorothy Nicholls said in a statement.

As always, the Kindle app comes with Amazon's Whispersync feature, which synchronizes books and bookmarks across a range of devices so that people can move from phone to tablet to Kindle reader to PC without losing their place.

Starting later this year, Kindle e-reader owners and Kindle app users will also be able to borrow electronic books from 11,000 libraries.