Amazon recently announced that the books it sells for use on its electronic Kindle application will soon be available for cell phones as well. In 2008, the Japanese, who have for years used their cell phones more like personal portable laptops and gaming devices, have been eagerly reading books on their phones on the way to work and on breaks. The books are delivered in mini-installments just long enough to fill up ten minutes or so of down time.

Now Amazon is looking to bring this application to the American market. Google Inc. has also announced that titles available from its Book Search service can now be read on Apple Inc.’s iPhone or a phone running its Android operating system–that phone right now would just be the G1, which is sold by T-Mobile.  Yet another e-book provider, Mobipocket, which is owned by Amazon, already sells titles that can be read on numerous smart phones. Last year Amazon sold out of the Kindle reading device after it was endorsed on the Oprah Winfrey show.