If you enjoy listening to audio books, you probably have some familiar with Audible, a subsidiary of Amazon.com which has a virtual monopoly in the sale of digital audio books. Users have been able to play audible content on iOS devices, such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad for a while, but now Audible.com has released its own application into the App Store, which features free Wi-Fi delivery of audible downloads, detailed listening stats and multi-tasking support for iOS 4 devices.
Audible for the iPod includes some basic features that one would expect out of an audio-book app, including chapter navigation, listening and viewing controls, bookmarking support and the ability to transfer books from one’s Audible library to your iOS device over Wi-Fi. There’s also a button-free mode which lets users control audio playback by using gesutres.
The app has a sleep timer and takes advantage of iOS 4’s recently-added multitasking support with background audio playback and background downloading. The app has some other interesting extras such as the ability to track personal listening habits, the ability to earn badges for performing certain actions and the ability to get news about Audible and audio books from the “Audible Newsfeed.” You can also connect to social networking sites and share what books you’re listening to with friends.
If you’re not an Audible member, the app includes seven excerpts from audio books to try it out. Users that create a new Audible account from within the app get a free excerpt from David Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World.
On a related note, Audible.com is offering a one-month free trial to any new user to the service. The current free trial is a 14 day free trial on its gold membership. Users will get a free audio book (which can be kept for life, even if you cancel the subscription before paying) of their choice. Users can cancel the service before being billed, you can download your audio book and cancel the service directly from Audible‘s website without any hassle
