Amazon.com has announced an update to their universal Kindle app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad which now allows users to enjoy embedded video and audio clips within KIndle books. Best of all, it doesn’t require downloading an update to the app itself.

On Sunday, Amazon.com made an improvement to its existing Kindle app, which installs on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The update -- which doesn’t require you to download anything from iTunes -- allows readers to now enjoy the benefits of embedded video and audio clips in Kindle books. At this writing, there are only 13 such titles available in Amazon’s “Kindle Editions with Audio-Video,” including Rick Steves’ London by Rick Steves and Together We Cannot Fail by Terry Golway.

"We are excited to add this functionality to Kindle for iPad and Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch," said Amazon Kindle director Dorothy Nicholls. "Readers will already find some Kindle Editions with audio/video clips in the Kindle Store today -- from Rose's Heavenly Cakes with video tips on preparing the perfect cake to Bird Songs with audio clips that relate the songs and calls to the birds' appearances. This is just the beginning -- we look forward to seeing what authors and publishers create for Kindle customers using the new functionality of the Kindle apps."

"We are truly excited to have collaborated with Amazon to launch Kindle Editions with audio/video," said Wiley’s director of Digital Content Sales, Peter Balis. "Innovations like these represent the advantages that digital can offer. Advancing our content in this manner is important for our authors and our readers and it will raise the bar on what digital reading can offer for years to come."

"In the new Kindle Edition with audio/video of Rick Steves' London, the embedded walking tours allow customers to listen to Rick as they explore the sites of London," said Avalon Travel publisher Bill Newlin. "Rick's narration adds depth to the reader's experience, while listeners can follow the routes more easily with the text."

The new audio-video functionality is already ready to go in the latest 2.1.1 update of Kindle, a universal 6.6MB app that runs on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. That update also brought optimizations for the iPhone 4’s Retina Display, and more is coming with the next release, including instant word lookup (from an included dictionary as well as via Google or Wikipedia) as well as “Search Inside The Book” on the iPad.

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