On Thursday, Amazon launched a version of its digital book reading software for the Apple Mac.

The application is offered for free on Amazon, and allows people to buy, read and arrange electronic books bought from Amazon through the dealer's Kindle Store. Amazon provides over 450,000 books, plus most of the New York Times bestsellers.

E-books can be read on Amazon's Kindle e-reader, the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, Research in Motion's BlackBerry, and a Windows PC. Amazon will also introduce a version of the Kindle app for the iPad, a tablet computer by Apple that is slated for release on April 3.

This amazing application automatically saves and harmonizes bookmarks and last page read across devices. This is feasible since Amazon stores copies of books bought on its servers for no extra charges.

Additional features that will be included in Kindle for Mac in the upcoming time comprise full-text search and the capability to make and edit notes and highlight.

Around a year back, Amazon purchased Lexcyle, creator of the Stanza e-book reader for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

Though Amazon wishes to sell more Kindles, analysts are of the view that the company is keen in advertising and selling e-books than ruling the e-reader market. E-books are said to be more lucrative for the retailer, since they do not need a storehouse and distribution costs are low.