Amazon.com said on Thursday it is launching a new free Kindle application that will give customers access to over 420,000 books on a range of BlackBerry devices.

Called Kindle for Blackberry, the free application allows customers using BlackBerry devices on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and other U.S. carriers easy wireless access to Kindle books, most for $9.99 or less.

Since the launch of our popular Kindle for iPhone app last year, customers have been asking us to bring a similar experience to the BlackBerry, said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle.

Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has been under pressure from a lot of publishers for the low prices it charges for e-books to spur demand for its electronic reader Kindle, hoping to fend off new rivals such as Apple Inc that are set to join the e-books fray with their own devices.

Shares of the company had closed at $116.31 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)

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