Amazon has introduced an HTML5-based Kindle Cloud Reader. The software lets you read Kindle e-books online or offline. It works with Mac or PC paired with Chrome or Safari browsers, and the iPad using the Safari browser.

Kindle Cloud Reader is being offered as an alternative to the native Kindle apps that Amazon has offered for those platforms. Amazon recently updated its iPad and iPhone application to remove the ability to purchase new e-books. That was done in response to new Apple regulations that requires developers to fork over 30 percent income produced by in-app purchases.

This new service skirts around that limitation by working as a Web-based application. Amazon’s gone a step beyond, however, by employing local caching techniques to enable users to read their e-books offline, even without an active Internet connection.