We can't say that we never saw
this day coming, but we definitely didn't it see it coming today. After months of forcing us to twiddle our thumbs (and a good bit of
pressure from other
e-reader players), Amazon has finally taken the
Kindle international. Aside from being able to wirelessly download content in over 100 countries and territories, the 6-inch device is the same as it ever was. The $279 price tag on the Kindle U.S. & International Wireless now represents a $20 premium over the standard Kindle, which simultaneously fell from $299 to $259 in price and picked up a new label ("Kindle U.S. Wireless"). The extra Jackson is evidently there to cover the inevitable roaming charges that'll occur when downloading new content overseas, but given AT&T's extensive global roaming footprint (yeah, the global reader is tied to AT&T, not
Sprint), you should be covered in most every nation fit to visit. Feel free to place your pre-order now, and get ready for a new life as a globetrotting digital bookworm come October 19th.
Update: Just saw this in the
fine print: "When traveling abroad, you can download books wirelessly from the Kindle Store or your Archived Items for a fee of $1.99."
[Thanks, Tom]
Read - Kindle goes international
Read - US Kindle falls to $259
posted Oct 7th 2009 12:29AM
Oh kindle, if only you had a stylus...
Still not buying one though...
Amazon's new International Kindle. Now able to delete your books from thousands of miles away.
Does anyone know how the internet access is? For example, Wikipedia? I can just type wikipedia.org into (where?) and it will take me there?
except when you are in China.
you win an internet!
The Internet browser is barely up to par. It'll go to Wikipedia fine (and thanks to the simple formatting of the site, will be rendered in an alright fashion), but the browser is slow and thanks to e-Ink, browsing is a chore.
The Kindle is best left for books, magazines, and newspapers (I own a Kindle 2)
It appears that web browsing is disabled for International users, presumably because of roaming fees.
We (internationals) do not also have images from newspapers and magazines.
Blogs and the experimental web browser are currently not available for your country
@181: As a frequent traveler to China, I can tell you that you know not of what you speak. Wikipedia is easily accessible there (in Guangzhou, at least).
On the other hand, the International Kindle will NOT have access in China (the world's largest market...), says Amazon. It's a problem of corporate competition, though, not politics.
Meh. Wake me up when it falls under $100. I guess you can call me Rip Van Kindle.
Got excited for a minute until I found out it is not being shipped to Canada.
You're right. WTF!. I just went to the area on Amazon where you can select your country from a dropdown list to check for availability. No Canada. Then I randomly clicked on 4 other countries. No deal. Then I clicked on Zambia. Yup, Zambia's good to go. International my butt.
Just remember though, it's not Amazon's fault. It has to do with distribution rights. I'm sure Amazon would love to sell to everyone.
Oh, come one, at least they show a message saying they are working to ship the kindle to Canda but there are many other countries who are being constantly ignored by international organizations like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Sony and many more. They're not even planning to ship products or provide services to our countries and their service here sucks! You know, THERE IS A WORLD OUTSIDE AMERICA, EUROPE and some of the Asian markets they consider worth being serviced, and it is full of people who are willing to pay for these services and products.
And on that note I'd like to congratulate Pay-Pal for its efforts in providing service in many countries around the world.
No Canada!? That's it, I'm moving to Zambia!
On second thought, I'd stick with my Sony PRS and my life.
Not to Canada because of your protectionist government. Amazon is not to blame. One reason I moved south. Got my K2 at launch and love it :P
Here's the catch:
"Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise. When traveling abroad, you can download books wirelessly from the Kindle Store or your Archived Items for a fee of $1.99"
What's wrong with this? Roaming charges are the norm, and if you use your PC to download, no $1.99 fee is applied.
I wish the same happened to the Zune HD
Not available in Canada according to the website.
Solvenia is getting the Kindle, Belarus is getting the Kindle, Russia is getting the Kindle, Georgia is getting the Kingle, Ukraine is getting the Kindle... but Canada... oh NO... can't let Soviet Canuckistan have the Kindle.
I just know... KNOW... that the CRTC and / or Rogers are behind this. No Zune HD, No Zune Marketplace, Substandard iTunes (compared to the 'States), no eReaders of anykind, forever to get the iPhone... does anyone ever get the feeling that our own government / public service is trying to push us back into the stone age?!
Haiti is getting the Kindle........
It's NOT the CRTC that's behind this. Some of it's rights, some of it's the carriers. And it's a pain in the ass.
No Zune Marketplace. No Kindle. No Hulu.
Sony has a Canada ebook store and the PRS models are now sold at most major retailers and computer stores instead of just the Sony Store.
iPhones are now open to all carriers (both of them!) and at least you didn't have to buy the phone 3 times to get one that has everything the first should have.
this thing is almost getting affordable.
Macjonny, go to Wikipedia and find out what e-ink is? Then I want you to come back to this blog and apologize for posting you comment. I take that back, first change your font color to black so that you can't hide behind your post. After all that is done, I will give you permission to stick it in your apple tablets little usb port once it ships. .
Have you all heard about the mac tablet coming out soon? It will trounce anything the Kindle ever thought of being, plus it will be beautiful and sexy like every other Apple device. I can't get enough Apple products/news/whatever. I feel sorry for the losers buying the kindle with its black and white screen. HELLLOOOOOO AMAZON!!! The 1950s called and wants its technology back. Oh, I guess you are calling it e-ink now so that makes it better than my grayscale Commodore 64 somehow.
Just you wait. Apple will soon be king of the ereaders just like they took the mobile phone market by storm. Please engadget: More Apple news quit being a MS/Google/Android/Verizon fanboy!!
Of course the Kindle is black and white. Do you really need the option to read your romance novels with pink text on a black background. If Apple puts out a tablet I'll probably want it but it will probably not have that E Ink screen and you need that for an E Reader, not some shiny screen like the iToch has. Yeah, I said iTouch.
Outside of the pathetic trolling, I want to know how you DARE malign the C64. Greyscale, my ass.
What? You had a Commodore 64? What kind of loser buys non-apple garbage?
I am just using your own logic here.
Rwanda gets the Kindle and Singapore doesn't? Brilliant.
They ship to Niue, Australia, Fiji, Mongolia and they don't ship to New Zealand. Once again we are forgotten about, fantastic.
Um. Your Jackson gets you nothing, or that is it gets you the right to pay a buck a meg for your books - Per Amazon's page: "Kindle (U.S. & International Wireless) user living outside the United States: We'll send personal files to your Kindle via Whispernet for a fee of $ .99 (USD) per megabyte anywhere in the world you access Whispernet service." Why not just buy the US version and email the books/magazines to yourself via the USB transfer.
And Engadget - come on guys, please go read the small print before you post. It wasn't hard to find the quote.
See the javalink : Click here to see important information specific to your country
I still feel like the price is too high. In fact the Sony Pocket Edition for $200 still feels too high, maybe if it goes on sale I'll grab one. I'm also curious, maybe some folks who actually own one (I assume you exist), how often do you actually use the wireless to buy books? Somehow I just don't see myself ever needing that. I'm never far away from a computer and if I am so busy that I can't sync to a computer do I have time to read a new book? Maybe, but I'm skeptical.
I have over 300 Kindle books now. I almost always deliver the books wirelessly because its the most convenient way. I actually sometimes purchase from a PC because it's a lot faster interface and easier to research books. I'd guess I purchase wirelessly 40% of the time, but download via USB less than 5% of the time. The wireless delivery is very convenient for periodicals; for me, the Kindle is nearly a perfect way to receive and read the Wall Street Journal.
Choose country:
Canada
Unfortunately, we are currently unable to ship Kindles or offer Kindle content in Canada. We are working to make Kindle available to our Canadian customers as soon as possible.
wtf, we're like right above you! no zune hd, no netflix, no hulu, no psn video store, seriously the CRTC is driving canada to the technological stone age. at least we get an iphone from 3 different carriers now!
Oddly enough on the International Space Station a lot of the robotics and communications are built by the Canadian Space Agency and its subcontractors. That isn't saying a whole lot since most space tech is pretty ancient in its own right, but still makes you wonder.
I'll trade you PSN video store for universal healthcare; deal?
if you add shipping and import tax its $344.98 in the uk or £216.52 i feel like I've just been kicked in the teeth
So get a Sony or a Bookeen, or Cooler.. All about £180 or less. Same display, same purpose, but the others are not going to handcuff you to one store.
New Zealand?
Kindle? Yeah, well, whatever.
Also of interest, I just looked at the Kindle international UK and Mexico web pages (as a sample), and bestsellers are not really the advertised $9.99...see below:
UK:
Low Book Prices: New York Times® Best Sellers and New Releases are $11.99 to $13.99 (prices include VAT), unless marked otherwise. You'll also find many books for less - over 70,000 titles are priced under $5.99
Mexico:
Low Book Prices: New York Times® Best Sellers and New Releases are $11.99, unless marked otherwise. You'll also find many books for less - over 100,000 titles are priced under $5.99
Again, I'll note, this also speaks to the (lack of) honestly emanating from Amazon's Bezos, whereas the press release (and order page) is quite specific about the "$9.99 Bestsellers" price point. Nothing like a little fine print to hide behind...
Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise. When traveling abroad, you can download books wirelessly from the Kindle Store or your Archived Items for a fee of $1.99
I find it remarkable (and disturbing), someone doesn't hold Bezos' feet to the coals...
I can't speak for Mexico without looking into it more, but in the UK it's the sales tax (sorry, "VAT") that's the difference. That's a problem with how your government obscures how much it's gouging the populace, not a problem with Amazon's press releases.
Hm, they only mention the $1.99 wireless fee for "US customers travelling internationally." Wonder if they don't charge for downloading in your (international) home country, or if it's just added to the book price within the store.
Oops, beaten to the punch. Good catch sforce.
looks like they add it in the store.
I've put together a table that lists every country in which Kindle is available along with number of books, their pricing, wireless availability etc at http://blogkindle.com/2009/10/international-release-of-kindle-2/
I wonder if the international Kindle will work in Vancouver, since the "wireless coverage map" seems to cover it. Anyone have a clue if Whispernet will work here?