Amazon has released the Kindle International Wireless for $279 – basically its a Kindle 2 International version that has wireless outside of the US (it ships to 100+ countries).
For some strange reason Amazon have given it an unwieldy new name i.e. Kindle US & International Wireless. Wouldn’t Kindle 2 have been enough, or at most Kindle 2 International?
Kindle International instead of Kindle UK.
There were strong rumors (for the umpteenth time) that Kindle UK was about to arrive.
- Amazon has really given book lovers all over the world an early Christmas Gift by releasing it for 100+ countries.
- Of course, there will be custom duties and shipping and other charges which take away a bit from the kindle international release.
You can pre-order it now, and it’ll ship after its release date on October 19th, 2009.
More details on the Kindle US & International Wireless
Here’s the scoop on the differences from the Kindle 2 -
- The comparison chart lists only that the Kindle International version comes with International wireless coverage.
- The Kindle International’s technical specifications list confirms that the only difference is a HSDPA modem -
HSDPA modem (3G) with a fallback to EDGE/GPRS; utilizes Amazon Whispernet to provide wireless coverage via AT&T’s 3G high-speed data network in the U.S. and partner networks outside of the U.S.
It’ll be really interesting to see what the partner networks are and what terms they agreed to (although the latter may not be revealed).
Kindle International’s release date is October 19, 2009 and it would not be a surprise to see it sell out.
What’s different in the Kindle International Wireless Service?
Let’s take the example of Kindle UK and we see some interesting differences i.e.
Fee for personal documents is $0.99 per MB – considerably more than the 15 cents per MB in the US.
Books, newspapers and magazines on Kindle International version will be priced in US dollars.
Blogs and the Experimental Web Browser are not available.
Amazon also clearly state that the custom duties and shipping charges will be listed
For the Kindle in UK the charges are -
- Kindle International Shipping Charge of $21.
- Import Fees deposit of $45.
That totals up to $345 which is not bad at all. Also delivery is supposed to be between October 21st and 24th which is really quick.
Also, Kindle International seems not to be available in Canada. That’s terrible.
Filed under: availability, kindle Tagged: | kindle international, kindle uk
This is a huge development. I travel a great deal overseas and I get a lot fo questions about my Kindle. I will have to get one for sure.
In other news, what does this do to your Kindle 3 projections?
Weren’t you very sure that they would release an upgrade by the end of the year. I don’t think this counts…
I am very angry about this as I have an early model Kindle 2 that I got as a present from someone in the US, but I live in Mexico. When I was in Mexico last year, up until the end of September, my Kindle 2 worked PERFECTLY, with 3G even. Then when the “international version” came out, it suddenly stopped working. Now I have to shell out another $259 to upgrade, when the hardware I have already used to work just fine?
No thanks. I’ll get an iPad.
That’s unfortunate.