Amazon (s AMZN) today announced that it will start selling a global wireless version of Kindle DX (the 9.7-inch display version) in more than 100 countries for about $489 a pop starting Jan. 19. Just like the Kindle global edition, Amazon is using GSM technologies — GPRS, EDGE and 3G — to power its global WhisperNet, which allows you to download books for free.
It’s a smart move, especially for those of us who travel internationally a lot and sometimes want to buy a book on the spur of the moment. What do you guys think? Time for me to upgrade from my first edition Kindle?
(Related reports from GigaOM Pro: Evolution of the e-Book Market & How Barnes & Noble Can Avoid Getting Netflixed.)
Yes Kindle 2 is nice, time for you to upgrade, get with the program!
These ‘global edition’ Kindles certainly bring clear advantages for US-based owners who travel internationally. They’re much less compelling for international buyers, though.
For example (and it’s a small point) they only ship with US power plugs.
Books appear more expensive overseas, as the ‘free’ WhisperNet download is actually offset by a higher book price outside the US.
Downloads of newspapers and magazines by non-US customers don’t include any images… even if it’s a UK paper (say) being downloaded in the UK by a UK customer.
The Kindle’s great. The Global Edition is great for the travelling American. Amazon have a long way to go if they want to offer a serious product to their book/magazine/newspaper-reading customers in other countries.
I look forward to them offering a device that I could seriously justify buying here in the UK. The current Global Edition lineup isn’t it, as there are far too many compromises and limitations outside the US.
It is disappointing for international customers. Most of the books I want are not available for my region. It is silly indeed. I can buy the same physical book on Amazon have them shipped to my country but I can’t buy a digital copy.
The ebookreader market is constantly changing, and this is a good move on Amazon’s part to keep their ereaders competitive. With new ebook readers just on the horizon, it’s pretty much a necessity! Although the Kindle is a strong product, they do lack some of the features other ereaders have. There’s a nice side-by-side comparison chart for Nook, Sony and Kindle at:
http://ebookreader.compare2save.net