Amazon goes global with new Kindle
Amazon's Kindle.
(Credit: Amazon)Amazon announced late Tuesday that it was introducing a new version of its Kindle e-book reader that can wirelessly download books in the United States and more than 100 countries.
The new device, which is expected to ship on October 19, is physically similar to the previous Kindle with a six-inch display. However, the new e-reader will be capable of downloading books and periodicals via wireless networks belonging to AT&T and its international partners.
"We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books," Amazon.com Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. "Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds."
The online retailer also announced that it would cut the price of its U.S. Kindle by $40 to $259, bringing it more in line with Sony's Reader Pocket Edition, which sells for $199. The price cut is the second for Amazon's e-reader in four months: in July, the price of the Kindle 2 dropped from $359 to $299. Amazon also sells a larger version called the Kindle DX for $489.
The Seattle-based e-tailer said international customers will have access to about 220,000 book titles at its Kindle Store compared with the 350,000 titles available to U.S. customers. Publishers involved with the store include Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Lonely Planet, Harlequin, Penguin, Bloomsbury, and Hachette.
With the announcements, Amazon is attempting to position itself for a boom in e-reader sales that Forrester Research expects in the U.S. over the next few years. In a report to be released Wednesday, Forrester Research raised its 2009 forecast for e-reader sales in the United States to 3 million units from its previous prediction of 2 million sales. Forrester Research also expects Amazon's Kindle to command about 60 percent of the e-reader market in 2009, compared with 35 percent for Sony's Reader.
"This holiday season, eReaders will be one category that's a breakout success," Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said in the report. "Lower prices, more content, better distribution, and lots of media hype are contributing to faster-than-expected adoption of eReader devices in 2009."
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. Before joining CNET News in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers. E-mail Steven. 
In any case, with price drops like this, it proves once again that it doesn't pay to become an 'early adopter'.
Re: early adopter comment...so what else is new? It's typically that way with the vast majority of tech. It's only a question of whether you want to deprive yourself of the benefits (if there really are any) while you're waiting to get off the sidelines.
I fair to understand why people bend themselves to technology, instead of buying technology that works the way they want.
Especially over a logo.
Certainly, not all of the Android apps would be appropriate, for an e-Ink display (e.g. video), but things like:
1. listening to music (there's already an Amazon Music app!),
2. browsing the web (using Fast Flip would be cool!),
3. reading/writing email, IMs, SMS, blogs, etc.,
4. viewing/editing docs (with Google Apps, Zoho, Quickoffice, DocumentsToGo, etc.),
5. viewing maps,
would be great!
Hopefully, a future ebook or reader device will be offered by somebody that protects a basic right to privacy (whether that right is explicit or not).
Trust me, no one is spying on you. People need to stop being so paranoid. FWIW, Amazon keeps a history of every purchase you've ever made from them. Is that spying? As far as remotely deleting content, Amazon has promised not to do it again and so far has kept their word. Since the 1984 debacle, there have been a number of other pirated books removed from the Kindle store. People who purchased those books no longer have the option of re-downloading them, however they were refunded the purchase price and the original copy was not deleted from their Kindles. If you are so concerned about retaining the books you've purchased, just back them up someplace which is what you should do anyway with a device that uses digital files.
Apparently your attempt to downplay the damage Amazon has caused to e-book holders failed. Remember that Amazon has yet to implement any measures that prevents Amazon from deleting holders' e-books without permission. If they want to fulfill their promise, do something about it. Unless they have done so, I will refrain from purchasing kindle.
I doubt you can actually say that with any assurance. Five years ago, the President of the United States assured us all that there was no wiretapping of American citizens going on, and that turned out to be false - but I should take the word of someone on an anonymous forum here that Amazon has no way to determine what files are on your Kindle? If you know for a fact that they don't have the technical ability - then that's great. If the technical capability *does* exist, however, well we know what happened when AT&T was pressured into effectively spying on phone-calls for the government: they did it.
I don't think it's paranoia when Amazon has a demonstrated technical ability to determine what's on your device, the ability to delete it, and the will to do so (even if they now promise not to do it again). Generally, whenever the technical ability to do something with information arises, governments eventually use that ability. The FBI's "carnivore" program comes to mind... and while I am confident that you're correct that "nobody is spying" on me right - that's not really the point. Giving corporations and our Federal government increasing amounts of information that used to be private, and in a way that it can be aggregated and used, is increasing their power.
As for Amazon's record of my purchases - well, duh, of course. However, if I add my own content to the kindle (say, ebooks or other documents I've gotten elsewhere), does Amazon have the technical ability to upload those files to their servers over the 2-way 3G connection? I don't know - and I bet you don't know either. For now, I'm content to use paper books, and to buy most of them at the giant bookstore in a nearby mall (I live in Bangkok, so until the Kindle is really international, it's not much use to me anyway).
I still don't get why this thing doesn't have WiFi in it. That more than makes up for all the advantages it has as an ebook platform compared to other, multipurpose devices like the iPhone (which has 3G and Wifi).
I do not get it, I wish I could just buy the book and then load the books from my PC/Mac without paying roaming fees. I do not know if there is a way to circumvent this "wireless tax", and I know it is great and comfortable "to download books wirelessly in less than 60 seconds". The question remains: are you willing to pay the "wireless tax"? But consider the following 5 NY Times best sellers with the US & International service will cost you the same as 6...
I believe kindle is a great device, but I still think there are a few flaws that need to be addressed before massive adoption by the general public.
Why would Amazon want to "make up for all of the ADVANTAGES it has"???
<sarcasm>I don't think that an "iRead Shuffle" mindset is in the cards...kind of hard to actually read anything with no screen! </sarcasm>
Also with little effort you can convert PDF files to a sequence of images which can be read easily on the kindle. You could also hack your Kindle and install the PDF converter hack but that eats battery life and prevents you from installing official updates
You can have Kindle in Albania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, but not in Canada.
And this is not Amazon's fault, mind you.
About U$250 for the Kindle.
U$1.00 = R$1.80 (in Brazil)
So it'd be R$450.00 for the Kindle with no taxes.
Multiplying it by 2 or 3, that is what happens to the price when electronics get imported...
Over R$1000.00 for a Kindle, more than twice the minimum wage.
Nope... I'll wait some more years until I even think about getting one.
Let's look at Kindle...no color,roaming fees,books are essentially rented and amazon can pull them from you in a flash.
Netbbok..color,less money. PDF files that are yours and not locked onto and verified.Does more stuff as does any tablet pc. Book publishers can and do assist visually impaired people with electronic files.
As a tech fan, I always go for the items that look interesting... and then if a new "better" version comes along... SELL your old tech on ebay and put the money toward the new tech. Does it cost more? depends on how you look at. If you can get 40-50% of a products price back... after a year or two... and put it towards new tech... then you win. You had the benefit of the old tech while you waited... and the benefit of extra money from the "sell" to put toward new tech. If you play the game right, then you'll always have a buyer and you'll never be on the sidelines.
So stop arguing about the wait-ifs and waiting. I don't own a Kindle... but I've used one. What a great piece of technology. If you are looking for an e-reader, then buy it. You won't be disappointed and if you are.. or if you have buyer's remorse in 8 months... just know you have the option to throw your parachute and go for something different.
- by Highlowsel October 8, 2009 3:17 AM PDT
- People are getting too wrapped up in the trees (the device) and missing the forest (content availability and distribution). The Kindle is a nice, though I'm sure it'll endure all the usual competitive aspects associated with being a "first mover" device. But this is relatively unimportant. What's more important is establishing the global mechanism by which CONTENT, with relative ease, can be distributed to whatever device is available. And having content (or agreements for same) to distribute to said device (s). This is key. And this is where Amazon bears watching as I see them being waay out in front in this regard.....with Google probably their own potential competitor in this regard.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (41 Comments)Think of it this way......Kindle (the device) is the razor. Content, is the razor-blade.....
John