This just in: the Kindle 2 is falling from $299 to $259 and they will be selling an international version with built-in AT&T SIM card for $279 on October 19. Quoth the suits:
“Kindle has revolutionized the way we purchase and read books, by making it mobile, easy and intuitive,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T. “We are excited to work with Amazon to help readers access books even faster and from significantly more places than ever before, including more than 100 countries and territories around the world through AT&T’s global wireless coverage.”
The new international model will be available for sale in 100 countries. No word on international content but presumably that’s a matter of rights management in each country.
Amazon Lowers Price on #1 Bestseller Kindle to $259 and Introduces New Addition to the Kindle Family of Wireless Reading Devices–Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless
#1 bestseller Kindle now $259,Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless now available for pre-order at $279 and ships Oct. 19SEATTLE, Oct 07, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN 90.80, -0.11, -0.12%) today announced that it is lowering the price of its #1 bestseller Kindle to $259, down from $299. Also today, Amazon.com introduced a new addition to its family of portable reading devices–Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless. Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless now enables readers to wirelessly download content in over 100 countries and territories. Readers can pre-order Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless starting today for $279 at www.amazon.com/kindle and it ships October 19.
“Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items we sell on Amazon, and we’re excited to be able to lower the price,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “We’re also excited to announce a new addition to the Kindle family–Kindle with global wireless. At home or abroad in over 100 countries, you can think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”
Kindle wirelessly downloads books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution 6-inch electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle utilizes the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so you never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot or sync with a PC. Readers can wirelessly shop the Kindle Store, download books in less than 60 seconds, automatically receive newspaper and magazine subscriptions, receive personal documents, and read from their library–now in over 100 countries and territories.
“Kindle has revolutionized the way we purchase and read books, by making it mobile, easy and intuitive,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T. “We are excited to work with Amazon to help readers access books even faster and from significantly more places than ever before, including more than 100 countries and territories around the world through AT&T’s global wireless coverage.”
The U.S. Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore) now has more than 350,000 books, including New Releases and 104 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers, which are typically $9.99 or less. More than 75,000 books have been added to the U.S. Kindle Store in just the last five months. Starting today, Lonely Planet guides are now available in the Kindle Store, joining existing travel guide selection from publishers Rick Steves, Frommers and Michelin.
“Lonely Planet is excited to make a vast selection of travel guides from Australia to Zanzibar available to Kindle customers around the world,” said Lonely Planet CEO Matt Goldberg. “Travelers can now pack as many Lonely Planet guides as they want into Kindle’s 10.2 ounces and download new guides wirelessly while travelling around the world.”
Over 50 top U.S. and international newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Times (UK), Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and the Shanghai Daily are available in the Kindle Store for single purchase or subscription, and can now be delivered wirelessly in over 100 countries and territories. Over 35 top magazines, such as The Economist, Newsweek, Time, The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, Forbes, Fortune, PC Magazine, and The New England Journal of Medicine are also available for single purchase or subscription, and can also be delivered wirelessly in the U.S. and abroad. U.S. Kindle customers can also continue to take advantage of the Kindle Store’s selection of over 7,000 blogs and receive new posts while traveling overseas.
Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless offers customers the same features that have helped make Kindle with U.S. Wireless the #1 bestselling product on Amazon.com, including:
– Slim and Trim: At just over a third of an inch thin (0.36 inches) and weighing just over 10 ounces, Kindle is pencil thin and lighter than a typical paperback.
– Reads Like Real Paper: Kindle’s 6-inch electronic ink display reads like printed words on paper because the screen works using real ink and doesn’t use a backlight, eliminating the eyestrain and glare associated with other electronic displays.
– Stores Up To 1,500 Books: Kindle’s 2 GB of memory holds up to 1,500 books and Kindle books are automatically backed up by Amazon so customers can re-download titles from their library.
– Read For Weeks On A Single Charge: Kindle’s electronic ink display sips battery power so users can read for over two weeks with wireless turned off and up to four days on a single charge with wireless on.
– Read-To-Me: With the experimental Text-To-Speech feature, Kindle can read most newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud.
– Automatically Syncs With Kindle and Kindle Compatible Devices: Amazon’s “Whispersync” technology automatically syncs customers’ last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless, Kindle with U.S. Wireless, Kindle DX, and Kindle compatible devices like Kindle for iPhone.
– Wirelessly Receive and Read Personal Documents: Wirelessly send, receive, and read personal documents in a variety of formats such as Microsoft Word and PDF.
– Instant Dictionary Lookup: Kindle comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary and over 250,000 definitions that appear instantly at the bottom of the page.
– Choose Text Size: Kindle lets readers customize their reading preference by providing six different text sizes.
– Bookmarks, Notes, and Highlights: By using the QWERTY keyboard Kindle users can add annotations to text, as well as highlight and clip key passages and bookmark pages for future use.
I still have no idea why they don’t have a WiFi version. I have the Kindle DX and I am always somewhere where there is a WiFi connection. It would make the device cheaper since Amazon would not need to pay Sprint (in the US) for the service and would also lower the price of the books (slightly).
I don’t mind them having a WiFi version as long as you can still buy the Whispernet Sprint version. I live in LA and have an ipod and many times can’t find an open wifi connection when I’m out and about. But, I can always get a connection on my kindle. I was at the beach in Monterrey a few months back and used Kindle to log onto Facebook of all things.
$199. That is the magic number Amazon. Do it. You will make it up in volume.
I agree. $199 has a much better ring to it and will drive a lot more sales. I have a 1st gen and I love it, but I wouldn’t consider upgrading to a 2nd gen unless it becomes more affordable.
You can buy refurbished for $220 that is from Amazon. :)
c’mon, its only $20!
…or just four Starbucks coffee at the airport. But it is not the same as $199. That is the magic number I tell ya.
I’d also like to see a WiFi version. Although, I’m tempted to buy this one.
Good point on a WiFi version. I think the sweet spot for e-readers is in the below $150 range. Between the expensive and flawed device, and the expensive and DRM’d books, Amazon still has a ways to go to make the Kindle take off.
“Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items we sell on Amazon”
Does anyone believe this? What a boatload of crap. I hope the SEC one day asks Amazon for supporting data…
It’s not unbelievable at all? It’s not the number one selling device IN THE WORLD, but on amazon? Sure, easily.
Anyone selling on Amazon with highly rated products will tell you how utterly unreliable Amazon’s lists are. I read this annoucement on Amazon.com. Clicking the link to find out about using the Kindle overseas takes you to a drop down menu to select your country but choose France, Spain, Germany, the announcement still appears in Englsh. Sort of arrogant not to offer it in native language and English.
Hey, I guess all three countries are well-educated enough to make out that content in English. We are used to that. – Max
Not hard to believe, considering they devote their homepage to the Kindle quite often. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people thought that’s all they sell.
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″
Also, no word on if the web browser will work overseas (wiki, for example), but I kinda doubt it…
Actually, Kindle store for international readers will include around 200k titles per the PR.
Oh, and for you arbitrary price dorks, you can get a refurbed Kindle 1for $150.
Kindle 2 = $260
Kindle 2 Refurbished = $220
Kindle 1 Refurbished = $150
I’m very happy with this amazon, job well done! Now.. just keep working on lowering the price. The magic number is… $200! So I might just buy a refurb…
No Canada? Absolutely Unacceptable. simple as that.
It’s not just no cananda, its no a lot of places. Most of that list is not available, so I would bet that they are just working out the kinks right now. Give it time, maybe by then it’ll be cheaper too.
Son of a bitch, and it still isn’t available to Canadians?
Aren’t they blocked from selling books in Canada because they don’t have a physical presence ?
Pretty much. That and Rogers doesn’t play too nice. That is also why I was told by CS that Amazon.ca is pretty small.
Sometimes I am ashamed of being a Canadian. This is truly disastrous. Not Amazon’s fault of course. You can blame the monopolies and the governments.
Why would anyone invest in a Kindle with the Apple Reader about to drop? That is where everyone will want to be in a few months.
I love Amazon but Amazon will not be able to compete against Apple with the Kindle in its current form.
“Why would anyone invest in a Kindle with the Apple Reader about to drop? That is where everyone will want to be in a few months.”
Not me. I prefer e-ink for reading novels. Better battery life, easier on the eyes and perfect to read outdoors.
There has been no reliable information on an Apple reader. Perhaps an Apple Tablet, but reading books on a tablet and reading them on a dedicated reader are as different as night and day. It does not surprise me that people are still buying Kindles, Sony Readers, etc instead of holding out hope for something that may not even come to be.
The Apple tablet won’t make a dent in the Kindle. I’ve owned tablets before, and I wouldn’t want to read on them. The Kindle, though, is excellent.
Don’t feed the troll people.
@ Bob23, Amazon sells books, music, and some electronics in Canada through amazon.ca
Waiting….. I hope it will arrive very soon to India
That’s pretty cool. I woulda loved a kindle for my trip to Europe. Also would be great to download some travel books instead of lugging around thick travel books.
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How is the international version going to work? Will subscribers pay for airtime/bandwidth consumption or Amazon will ink deals with 3G operators in the 100 countries it is going to launch in?
Anyone know if Amazon or book publishers subsidize the price since they can make it back up on e-book sales?
The Kindle is for sale in many African countries and even tiny pacific islands (Naura)
Yet it is not available for sale to users in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, or Thailand.
I am surprised!
Each of these countries have a sizeable English speaking population. In fact, the main language in cosmopolitan Singapore is English.
Weird!
Each country has their own laws, copyright restrictions, electronic specs that a device must pass. It just takes time to get a device out everywhere.
@ Thejesh … This new model is available in India it seems.
@ vsmith : True but remember the lawsuit when amazon stepped foot in Canada ? They must be trying to find a way to do the same with Kindle books.
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 would get it if it had Wifi. There is WiFi access at my home, work, and college… No need to use slow cell networks (no 3g around here, even if it was it would probably be gobbled up by other devices)
Man my life just got a lot easier. Every time I have flown back to Sydney in the last year someone has asked me to bring them one.
This GSM version will get a positive reception from the user..
If I’m not mistaken, this reader cannot read the ePub format which is why I chose another. Well, that and the 1984 debacle motivated me.
Below $200 would be the ideal price reduction offer. Am waiting for that to happen before purchasing.
Being that the Kindle 1 is selling for $150 refurb, that makes it an awesome price point! Even the K2 for $220 refurb doesn’t seem that bad. But with the purported Crunchpad and Applet Tablet set to come out somehwere in the next few months, I think that this is just a way for Amazon to beat them to the punch. It’s going to create some interesting price wars in the next few months! Sony’s been hiding in the depths for a bit.
What I want to see is a universal DRM on ebooks so that if and when I might end up purchasing books on the Kindle store, I’d want them to work everywhere else. It’s great that I can read my purchased stuff on the iPhone, but just in case I upgrade to a different reader, I want to keep my books.
From the US Amazon site:
“Newspapers and magazines delivered outside the U.S. will not include photos and other images.”
That puts the mockers on it for me…
Well, at least now I can hope to see some kindled spirits in this part of the world. Hopefully. http://blog.momekh.com/2009/10/07/kindle-me-now/
Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing. I am not sure if I would get one.
they are not in India..Apples tablet will come first..I hope
Never heard of the international kindle, that must have different languages or something. The price drop to $259 makes it more affordable.
Wouldn’t be surprised if they announce a WiFi version in 3 months! So they can get rid of this stock?!
Re: the lookup feature – is there only an English dictionary?
How do you transfer books from your old Kinle 1 to the international one?
thanks
Jess
a new software and hardware platform kindle 2, soon to be arise and hope there video to see the features.
I love the way that they say the 3G connection is free, oh but the bestsellers are all $2 more expensive. I hate that dishonest shit!
$199 and WiFi, you’ll sell Zillions Internationally Amazon! The Authors will make MUCH more money, and the World will be a better place for it. But nooooo, THEY won’t let you.
I wonder how much would be the shipping cost, since for regions like India, when I order books, the shipping cost is like a big percentage of the price. With electronics, who know? I wonder also if they ship from their global stores outside US or will they ship all across.
I am waiting for better screen technology so that whatever device I choose can function as more than just a dedicated reader. See Qualcomm’s new technology blogged about today – http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/10/09/qualcomms-new-mirasol-screens-show-potential/
I don’t like Kindle.
This is a wonderful gadget. Lightweight, tons of space for 1500 books, thin, 3G wireless without contracts, monthly fees. What else could a reader ask for?
Phenomenal product.
Amazon is pre-ordering the Kindle 2 International version for $279. The Kindle 2 US version is available new for $259 or refurbished from $219.
Update: Amazon’s Kindle 2 gets a new $20 price cut, now you can buy it for $259.