10-07-2009, 03:31 AM | #31 |
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Great news for Amazon and internationals like me in .au - lousy news for Sony. Which is a shame because everything I've heard pegs Sony devices as being better than the Kindle.
But maybe that's Sony's fault for not moving fast enough. |
10-07-2009, 03:32 AM | #32 | |
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Some good news is that you can change your country on the "Manage Your Kindle" page. You will probably need a US credit card or to use the gift certificate trick to buy the American selection at US prices. The curious question will be whether books are still wirelessly delivered regardless of which country you are in. Since the international Kindles are designed for travelling overseas, I doubt they will require customers to change their location whenever they cross a border. |
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10-07-2009, 03:36 AM | #33 | |
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1. Despite what the Kindle International homepage says about $9.99 NYT bestsellers for international readers, NONE of NTY Bestsellers to any other country than the US appear to be under $11.99 (with some over). And then is added the $1.99 international surcharge. 2. Only about half of the counties listed have wireless downloads available. "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" Last edited by sforce; 10-07-2009 at 04:24 AM. |
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10-07-2009, 03:49 AM | #34 |
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10-07-2009, 03:53 AM | #35 |
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Thanks for that, BK. Quite fascinating.
I live in France where 'Kindling' is unlikely to spark a bonfire because relatively few ebooks are available in the French language. I'm a Brit, though, so it's interesting to see that Amazon justifies the two dollar hike in best seller prices there by claiming 'includes VAT'. As has been correctly pointed out in another thread here, ebook downloads are merely 'licences'. This means they are 'services' rather than 'purchases', thus carrying 6% VAT and not the 19% which the price increase reflects. Where's the extra buck and a half going? By the way, I'm a partner in a small indie publishing house in Europe (BeWrite Books). The ebook versions of our paperback titles and those of scores of others were dropped by Amazon when they opened their own Kindle-specific store because publishers had to have an 'official' US presence. As far as I can see, publishers (and self-publishers) without registered US offices and/or US tax and social security numbers are still excluded. Cheers. Neil (who's quite happy with the freedoms offered by his Sony PRS-505 and would prefer a small box of good Havanas for Christmas to a Kindle -- and not just because Cuban cigars are one of the very few things left that we can buy and Americans can't). |
10-07-2009, 03:56 AM | #36 |
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Someting bugs me, the UK website say amazon meant to do an "uk-centrer kindle experience. And no such thing on the fr website.
And while I might have considered it to get access to the books on amazon, the no ePub support kills it. Given that European publishers uses only ePub... |
10-07-2009, 04:20 AM | #37 |
a pthread?? where? where?
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It will not be a real international and localized Kindle, but a US centric device that will be able to do roaming in other country.
You will only be able to get (for now) US books, and maybe less if there is region lockout, you will have to pay in US dollars even if it's not your local money, so you will be charged for money conversion, etc. It's not even sure that the service will stay free of charges... |
10-07-2009, 04:23 AM | #38 |
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Not really. Have you looked at the "roaming" charges for data on GSM networks? And don't forget that, in the EU, eBooks are liable for the full rate of VAT, which is anywhere from about 15% to 25%.
Last edited by HarryT; 10-07-2009 at 04:25 AM. |
10-07-2009, 04:28 AM | #39 | ||
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10-07-2009, 04:36 AM | #40 |
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What about existing US Kindles in Europe?
Sorry for asking a naive question:
Lots of us have ordered US Kindles. It has been okay to use them via USB and not having had Whispernet so far. But of course, with the international units approaching, it would be nice to switch. Will the international units be "hard coded", i. e. fixed SIM card for the respective country? What if someone with the "German Kindle" travels to, let's say, UK. Can he download there without additional fees? If so, theoretically this should be possible with the "old" US units as well? Or is it only possible with the "international" ones? So, will all units be working everywhere (as long as there's coverage)? And will this apply to the "old" US units as well? Last edited by mgmueller; 10-07-2009 at 04:39 AM. |
10-07-2009, 04:39 AM | #41 |
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The old units probably only have a cdma radio in them and thus still won't work outside the usa.
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10-07-2009, 04:42 AM | #42 |
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While this news is a useful first step to try and shake up some of the international markets, with their claimed figures for books being 280 (UK/AUS), 290k (NL/DE) compared with 350k for the states, I think the sensible approach will be to sit back and let other people see just how bad the geographic restrictions turn out to be in practice rather than theory.
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10-07-2009, 04:44 AM | #43 | |
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Performance wouldn't be that important to me. Whether it's EDGE or whatever. But being able to download via Whispernet (or whatever the name will be in Europe) would be nice. Maybe just switch providers via Firmware upgrade? |
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10-07-2009, 04:44 AM | #44 |
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I have a US Kindle also, and I live in Belgium. When hearing the news about an international Kindle I wondered if mine will work also, but no luck, the modem is changed from EVDO to HSDPA.
My question is... If I register my Kindle now will I be able to buy books and download them to my computer? Or when registering it will complain with something like "you have a US Kindle, can't be registerd from your location". Hm... But I think Amazon made a smart move, instead of negociationg individually with GSM operators it transfered the costs to users... |
10-07-2009, 04:48 AM | #45 |
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