Kindle Does EPUB

[Nathanael]

Kindle has hit China. A couple of weeks ago I happened across a Kindle 3 at Metro City, the major Shanghai electronics mall. As recently as a month ago the Kindle was still a no-show here in Shanghai; now every vendor booth has it.

I had some time today, so I stopped by to take a look. To paraphrase Henry Ford, the K3 is available here in any color you can imagine -- as long as you can only imagine black. It comes with the usual bevy of features --WiFi, 4GB memory, USB port. But to cut to the chase it had two features of note: the first, .azw support, was noticeable by its absence. But even more noticeable was the presence of epub support.

Yes, folks, you read that right: in Shanghai the Kindle does not do Kindle[*], but it does do epub. So I decided to test it: I whipped the SD card out of my Sibrary, grabbed a random epub and cabled it over to the K3 (ironically, it happened to be a copy of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow which I had downloaded from Barnes & Noble; there was something serenely odd about watching the Kindle screen fade in to the BN logo). I lay my G5 down next to the K3 for comparison, and can attest that Washington Irving looked every bit as good on the Kindle as it does on my Sibrary.

(Interestingly, several customers looking over my shoulder as I was doing my test ultimately decided they liked my Sibrary better and wandered off in search of one for themselves.)

A more general observation: since buying my G5 at Metro City last year, I've noticed a sea change in the ereader market here. Six months ago nearly the only non-Chinese brand reader available was Sony. Today I saw almost all the usual suspects -- everything from Pandigital to Sony to the new iRiver Cover Story (wow! I want one of [those]!); the only conspicuously absent major player was the Nook.

The asking price of 1400-1500rmb was a bit steep compared to Stateside, but that's usual. IPads run about a third more in Shanghai than in the US. As to whether the Kindle is selling, one salesperson assured me it was selling well; another muttered the Chinese equivalent of "meh".

As to obtaining content, everyone assured me I could buy books wirelessly, but they were all a bit hedgy on how exactly it worked.

--Nathanael

[*]Well at least, that is, according to the salestaff and the manual in the box -- which listed a long line of formats from TXT, PDF and HTML to CHM, MOBI and EPUB, but not AZW. Since I don't own an AZW ebook, I couldn't test it.

[jeromedevine]

Can you post photos showing this?

[HarryT]

According to Amazon, the Kindle is not sold in China. Are you sure that these weren't a local copy? That sounds a lot more likely than a genuine Kindle that supports ePub.

[Tiersten]

You sure it wasn't one of the many clones out there?

[Nate the great]

Do you have any pictures? I wanna see it!

[Nathanael]

Originally Posted by HarryT

According to Amazon, the Kindle is not sold in China. Are you sure that these weren't a local copy? That sounds a lot more likely than a genuine Kindle that supports ePub.

Metro City is flooded with knock-offs; I bought a fake iPhone there last year. However, two things suggest to me that we're dealing with the genuine article here. First, the vendors are generally quite up front about their fakes; many customers in fact go there specifically looking for them. However, in this case, the vendors assured me it was genuine.

Second, it was priced well above US levels (1500rmb=$US220), which is consistent with pricing on product out of the US. iPads, for example, run about 30% more here than stateside. Conversely the whole point of the knock-off industry is to undercut the genuine article. E.g., my fake iPhone cost me about 40% of the price on the real deal (900rmb vs. 2000 for the genuine iPhone two booths over). Further, my knock-off iPhone lacked a number of features from the real-deal product; once again, the vendor was quite open and honest about it.

That being said, being the genuine article doesn't guarantee it's authorized. Grey market is also exceedingly common. I bought a Wii console at Metro City about a year ago; it came fully loaded with all the latest hacks -- everything from Homebrew Channel to the USB Loader -- of necessity, it being impossible to find a legal copy of any Wii game here (like movies and software, Wii games can be had on any street corner for a buck and change per disc). While I've no doubt the console itself is genuine, whether the vendor was an authorized dealer is difficult to say -- he claims he is, but I'm pretty sure the preinstallation of Wii hacks was unauthorized.

That being said, on the assumption we are dealing with a grey market product, should Amazon ever attempt to legitimately enter the Chinese market, like Microsoft it may find itself in an uphill battle against its own product. From what I could see, the K3s at Metro City lacked nothing from the K3 at Amazon.com, and added value, in terms of jail-breaking and additional format support at the least.

Do you have any pictures? I wanna see it!

Unfortunately, no. Metro City vendors tend to get all bristly at customers trying to photograph their product. However, visually it is indistinguishable to my eye from the K3 photos over at Amazon.com.

--Nathanael

[DiapDealer]

But to cut to the chase it had two features of note: the first, .azw support, was noticeable by its absence. But even more noticeable was the presence of epub support.

No way, does Amazon manufacture and distribute a device that can't read the format they sell in their online store. They have to be knockoffs. Or real Kindle hardware being sold with third-party (Duokan-like) firmware.

[chyron8472]

I have to say that I agree.


Put up photos of this Kindle. You should also download an azw from somewhere like Project Gutenberg and try it on the...



Wait, WHAT?!?

Originally Posted by Nathanael

I whipped the SD card out of my Sibrary, grabbed a random epub and cabled it over to the K3

a K3 with an SD card slot?? No, no no no.... That doesn't sound right either.




...now that I think about it, a genuine Kindle also has: printed on the top in the center. Does this one also have that?

[pboss]

Pics or it didn't happen!

[Beary]

Maybe the seller have installed Duokan

[snipenekkid]

Originally Posted by Beary

Maybe the seller have installed Duokan

that seems like the most likely situation. The vendors have a commonly available, in China anyway, hack for the K3 which adds that ability. I am even thinking about it as my K2i exits it's warranty period and seeing what is actually out there that does not remove my ability to get my OTA books but adds a new layer over the embedded OS to let other apps run and read other formats.

[grizedale]

Originally Posted by chyron8472

Wait, WHAT?!?

a K3 with an SD card slot?? No, no no no.... That doesn't sound right either.

I think the key phrase is 'cabled it over' not that he used the card in the K3...

[Nathanael]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Or real Kindle hardware being sold with third-party (Duokan-like) firmware.

That rang a bell. One of the K3s had "www.duokan.com" on its power-off screen. I detailed in my previous post why I believe the K3s are genuine. But a read through the duokan thread here convinces me I was seeing the alternative firmware, which would be quite consistent with the Shanghai market -- see my previous comments on Wii consoles.

For anyone interested, here are some interesting reads on the state of the grey market in China and what manufacturers like Apple and Amazon can do about it. In short, not much. Build in artificial market restrictions and the Chinese market will simply reroute around it. iPhone, iPad, and now Amazon. In six months China may be flooded with Kindles over which Amazon has no control.

'Gray market' for counterfeit gadgets is red hot in China (Washington Post)
The Gray Market from the Perspective of an Independent Distributor
Inside the iPhone Gray Market (Business Week)

Originally Posted by chyron8472

a genuine Kindle also has: printed on the top in the center.

Sorry, I didn't hear that Has a colon on the top?

--Nathanael

[chyron8472]

you can't see the image?

hmm....

Let's try this again. A genuine Kindle 3 has the Amazon Kindle Logo on the top in the center.

[Nathanael]

Originally Posted by chyron8472

A genuine Kindle 3 has the Amazon Kindle Logo

Yes, the logo was there. No, it means nothing. Knock-offs are usually indisinguishable from the genuine article, right down to logos and trademark symbols. Nevertheless, see my previous posts and the links I provided for why these were probably the real deal -- essentially, genuine Kindles that escaped from the authorized distribution channels. Happens all the time. Really the only surprise is how long it took.

--Nathanael