New Amazon Kindle UK launches
Kindle – the British invasion begins
A new UK Amazon Kindle is headed our way next month. It marks the first time that Amazon’s famous eBook reader has been given a full UK release – up until now consumers have had to make do with a US version and shop from Amazon’s Stateside bookstore.
The new UK Amazon Kindle comes in either Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi and 3G – the connection will come free and without contract from Vodafone, although there’s no free Wi-Fi deal bundled in with the offer as in the US.
The eBook reader has also had its capacity boosted – it’ll now pack in a library up to 3500 eBooks – and the battery life has jumped to a month with wireless/3G switched off or 10 days with it running. UK customers are also promised improved web browsing thanks to a new WebKit browser, plus better PDF rendering and faster page turns.
There’s also a new UK Amazon Kindle Store with 400,000 titles available to customers in Blighty, and with more of a UK slant – and Amazon is promising to undercut any other eBook shop in the UK. There are also 1million free titles up for grabs.
The new Amazon Kindle comes in two colours – the familiar off-white or a sleek graphite. It’s 50g lighter than its predecessor and 20 per cent smaller, and Amazon is shouting about the new Kindle E Ink screen that’s 50 per cent sharper thanks to technology called “font hinting” that tweaks the way letters are formed.
The new Amazon Kindle and UK Kindle Store is arriving in the UK on 27 August, and the Wi-Fi only version will cost £109 while the 3G option will be £149.
User comments (3)
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Dominic29 July 2010
eBooks are a big thing at the moment and before the Kindle was actually released in the UK, there were 4 main competitors in the eBooks category, 2 only available in the US. The 2 in the US were the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook, the other 2 are the the Sony Reader series and the Apple iPad (or iPhone or iPod touch iBooks app). If I were to buy an eBook reader, I would choose the Barnes and Noble Nook because it has all the same features as the Kindle but more because it had a touch screen (running android) and it looks more stylish. I hope Barnes and Noble will release the Nook in the UK but I doubt they will seeing as Barnes and Noble is an american store and Barnes and Noble stores are not in the UK, or a main UK bookstore (like Waterstones or WHSmith) will release their own eBook reader. :)
Report as inappropriateWayne09 August 2010
The new Kindle has just jumped to the top of my 'next gadget list', ahead of the iPad (I think I'll wait for the Summer 2011 update for that...). I've never been convinced by e-readers in general, and the Kindle in particular, due to price and, for the Kindle, sheer ugliness. But this new version looks great (especially in the graphite colour) and the pricing is spot on now (although I don't know whether to save 50 quid and go wi-fi only...). Check out the UK Kindle store - I don't care that the Kindle uses proprietary software or DRM, or that you can 'only' buy from Amazon: there are 400,000 titles plus a further million out-of-copyright titles to choose from!
Report as inappropriatehenrietta05 September 2010
I love reading, and have been doing some research into e-readers at the moment. one of them has really caught my eye and its the barnes and noble nook, I cant find any where that its been released in uk. however I had heard that it was due out sometime in 2010. I was wondering if I did order it from america, would I still be able to use the wifi on it to download books, as the AT&T is not accessible over here. greatful for the help if you can
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