Kindle international e-book reader from Amazon

by: Garry Pierrepont (7 October 2009)

Amazon.com is selling an international version of the Kindle e-book reader for $279 (£175), available for order now for shipment from 19 October.

The UK version has a six-inch screen and 2GB of memory, which Amazon says will hold around 1,500 books.

Amazon has not yet said which British network will be providing download services for the books, which can be transferred to the Kindle via USB.

International users will have a range of 200,000 books and 85 newspapers and magazines to choose from. In the UK some newspapers, including the Times, Telegraph and Daily Mail are available via subscription.

Top-selling books will be available on Amazon for prices from $11.99 in the UK, compared with $9.99 in the US. Other titles will start at $5.99. At first, books will only be available via Amazon’s US website, so UK buyers will have to pay import duty. Amazon say the books will eventually be available from the UK site.

The Kindle and other e-book readers are expected to gain in popularity in the next year or so.

Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said: "Lower prices, more content, better distribution, and lots of media hype are contributing to faster-than-expected adoption of e-reader devices in 2009. We expect sales to double in 2010, bringing cumulative sales of e-readers to 10 million by year-end 2010."

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