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Amazon Partners With AT&T to Introduce Kindle with Global Wireless Coverage

This is pretty kick a$$.

E-ink is super easy on the eyes.

And I thought that the free internet in the states, initially coupled with it, was bonkers.

This is even better.

However, the processor is doggedly slow, much more than by 2g iTouch. Almost painful, but very nice for airport travel with the free internet.
 
I wonder if Amazon is seeing their sales threatened by something (economy, Apple, etc.) and thus making all these price drops. I paid $359 for a Kindle 2 not six months ago. Then they drop it to $299, and now $259.

I can't complain much. It is useful to transfer lengthy online articles to the Kindle in an effort to keep my eyes off the computer screen for a while. I do miss being able to flip through books.
 
NoExpectations said:
The size of a book is roughly 50k or less.....far less then a single picture (MMS).

Don't forget that the cost of the wireless service is also hidden in the price of each book you download.
Click to expand...

I just checked a few books on their site.
They're between 300 and 600 KB.
 
$259 seems like an odd price point...
Shifty_Eyes_Emoticon_by_Canaan1.gif
 
MacRumors said:


Amazon today announced that it is dropping the price of its basic Kindle e-Book reader from $299 to $259 and also partnering with AT&T to introduce a new version offering global wireless coverage in over 100 countries and territories. The new global version is priced at $279 and will begin shipping on October 19th.
Click to expand...

That's better coverage than the iPhone has and for free! :mad:
 
All this scrambling by print media companies to form a group for releasing their content online, and now Amazon and AT&T doing this, tells me that whatever Apple has must be big, and they're scared. Look for a big announcement and some kind of partnership. But you already knew that.
 
Would be tempted to order one of these - if it wasn't for all these Apple rumours. They better come to something after all this hype!
 
exactly!

rme said:
99 cents per meg (outside the US) is not free.
(Re)downloading a book from outside the US costs 1.99 for US customers.
Click to expand...

$20 bucks more for the Kindle, $1.99 more per day to get my NYT fix when I'm traveling outside the US, and far fewer books to buy. WTF? Has anyone at Amazon heard of wifi?
 
rme said:
99 cents per meg (outside the US) is not free.
(Re)downloading a book from outside the US costs 1.99 for US customers.
Click to expand...

A sobering thought: That is still WAY cheaper than the data rates for customers in Canada. Without a data plan, Rogers wants 5 cents per kilobyte.

Per KILOBYTE.

That's over FIFTY DOLLARS per megabyte.

I maintain that this must be why the service isn't rolling out in Canada yet.
 
see no need to complicate a simple activity by introducing an expensive piece of electronics to the mix that I need to worry about - anyway, I already have enough crap I need to take out at the airport security point :( so I'll stick with paperbacks for now.

I guess SONY and Apple are making Amazon work a bit harder.
 
notjustjay said:
A sobering thought: That is still WAY cheaper than the data rates for customers in Canada. Without a data plan, Rogers wants 5 cents per kilobyte.

Per KILOBYTE.

That's over FIFTY DOLLARS per megabyte.

I maintain that this must be why the service isn't rolling out in Canada yet.
Click to expand...

Just checked international roaming charges on AT&Ts site.
"Data usage pay-per-use rate is $.0195/KB, except in Canada where rate is $.015/KB."
So I would say cost isn't the reason why they didn't include Canada.
 
njfuzzy said:
I'm confused. AT&T can offer unlimited wireless with this device, but it costs $100 to check my email on my iPhone overseas?
Click to expand...


Amazon costs wireless connectivity into the cost of the device, which is also the answer to why such a limited device costs so much.
But the bandwidth used by a Kindle is trivial compared to that used by a smartphone, particularly by an iPhone.

Writing is on the wall for Kindle, and Amazon will have no choice but to open up its format to iPhone/Tablet in a more generalized way than its proprietary reader.
Bottom line is that Kindle has always been a vehicle for selling content. Apple is about to take that market over and Amazon isn't stupid.
Kindle is a place-holder device.
 
Dwalls90 said:
This basically guarantees that the netbook/tablet will definitely be Verizon "powered", since it would be suicide for it not to have 3G/4G.

Hopefully that means when the contract for the iPhone with AT&T ends, the iPhone will too.
Click to expand...

i'm not sure i follow, the "itablet" could have 3g and still work on at&t.

if apple does go verizon i can't see it being exclusive. there's going to be a lot of people with iphones that want one. having two wireless providers is antithetical to apple's corporate culture.
 
A rumor is more than enough

freediverdude said:
All this scrambling by print media companies to form a group for releasing their content online, and now Amazon and AT&T doing this, tells me that whatever Apple has must be big, and they're scared. Look for a big announcement and some kind of partnership. But you already knew that.
Click to expand...

to scare them....

Other markets that Apple has taken over (or are the process of) all started with the rumors of a product (no matter how unlikely it seemed at the time) IE: iPod & iPhone

Apple is letting others test the water, then they can decide what works, what doesn't, and how they improve/add to it, and most importantly, at what price point (if they can't build it & be profitable, they won't)

;-)
 
GQB said:
Amazon costs wireless connectivity into the cost of the device, which is also the answer to why such a limited device costs so much.
But the bandwidth used by a Kindle is trivial compared to that used by a smartphone, particularly by an iPhone.

Writing is on the wall for Kindle, and Amazon will have no choice but to open up its format to iPhone/Tablet in a more generalized way than its proprietary reader.
Bottom line is that Kindle has always been a vehicle for selling content. Apple is about to take that market over and Amazon isn't stupid.
Kindle is a place-holder device.
Click to expand...

I think Kindle will always be Amazon's line of 'specialized readers' that will continue to offer the best 'paper like' experience. But Amazon has come to realize that most people dont care about that. Most people would love to have a more general 'web Tablet' device that can also display books.

Specialized devices are almost always niche products.
 
GQB said:
Amazon costs wireless connectivity into the cost of the device, which is also the answer to why such a limited device costs so much.
But the bandwidth used by a Kindle is trivial compared to that used by a smartphone, particularly by an iPhone.

Writing is on the wall for Kindle, and Amazon will have no choice but to open up its format to iPhone/Tablet in a more generalized way than its proprietary reader.
Bottom line is that Kindle has always been a vehicle for selling content. Apple is about to take that market over and Amazon isn't stupid.
Kindle is a place-holder device.
Click to expand...

The people with Kindles are more rabid and loyal than the people with iphones.

I think you're wrong about the "writing" being on the "wall" for the kindle. Of course Amazon will open the format to any secure outlet they can, because they want to sell more books, but the truth is that with some minimal effort, you can turn any Kindle into a really, really compelling device for reading just about anything.

If you've never used a Kindle, you don't realize how compelling it is for people who read a lot of books...The transfer methods, the speed and capacity, even the interface are irrelevant to the future of the Kindle. Those things will get better as time goes on, but the single most important feature is the e-ink display. Without that, it's no big deal.

Apple's tablet will be a great device, and it will probably sell a LOT of units, but unless it is an e-ink device (and it won't be), it won't really be competing with the Kindle's audience at all.

Nobody who tries out a Kindle and likes it will get any sort of LCD/LED/oLED-based device "instead" of the Kindle, in the same way that nobody is going to buy a knife "instead" of a spoon.
 
reifer said:
$20 bucks more for the Kindle, $1.99 more per day to get my NYT fix when I'm traveling outside the US, and far fewer books to buy. WTF? Has anyone at Amazon heard of wifi?
Click to expand...

I agree they should've added Wi-Fi.
Also, if you download the NYT outside the US, you don't get any pictures.
 
AT&T: "Come on in, we got all the bandw.... [BUFFERING] ... [LOST SIGNAL]"

I'm told you can do basic text surfing on the Kindle with its built-in browser. That really helps out in a pinch.

How many of you are going to pull the SIM card out and try it on your jailbroken iPhone?

I wish Amazon.com had Bill Me Later, I'd pop it on my account in a heartbeat.
 
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