Due in stores next week, the international version of the Kindle will open Amazon's e-book store to overseas customers. But it comes at a cost: For anyone using a Kindle outside the United States, the device will be severely hobbled. Amazon is closing off a wireless feature that allows access to the reader's web browser.
The newest Kindle won’t allow anyone outside the United States to surf the web or read blogs using the reader's experimental web browser. That takes away one of the device's major selling points — always-on, free and ubiquitous internet access:
Is it because of coverage? Nope. Take a look at the 3G coverage map and you’ll see that 3G is almost ubiquitous in Europe, and even the huge region of the former USSR is blanketed with EDGE. We suspect that it has more to do with the cost to Amazon.
Hidden in the features section of the product page is this line: “Amazon pays for Kindle’s wireless connectivity so you won’t see a monthly wireless bill.” We suspect that AT&T is passing on some hefty roaming charges to Amazon, even for those people who will be living and using their Kindles in the same country they buy them in. It’s possible that Amazon will, once the Kindle is actually on sale internationally, start to negotiate with local cell providers, but that’s just a (wishful) guess.
Also, the “international” tag starts to look even less convincing when you look at shipping. All Kindles are being shipped from the United States — with a U.S. power-plug, requiring an adapter to charge it with overseas outlets — rather than from local depots across the world. This brings two problems. First, shipping costs. I ordered the $280 international version and, after adding shipping to Spain and piling on the import taxes (an estimate that could actually get bigger), the price is $350. And yes, we’re aware that these charges apply to all overseas orders, but then again, the usual things us Europeans buy from the U.S. are not being pitched to us as international devices tailored to our own countries.
In the end, I don’t care about the prices so much as the crippled internet service. We have awesome 3G coverage over most of Europe. When will there be a way to use it without getting ripped off? But hey, I’m among the lucky ones. Some countries — Monaco, for example — won’t have any wireless access at all.[](http://amazon.com/dp/B0015T963C "Amazon.com: Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, U.S. & International Wireless, Latest Generation): Kindle Store")
[Product page](http://amazon.com/dp/B0015T963C "Amazon.com: Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, U.S. & International Wireless, Latest Generation): Kindle Store") [Amazon]____
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