If your one of the many people interested in buying the Kindle, but unfortunately you live outside the US, then until Amazon decides to release Kindle in your local you cant enjoy the benefits of owning a Kindle. Kindle owners here in the US are also interested in knowing whether using their Kindles outside the US is possible. Amazon states in it’s FAQ section that it is working on releasing the Kindle for international markets and asks that international customers to sit tight for the time being.
That’s not good enough for some.
Where there’s a will, there is way. A post by Nerdgirl on her site offers a solution for those unwilling to wait for the official Kindle release in their country. The hack involves tricking Amazon into thinking that your billing address is associated with a US address — apparently Amazon does not verify the address unless you purchase a dead-tree book. This then allows you to associate a Kindle device with your Amazon account, once your Kindle is associated with your account you can use gift certificates to buy e-books. But if your expecting them to be delivered wirelessly then think again, they wont be, you will have to transfer the e-book via USB.
The very fact that someone has discovered this hack proves that people outside the US are itching to get their hands on the Kindle.
You can read the full instructions on Nerdgirls website by following the link below.
Source: Nerdgirl
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I just gotta say I love my kindle and the cheap books.
My taste is a bit rough but I enjoyed “The Misogynist” by Emily Downs.
It can be a bit vulgar at times. Be warned. But it’s cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Misogynist/dp/B001V5J4VO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246301307&sr=1-2
She is the bestselling author of “Lisa Loves Girls”
http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Loves-Girls-ebook/dp/B002EZZJ4Q/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246298800&sr=1-7
2 books for under 2 bucks. THe kindle will own publishing.
That post on nerdgirl has moved to http://www.nerdgirl.com/2009/03/20/amazon-kindle-outside-the-us/
I have a kindle and have been using it via same method nerdgirl suggested however, last week Amazon changed the rules and you now have to have a US credit card attached to the kindle account – I have registered a gift certificate which was working fine but now Amazon is throwing up an error saying that they can’t sell to me unless there is a credit card attached to this account…even though there is money there as well as a US address.
Does anyone have a fix for this? Very frustrating.
I believe that this is about temporary Amazon glitch that is fixed now. More details can be found here: http://blogkindle.com/2009/10/amazon-may-be-blocking-non-us-customers-from-buying-kindle-books/
Hi
I was wondering if it is possible to use kindle WiFi in such countries as Iran, in order to read our own ebooks, not to buy or download or use wifi for it?
Mehran,
You can upload DRM-free PDF, PRC, MOBI files to kindle via USB cable.
My daughter is going to be in Spain teaching until next summer. She got a Kindle last Christmas (I don’t know what generation) and is concerned because she doesn’t think she can download books wirelessly. Can she, and if not, can she download to her computer and then transfer to her Kindle?
Richard,
Check the serial number on the back. If it starts with B003 – she has the international version and downloads will work. If not – she can still download books via PC.
Since you bought it last Christmass – chances are it will be international version.
those links are dead, i live in indonesia, want to buy kindle, but i wasn’t sure how to buy it
I bought my Kindle 3G in June this year (2011) in UK and have recently moved to Saudi Arabia. Will I still be able to download books via my PC using a usb cable?
Liz,
You shouldn’t have any problem downloading books via your PC and USB cable.
So I have moved to Vietnam and have brought along my first generation kindle to keep me company while I am here. My problem is Vietnam is one of the countries which does not allow the kindle to receive internet access, I do not have 3G, and the account my kindle was registered on is my father’s to which I do not have access (it was a gift). So under the current situation I am unable to purchase any new books to read on my kindle. The only solution I have found is to deregister and then re-register my kindle to a new account. However, I have two questions because of this; first, if I deregister my kindle and set up a new account on my computer will I be able to re-register my kindle without the kindle connecting directly to the internet? And secondly, if I deregister my kindle and replace the account with my own will I lose all my books that I have on the kindle already? I would hate to lose my lovely collection of ebooks! Any help you would be able to provide would help greatly, thanks.
R Tucker,
You’re definitely in a tough situation and I can’t offer any easy advice. You would definitely lose all of your books were you to re-register, so I would imagine that to be a bad option. The way I see it, you have two ways to go.
One would be to just give up your current library and re-register, allowing for new books but losing everything you have already.
The second is somewhat less legal, but still acceptable in my mind. Buy any Kindle books you want, either through your own account or by gifting them to your father’s account and having him add them in. Then feel free to download a copy by whatever means necessary from the internet, converting into Kindle format as required using Calibre, so that you can side-load via USB.
Sadly, short of investing in one of the newer Kindle Touch models or something to allow you to maintain two separate libraries I have no better advice to offer.