Well, my speculations actually came true and even sooner and on a much larger scale than I have expected: Kindle 2 World version is available for pre-orders and will start shipping on Monday, October 19. Generally, International version of Kindle 2 is identical to the one that was released in February, except that it uses AT&T 3G network for book downloads and Internet connectivity in the US and roaming partner networks in more than 100 countries outside of the USA. I’ve glued together a full coverage map and a a table that lists different features and restrictions that apply to different countries.
Kindle is currently not available in the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Democratic People’s Republic Of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen.
Yes, unfortunately Kindle is not available in Canada yet but Amazon promises to fix this as soon as possible. They wouldn’t want to miss such lucrative market after all.
Residents of other 169 countries can buy the international version of Kindle here.
For each country features like whispernet and browser availability vary. In general the picture currently looks like this:
| Country | Wireless | Duty included in checkout price | Typical book price | Browser and blogs | Books under $5.99 | Total books |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aland Islands | No | No | $11.99 | No | 25,000 | 160,000 |
| Albania | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| American Samoa | No | No | $11.99 | No | 45,000 | 180,000 |
| Andorra | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Angola | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Anguilla | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Armenia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Aruba | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Australia | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Austria | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Bahamas | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Barbados | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Belarus | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Belgium | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Belize | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Benin | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Bermuda | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Bhutan | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Bolivia | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Botswana | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Brazil | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Bulgaria | Yes! | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Burundi | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Cambodia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Cape Verde | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Cayman Islands | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Central African Republic | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Colombia | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Comoros | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 0 |
| Congo | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Cook Islands | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Costa Rica | No | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Croatia | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Cyprus | No | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Czech Republic | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Denmark | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Dominica | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Dominican Republic | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Ecuador | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| El Salvador | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Equatorial Guinea | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Estonia | No | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 25,000 | 170,000 |
| Ethiopia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Falkland Islands | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Faroe Islands | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Federated States of Micronesia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 45,000 | 170,000 |
| Fiji | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
| Finland | No | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| France | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| French Guiana | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| French Polynesia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Gabon | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Georgia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Germany | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Ghana | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
| Gibraltar | No | No | $11.99 | No | 25,000 | 170,000 |
| Greece | Yes! | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Greenland | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Grenada | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Guadeloupe | No | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Guam | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 130,000 | 290,000 |
| Guatemala | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Guernsey | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
| Guinea-Bissau | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Guyana | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Haiti | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Holy See | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Honduras | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Hong Kong | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | Yes! | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Hungary | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 65,000 | 280,000 |
| Iceland | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| India | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 270,000 |
| Ireland | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Italy | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Jamaica | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Japan | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | Yes! | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Jersey | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
| Kenya | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Kiribati | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Lao People’s Democratic Republic | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Latvia | No | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 25,000 | 170,000 |
| Lesotho | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Liberia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Liechtenstein | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Lithuania | No | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 25,000 | 170,000 |
| Luxembourg | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Macao | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Macedonia | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Madagascar | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Malawi | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Malta | No | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 25,000 | 170,000 |
| Marshall Islands | No | No | $11.99 | No | 45,000 | 170,000 |
| Martinique | No | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Mauritius | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Mayotte | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Mexico | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | Yes! | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Moldova | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Monaco | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Mongolia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Montenegro | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Montserrat | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Mozambique | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Myanmar | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
| Namibia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
| Nauru | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Nepal | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Netherlands Antilles | No | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Netherlands | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| New Caledonia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Nicaragua | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Niue | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Norfolk Island | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | No | No | $11.99 | No | 45,000 | 180,000 |
| Norway | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Palau | No | No | $11.99 | No | 45,000 | 170,000 |
| Panama | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Papua New Guinea | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Paraguay | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Peru | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Philippines | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Poland | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Portugal | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Puerto Rico | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 45,000 | 180,000 |
| Reunion | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Romania | Yes! | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 25,000 | 170,000 |
| Russia | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Rwanda | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Saint Lucia | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Samoa | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| San Marino | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Serbia | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Seychelles | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Slovakia | Yes! | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 25,000 | 170,000 |
| Slovenia | Yes! | No | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 25,000 | 170,000 |
| Solomon Islands | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| South Africa | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
| Spain | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Sri Lanka | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Suriname | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Swaziland | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Sweden | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Switzerland | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Taiwan | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Tanzania | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Timor-Leste | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Togo | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Tonga | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 290,000 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Tuvalu | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Uganda | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Ukraine | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| United Kingdom | Yes! | Yes! | $11.99..$13.99 (incl. VAT) | No | 70,000 | 280,000 |
| Uruguay | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Vanuatu | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Venezuela | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 180,000 |
| Viet Nam | No | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Virgin Islands, British | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 100,000 | 280,000 |
| Virgin Islands, U.S. | Yes! | No | $11.99 | No | 45,000 | 180,000 |
| Wallis and Futuna | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 170,000 |
| Zambia | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
| Zimbabwe | No | No | $11.99 | No | 35,000 | 160,000 |
So wireless is available in 100 countries, however browser and blog subscription only work in these 3: Hong Kong, Japan and Mexico.
EU countries have slightly higher typical book price because it includes VAT.
If you read this page on Amazon.com there is little fine-print about international use of Kindle:
Kindle (U.S. & International Wireless) customers from the United States can travel internationally and still get books in less than 60 seconds. Customers have the option to wirelessly download books, periodicals and personal documents via Whispernet for a fee or transfer files from their computer for free.
- International Book Service: Download books from your Kindle’s Archived Items or the Kindle store via Whispernet for $1.99 per book.
- International Subscription Service: Receive all of your newspaper, magazine, and blog subscription content via Whispernet for a weekly fee of $4.99.
- International Current Issue Service: Download individual issues of newspapers and magazines from your Kindle’s Archived Items or the Kindle store via Whispernet for $1.99 per issue.
- International Personal Document Service: Transfer personal documents to your Kindle via Whispernet for $.99 per megabyte (rounded up to the next whole megabyte). For more information about transferring personal files to your Kindle, see the Transferring, Downloading, and Sending Files to Kindle Help page.
It took a lot of effort to put this table together so if you feel it’s a helpful and intereseting piece of information – spread the word and link to this post.
In the future I’ll post updates to the table above on a regular basis.
If you end up buying Kindle 2 from outside of US, please drop me a comment to share your experience.
To think that I ordered my Kindle on September 2nd…
Anyway, I don’t mind all that much not being able to download books through GMS. The way it works suits me now. But it is still exciting news!
It’ll be even more exciting when we can buy books in different languages (not only classics)
I wonder if Whispernet on the international Kindle will work in Vancouver, since the “wireless coverage map” seems to cover it. Anyone have a clue?
Is there Unicode support in Internnational Edition?
You forgot Thailand, despite the tag….Thailand does not get the Kindle
A slight improvement from Amazon but still a kick in the teeth for everyone who is not American as it looks like you will pay for the privalege….
See what Sony and Plastic Logic can do before you buy
I don’t think that’s the kindle coverage map, it shows Saudi Arabia but it’s missing from the list …
This is AT&T’s coverage map
unreal. Rawanda? Gabon? Liberia? Lesotho? but its not available in Pakistan? someone has to be smoking some serious crack.
Right on Shakir: Why not in Pakistan?
IMHO something about Kindle or Kindle eBooks doesn’t fit well with some law in Pakistan. I’m pretty sure that Amazon will resolve the issue eventually. At the moment Canada is left behind as well.
Pingback: Ebook-Reader Amazon Kindle 2 weltweit | e-Leseratte
would like to know which law because i am not aware of any such law in Pakistan
Khaled and admin,
But according to the site, they’re not using Sprint’s network anymore for the international version. Instead, they’re using AT&T’s global network, hence the price increase. Then the link for the AT&T coverage map (http://client0.cellmaps.com/tabs.html) is found under “US & International Coverage”. Something makes me feel it will probably work in Vancouver, Toronto, etc. Guess we’ll have to wait and see after the first shipment goes out.
Note that there’s no VAT on books in the UK. I don’t know, however, if digital books are considered to be “books”.
just two quick questions:
the same question as @morpheus:
Is there Unicode support in Internnational Edition?
and the second one:
what do you mean by “Browser and blogs”?
Just ordered mine, here in Germany. Unfortunately, not all magazine/newspaper titles are available here. For example, The Economist (a UK publication) cannot be purchased. No idea what the reason for this exclusion is.
I believe the only difference from US version is in the wireless hardware. Fonts are going to be the same so you’ll still need to use Unicode Font Hack.
“Browser and blogs” indicates whether you can use built-in experimental web-browser and subscribe to blogs on your Kindle. These activities generate a lot of wireless traffic but little to no revenue for Amazon. So in countries where they didn’t get good pricing on wireless traffic they’ve disabled these features.
Did New Zealand fall off the map? It’s not mentioned anywhere above, but Amazon says it’s not available here either. Australia gets it though damn them!!
Fixed the New Zealand issue. I was copy-pasting and search-replacing a lot of text so it’s possible I’ve made a mistake somewhere since it was already quite late.
…..and no New Zealand, even though Australia gets the kindle Grrrrrrrr. Oh well, time to talk to Sony I think.
The problem until they manage to get the Kindle on the local UK, France, German and Japanese sites is that customers who buy from Amazon.com will likely be charged import tax, which could be quite hefty.
Due to high traffic I’ve locked down the blog. This means that comments will take some time to appear. Don’t worry they’ll get there and I’ll move to a better hosting soon enough.
I was glad to hear the latest news of the launch of Kindle International today. However when I look at the list of the countries , I was flabbergasted Amazon included countries like CONGO & RWANDA and yet missing out SINGAPORE!!
And we are actually listed together with SOMALIA, SUDAN, GAMBIA, etc. Does Amazon seriously think that SINGAPORE is some third world countries that does not read English!! Come on guys, this is a terrible shame that SINGAPORE is left out in the list…..
it’s really about book licensing, it’s an annoying pain but Amazon have to follow these license restrictions …
Matthew,
Do you actually think that Amazon alone determines what country has wireless access? They have to make agreements with the wireless providers in all those countries. I’m flabbergasted they made all these agreements and kept it so quiet.
We were expecting the UK and a bit of Europe but not all this.
Germany was too expensive, but now they’re on, so I guess that’s why the experimental wireless is disabled.
SO, if someone in the U.S. buys a US/Int’l Kindle, will the web browser work for that person in the U.S. ?
Sure hope so.
– Andrys
What I don’t really get is how the 1.99$ fee is gonna work internationally. Say I purchase the Kindle (I’m in Italy): will I have to pay 1.99$ for EACH book or for low prices books only?
Or it’s the other way around: my Kindle in registered in Italy and I pay the obnoxious fee only when I travel abroad?
This is quite confusing, since I’d like to buy myself a Kindle for Christmas. ^^
Thanks
One thing I can’t determine yet is how the $1.99 charge will apply. If you’re a US-customer, it’s clear – you’ll get an AT&T SIM (perhaps Amazon branded?) and if you travel international, you will get the $1.99 charge per item.
However, presumably, if you purchase an Australian Kindle (for example), you MAY get an Aussie SIM (perhaps Amazon branded). I’m going to guess that when you’re in Australia, you would NOT pay the extra $1.99 because you wouldn’t be international roaming. Additionally, there is a quote on Lifehacker Austaralia that ““the telco provider has not been confirmed just yet” – http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/10/kindle-to-be-sold-to-australian-customers/
Makes be believe that an Aussie Kindle would be “local” – especially if Australians have access to a different Kindle store (less books). So, we’ll see what happens.
Of course, I JUST got a US-based Kindle as a gift, darn-it! ha ha
Something I found interesting: “You must purchase your Kindle from this page if you are shipping to the following countries: Australia. Your Kindle shipment does not include a U.S. power adapter. Kindle ships with a micro-USB cable for charging your Kindle via a computer USB port.”
WTF? I had a quick look through all the countries and every other country (that I checked) included the “US power adaptor”. Is there some law that prohibits including it here or something? I do own adaptors that would allow the US plug work in our points, plus it does say it works on 240V, so what’s the problem?
From the US Amazon site:
Newspapers and magazines delivered outside the U.S. will not include photos and other images.
That puts the mockers on it for me…
Great! Thank you for making this!
I have one question, though.. I live in Poland and we don’t have any kind of VAT for books – it’s 0%. So why i have to pay $13.99 instead of $11.99? Just curious ;)
-Sebastian
Does this mean that a Kindle 2 purchased earlier will now have wireless when taken outside of the United States? I have moved to Austria since buying my Kindle 2 and I have often wondered whether it would ever be able to communicate with the skies. Anyone know?
So if I have currently have a Kindle 2 (“US Kindle”, I guess) is there any way to use it overseas or an upgrade path? It’s really just a new SIM, right?
Pakistan keeps getting left out! PayPal and Amazon, same difference, heh?
Updated my post here, http://su.pr/7uR6k9 thanks to your list of countries where Kindle works. But what would happen if I turn on a Kindle here in say, Karachi? It would refuse to connect to a WiFi connection or what? :/
Tad confused by the “International Book Service” $1.99 charge. If I’m in Ireland with a Kindle I bought in Ireland charging to an Irish account will I be charged the $1.99 extra or is that only for US Kindle users abroad?
Not available in Israel either :(
Neither Argentina nor Chile get the Kindle
This is a great list for Kindle around the world! I like how you show which countries have the wireless network.
I have a US version of Kindle 2 – purchased sometime in the spring. Been downloading books via 2 account/gift cert process.
I assume the K2 will not work wireless in UK?
Will I be able to de-register it from US account and re-register on my UK account or on my tarnished US account with has a UK CC associated with it? Anyone know?
Would like to see posts from anyone who has successfully switched their account country.
Wonder how much I can get on eBay for a US K2?
First of all I like to say that having an International Kindle is a huge step forward from having it available only in the US. I realize that it makes little or same difference to people from countries where Kindle still doesn’t ship, however lets not forget that there still is a workaround to get Amazon to sell you one and a way to bypass geographical restrictions
I 100% agree with Matthew – if it was entirely up to Amazon there would be no country exclusions. Everyone would be able to get Kindle even if with disabled wireless. However Amazon has to operate within local and international laws. And often things are difficult to organize.
@Pierluigi, Troy, Paul M. Watson, as far a I understand from discussions and from reading the Amazon page once again is that $1.99 surcharge applies ONLY to U.S. Customers who travel outside of U.S.. For all other countries the download cost is already built into the book price. Altough it may seem like Americans getting ripped of, it’s not like this since U.S. at home would pay less than say Italians at home but when Italian and American get together with their Kindles in an Italian bar both would pay roughly the same amount. This is because international Kindles have US AT&T SIM card so they would be charged roaming price for data even when in the country of owner’s residence.
Ben, I guess that Kindle ships to Australia without AC power adapter due to some safety regulations that prohibit sale of electronics designed for US.
david parker, I guess it has to do with higher data price. It is still better than nothing and pictures in newspapers and blogs that I can download in the US are not that high on quality and resolution anyway.
Sebastian, it’s about wireless data price – see above. I guess you can argue that Amazon should have given a discount to people who willingly turn off Whispernet and download via computer but I guess that they have decided that this would complicate things. For example you can initially buy book and download it via PC but then redownload it wirelessly. It would probably complicate things too much and being simple is Amazon’s main selling point.
Martin, Mike, US versions of Kindle will not have Wireless connectivity outside of US no matter what firmware updates are installed. Sprint CDMA network is fundamentally incompatible with GSM networks – you need different hardware to connect to them. Although some countries have CDMA networks too, Amazon didn’t include roaming in its deal with Sprint so again it will not work. If you have purchased US version within the last month you can contact Amazon and exchange it for the “world” version.
Brian Gabriel, Coverage map for international Kindle can be found here. I just stitched it together so you can see the big picture.
Please keep posting your questions, I’ll try to answer them to the best of my ability and will put together an FAQ later.
David, I believe that you would be able to re-register your Kindle to your UK account but you will loose the ability to download books that you’ve already purchased. So if you were to go this way you will need to download all the books locally and store them in a secure location from which you can them copy them to your Kindle. I believe that books are locked to specific device rather than Amazon account. However should your Kindle break, you’ll loose the ability to read these books completely unless you get a new Kindle register it to your “US” account, download the books and then re-register it to UK account.
Keep in mind that the restrictions are due to different reasons. I think one of the main one has to do with Att making roaming arrangements for this. I doubt Amazon did it on their own. Canada probably missed this launch because Rogers probably tried to get greedy. With Bell and Telus switching to GSM technologies by next month, this should become a non-issue.
The second issue is rights to the content. That could be the blocker in many countries (inc Canada).
BTW, if you would like to bypass the cache and see comments as soon as they appear, you can load this website in mobile browser (iPhone, Android, etc). This blog features a plugin that makes it very usable on mobile browsers and also bypasses cache.
Just picked up an interesting rumour about Kindle DX being released internationally some time in 2010
My only question at this point is whether amazon.com won’t a Kindle in {Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia etc} or whether _Whispernet_ will not work as well. That is to say, if you somehow arrange for an international version of the Kindle through some other country, would it be able to connect to Whispernet in, say, Singapore or Malaysia? Also, would that $1.99 handling fee apply if we were to do so? And finally, do they play ball with any censorship laws in these countries?
I travel a lot in South East Asia for business, and a Kindle would be perfect for those long-waits at the airport. Quite a shame, nevertheless, to see Kindle not being sold in _any_ South East Asian country.
As others have asked, specifically what kind of font support will it have? To me this the only important issue. If as suggested the font hack will continue to be the only solution, then this product is dead before release. For example, why sell in Japan if every single customer will need to hack their system to get Japanese to display?
Ben, although before I get my K2 International I can only speculate. But I would bet that it has the same fonts as US K2. So you’ll need to use Unicode Font Hack to make it work with non-Latin characters.
Im a US resident and want to pick up the international version. Will i be able to use it in the states like a regular k2? i.e blog and surfing, and will the necessary restrictions just apply themselves if i travel to the UK or other countries? I.e will blog/web abilities turn on and off on the fly as i switch borders across countries? and will it behave like a regular k2/sprint when im in the states. Sorry bout the long winded question. But im about to ditch sony and make the dive here!!
Jeff-Chicago, It will work just like the regular Kindle in the states. The only difference is that it’ll use AT&T network, not Sprint.
What frequency does the international version use?
Devin,
I would assume that it’s Quad-Band 3G GSM since it works in 100+ countries.
Amazon may be promising to fix the problems keeping the Kindle out of Canada soon, but if it’s wireless network access that is the roadblock then don’t hold your breath, Rogers isn’t going to sell wholesale access to their network to Amazon.
Why would Rogers do such an evil thing?