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Amazon Kindle In Australia

Posted by drgadget on November 2, 2009 · 0 Comments 

Amazon Kindle
Image via Wikipedia
When I heard that the Amazon Kindle was going on International sale I just knew I was about to part with a decent chunk of change!  Those of you that follow Dr Gadget will remember that around 12 months ago I reviewed the BeBook – a more open source device that has served me fairly well in the interim.  Updates for the BeBook slowed down considerably in the months since – and the last major upgrade moved the device away from the Mobipocket format to the more Open Source ePub format.  Given that by this point I had purchased quite a few Mobipocket books I was not best pleased by this change – although I can see the rationale for the future given that Mobipocket is owned by Amazon.
Moving on to the Kindle – whilst still expensive it is less so than the BeBook.  With shipping and a leather case it arrived in Australia just shy of $350 – considerably less than the $499 BeBook.  Quality wise it certainly has a better finish.  Charging is accomplished via a USB cable that comes with the device.  Unfortunately it only seems to work properly when plugged into a computer – I have tried it with several USB power adaptors and none seem to work.  Once charged the battery is good for about 4 days with wireless switched on – or a couple of weeks with wireless off.
When it comes to reading books the Kindle really shines.  Amazon’s stated aim was to make the device ‘disappear’ and allow the reading experience to come to the fore.  This is certainly the case.  The page turn buttons are large and perfectly placed and the page turn process is much faster than the BeBook.  The first book I read on the Kindle was the new Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol and as promised the use of an ereader did fade into the background allowing me to engage fully with the story.
One of the key features of the Kindle is access to the Amazon Whispernet.  Basically the device comes with built in 3G networking which is available in over 100 countries at no cost to the user.  This allows browsing and buying books from the Amazon Kindle bookstore – plus the delivery of newspapers and magazines.  At the moment the range of books and periodicals available to Australian subscribers is limited by International copyright agreements – but there are ways to access the full range of books if you are crafty enough!  The absence of Australian newspapers is disappointing and is apparently due to ongoing negotiations with Australian publishers.
There are additional costs when buying books and magazines and having them delivered via Whispernet.  For books you will pay a US$1.99 premium but this can be avoided by purchasing via computer and downloading to Kindle via the supplied USB cable.  That said, even with Whispernet delivery a new release is typically US$11.99 – far less than bookshop prices.  As far as I can tell magazines and newspapers can only be delivered via Whispernet at a cost of US1.99 per issue or a flat rate of US$4.99 per week. There is a basic web browser built into the Kindle which is only supposed to provide access to Wikipedia – but my Kindle does not seem to have these restrictions so I can’t complain!
Formats wise the native Kindle format is AZW although it can also read text files and Mobipocket files that do not have DRM (Digital Rights Management).  For other files types there is a clever workaround.  Each Kindle has its own email address to which files – such as Office documents or PDF files – can be mailed.  They will be converted and sent to the device for US0.99c per megabyte.  To avoid the charge you are given a second email address whereby documents are converted and sent back to you as Kindle books to load up via the USB cable.
In conclusion the Kindle is a fabulous device that will only improve as the content legitimately available to Australians increases.  For more tips and tricks on getting the most from your Kindle visit www.drgadgetonline.com .

When I heard that the Amazon Kindle was going on International sale I just knew I was about to part with a decent chunk of change!  Those of you that follow Dr Gadget will remember that around 12 months ago I reviewed the BeBook – a more open source device that has served me fairly well in the interim.  Updates for the BeBook slowed down considerably in the months since – and the last major upgrade moved the device away from the Mobipocket format to the more Open Source ePub format.  Given that by this point I had purchased quite a few Mobipocket books I was not best pleased by this change – although I can see the rationale for the future given that Mobipocket is owned by Amazon.

Moving on to the Kindle – whilst still expensive it is less so than the BeBook.  With shipping and a leather case it arrived in Australia just shy of $350 – considerably less than the $499 BeBook.  Quality wise it certainly has a better finish.  Charging is accomplished via a USB cable that comes with the device.  Unfortunately it only seems to work properly when plugged into a computer – I have tried it with several USB power adaptors and none seem to work.  Once charged the battery is good for about 4 days with wireless switched on – or a couple of weeks with wireless off.

When it comes to reading books the Kindle really shines.  Amazon’s stated aim was to make the device ‘disappear’ and allow the reading experience to come to the fore.  This is certainly the case.  The page turn buttons are large and perfectly placed and the page turn process is much faster than the BeBook.  The first book I read on the Kindle was the new Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol and as promised the use of an ereader did fade into the background allowing me to engage fully with the story.

One of the key features of the Kindle is access to the Amazon Whispernet.  Basically the device comes with built in 3G networking which is available in over 100 countries at no cost to the user.  This allows browsing and buying books from the Amazon Kindle bookstore – plus the delivery of newspapers and magazines.  At the moment the range of books and periodicals available to Australian subscribers is limited by International copyright agreements – but there are ways to access the full range of books if you are crafty enough!  The absence of Australian newspapers is disappointing and is apparently due to ongoing negotiations with Australian publishers.

There are additional costs when buying books and magazines and having them delivered via Whispernet.  For books you will pay a US$1.99 premium but this can be avoided by purchasing via computer and downloading to Kindle via the supplied USB cable.  That said, even with Whispernet delivery a new release is typically US$11.99 – far less than bookshop prices.  As far as I can tell magazines and newspapers can only be delivered via Whispernet at a cost of US1.99 per issue or a flat rate of US$4.99 per week. There is a basic web browser built into the Kindle which is only supposed to provide access to Wikipedia – but my Kindle does not seem to have these restrictions so I can’t complain!

Formats wise the native Kindle format is AZW although it can also read text files and Mobipocket files that do not have DRM (Digital Rights Management).  For other files types there is a clever workaround.  Each Kindle has its own email address to which files – such as Office documents or PDF files – can be mailed.  They will be converted and sent to the device for US0.99c per megabyte.  To avoid the charge you are given a second email address whereby documents are converted and sent back to you as Kindle books to load up via the USB cable.

In conclusion the Kindle is a fabulous device that will only improve as the content legitimately available to Australians increases.

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