Kindle, one of the hottest products this year, is destined for Australia. The book reader that has taken the US by storm will be available for pre-order today for US$279 and will begin shipping on October 19.
The Kindle wirelessly downloads books, magazines, newspapers and personal documents to a 6-inch (15.24 cm) electronic ink display. It uses 3G wireless technology, is 0.91mm thin, and weighs 280 grams. It also has a built-in 2GB memory and a battery life of over two weeks.
Amazon.com’s Founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos said, “We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books. Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”
The Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kin dlestore) offers over 200,000 English-language books, including new releases and New York Times Bestsellers. Over 1,000 different rights-holders now have books available in the Kindle Store, including leading publishers Atlantic Books, Bloomsbury, Canongate, Faber and Faber, Hachette, Harlequin, HarperCollins, Lonely Planet, Penguin, Profile Books, Quercus, Simon & Schuster and Wiley.
In addition, over 85 top U.S. and international newspapers and magazines are also available in the Kindle Store for single purchase or subscription. Newspaper and magazine subscriptions are auto-delivered wirelessly to Kindle.
