Amazon has just announced it will make the Kindle available world wide with an international shipping to over 100 countries, including the Philippines.
The Amazon Kindle (the 6″ international GSM version) will retail for $279 or just over Php13,000 at current exchange rates. Of course, this does not include customs and other taxes.
For the Philippines, it will be available for shipment on October 19 but you can pre-order it now.
The map below shows 3G (dark purple) and EDGE/GPRS (light purple) coverage for the Philippines. Accessing this network via the Kindle will be free. There are no monthly fees too. However, subscription for blogs and the experimental browser is not available in the Philippines.
This also means you can now download and buy the ebooks (over 290,000 of them) plus US magazines and international newspapers even if you don’t have any US-based credit card.
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i own the kindle 2 and until now i haven’t registered the kindle yet since i am outside the sprint service area. i really dont care about wireless delivery of content, i could always connect via USB to transfer ebooks and RSS feeds but the free unlimited browsing via Philippine networks would be nice, kahit GPRS speeds ayos lang.
pero without the experimental browser, will I still be able to access the Amazon store on my kindle? one thing i find missing in the Kindle is the library doesn’t offer previews/summaries for ebooks. sometimes i download ebooks from amazon randomly just because they’re free or below 9,99, without reading previews so it would really be cool if the Kindle store is accessible here in the Philippines via Globe, Sun or Smart.
another thing, when i had my kindle shipped from amazon to PH, it took customs 3 weeks to clear my package. they even opened the device, destroyed the lovely amazon packaging, played with it, and they didnt even wipe the smudges they created with their oily lumpia-eating fingers. and worst of all, they charged me Php 5k tax.
Good thing EDGE/GPRS is widely available in the country, with 3G also available in major cities.
Okay, so obviously you access the books via a GSM card, logging onto the 3G or GPRS network to do so.
Thing is, how are the telcos going to charge for internet access fees? It’s 10 pesos / 30 min block for Smart. (Forgot Globe’s rate…) Would be interesting how they do that since the sim card in the Kindle is an AT&T GSM Sim… and if you buy this device, you obviously don’t necissarily have a line with AT&T.
So… I have my doubts the connection would actually work here. Unless Amazon partners with one of the Telcos to actually make it happen.
But then you’ll have the issue of the local bookstores/retailers wanting a piece of the action… further mucking things up.
Ah Kindle, such a disruptive little device you are!
13k for an ebook reader. still not that affordable.
I agree with Calvin. Too pricey and that’s not just the hardware. I’d stick to my paperbacks for my books for now.
This could be of great help to students who have their backs burdened by the dozens of books they carry. Nursing and law students will be happy if the content arrives as well.
For now I’ll pass. I’m still in love with the smell of old pages. And i’m never happy when one of my books suddenly get stolen from me.
I am now wondering if somebody in this country comes up with an e-booksale store
I hope Amazon will be able to ship all their items to the Philippines so that our online shopping experience will be better.
I’ve put together a table with international Kindle details that lists every country in which Kindle is available along with number of books, their pricing, wireless availability etc
i just pre-ordered mine tonight:
Shipping Method: Priority International Courier
Shipping Preference: Group my items into as few shipments as possible
Subtotal of Items: $308.99
Shipping & Handling: $26.97
——
Import Fees Deposit $47.62 (siguro naman wala ng additional fee sa customs)
——
Total for this Order: $383.58 (x49) = 18,795.42PHP
Delivery estimate: October 21, 2009 – October 23, 2009
Shipping estimate for these items: October 19, 2009
1 “Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display, U.S. & International Wireless, Latest Generation)”
Electronics; $279.00
Sold by: Amazon Export Sales, Inc.
1 “Amazon Kindle Leather Cover (Fits 6″ Display, Latest Generation Kindle)”
Accessory; $29.99
napagastos na naman ng di oras hehe
@bob
Thanks for the info
. Quite expensive for an ebook. With that price, I can just get iPod Touch. Or have the most affordable iPod Touch and take a quick vacation 
@ Sting6ph
you’re welcome
ill keep you updated about my experience
i hope it is well worth my money
i got an iPhone and i have several reading materials downloaded but i have difficulty reading/browsing in a small screen
it is my long delayed B-day gift for myself
I’m not a big fan of kindle neither e-books, I prefer the printed books kasi.
But if you want to ship something from the US, why not use Johnny Air Cargo.
I lot of peepz use them for their shipment from the US. And I think hindi na to dadaan sa mga “oily’ hands ng customs people.
You just have to inform their people that you wanted to puchase something from Amazon or B&N etc. They would give you their office address in NY. And from their NY office,i-ship nila dito sa PH.
An basta, just visit their website, it’s one of their services. Hope that helps.
i love books (and ebooks too) but 13k…is too much! i’d rather go for an iTouch, id on;t mind the smaller screen. Or maybe wait for Sony to make their ebook reader available in the Philippines. I hope that will happen and when it does, i hope its priced lesser.
Hey Bob, that’s a pricey deal. I wonder if you can get order the Kindle International version and use third-party forwarding services (Johnny Air, MyUPs, etc). That will be cheaper, right?
Who will be the local partner of Kindle here in the Philippines?
I still prefer Amazon to open their MP3 store.. hehe.. wala pang iTunes store sa manila and Fliptunes is not that good since it uses DRM security..
Limited features, it is indeed an e-Book reader only. But if they will offer Blog subscription (my other blog is listed on Amazon Kindle) then it will give more justification for the local price equivalent (at least for me).
Until then, I will echo what was said, read e-Books using your existing tools, or just buy a book (BookSale! :p )
I wish Sony Readers will follow suit.
I once thought about getting a Kindle. Decided to give it a pass and got an iPod Touch instead. I love the free Stanza app. I also have the Stanza desktop app w/c i use on my laptop. I love the fact that it can read a lot of formats, even if it a .rar file.No need to convert. That was a big deal for me since I’ve been reading ebooks since 2004 and most of them are in .lit or .html.
I just bought my Kindle last month. I didn’t know about the international Kindle then, but wouldn’t buy it anyway, since I have US bank accounts and credit cards. I just had it shipped (for free since I have Prime membership) to my dad and he sent it to me via Fedex. Although it took a week in customs, (more if I didn’t get mad and went to the fedex facility in Paranaque myself) and paid P5800 for tax/duty.
It may have cost me more:
$299 for the Kindle
$29.99 for the cover
$65 for the extended warranty (which is only available to US customers)
$19.99 for Mighty Bright LED light (I highly recommend this product.)
$129 for FedEx
But what I will save on the long term is considerably higher. The books available for international customers are slightly higher than the US price. NY Times bestsellers and new releases are 11.99 for non-US customers and 9.99 for US customers. Transfer of personal documents via Whispernet is $.99 per MB.
I’m happy transferring the Kindle books from my Kindle 1 to the K2 via the USB. No additional charges.
The custom deposit for a Kindle shipment to the Philippines is $36.00. But they will automatically charge your card if the custom tax is higher. The shipping fee is $20.98. The total will be $335.98.
I have a Kindle for iPhone and Stanza too and no matter how much I like reading on my iPhone and iPod Touch, I couldn’t last very long. First, the battery on a full charge can only give you about 3/4 hours of reading time, and it strains the eye even if you’re using the night theme. No eye strains on the Kindle.
And more than half of my library got submerged in the recent flooding, and a lot of the soaked books cannot be salvaged. Thanks to Amazon and Jeff Bezos I saved the 800+ books on my Kindle. And because I travel a lot, there’s no more books to add to the weight and bulk of my luggages. So I’m pretty happy with the Kindle. Not that I don’t like the smell of new books and cracking the spine for the first time. But the benefits of the Kindle for me far outweighs it.
So this gadget is definitely a good investment for the bookworm who is also a world traveller. Bye-bye to all the wasted hours waiting at the airport for your flight!
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I wonder if it’s possible to get import/customs duties and taxes exemption for this.
Books are supposed to be exempt from duties. Since the kindle is by and large practically a compilation of books then shouldn’t it be tax and duties exempt as well???
Ipod Touch as an e-book reader will not last long with its battery life.
Wired says the international version won’t allow you to access the internet (just the web browser). Can anyone who ordered confirm this?
sauce: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/international-kindle-crippled-at-launch-no-web-access-outside-us/
meh.. it’s on sir abe’s middle of the post *facepalm*
@iko
“i own the kindle 2 and until now i haven’t registered the kindle yet since i am outside the sprint service area.”
How could you not have registered the Kindle yet? You can do that at Amazon.com Manage Your Kindle. I didn’t register my new K2 via the device since I’m in the Philippines now, but I did through Amazon.com.
And without registering, you wouldn’t be able to download or buy books from Amazon’s Kindle store.
“pero without the experimental browser, will I still be able to access the Amazon store on my kindle?”
Yes, if you have the international edition you can buy books directly from your device and it will be delivered wirelessly. No monthly fees and delivery fees. Albeit the books are more expensive than the US counterpart. I just checked:
Dan Brown books:
Da Vinci Code
US Price: $7.59
International Price: not available
Angels & Demons
US: 7.99
Int’l: 9.99
Deception Point
US: 7.99
Int’l: 9.99
The Lost Symbol
US: 9.99
Int’l: not available
Stephanie Meyer:
Twilight
US: 6.59
Int’l: 8.59
New Moon
US: 7.91
Int’l: 9.91
Eclipse
US: 7.79
Int’l: 9.79
Breaking Dawn
US: 9.99
Int’l: 11.99