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Will the Amazon Kindle be crippled in Japan?

Wired.com reports that Kindle users outside of the US will only be able to download books over the 3G network and be unable to view blogs or use the experimental web browser. However, this appears not to be true for Japan. According to the Kindle product page for Japan, only “blogs are currently not available for your country.” For other countries, such as Australia and the UK, “blogs and the experimental web browser are currently not available for your country.”

But there’s a catch.

It appears web browsing will not be free. According to the wireless terms and conditions:

Amazon provides wireless connectivity free of charge to you for certain content shopping and downloading services on your Device. You may be charged a fee for wireless connectivity for your use of other wireless services on your Device, such as Web browsing and downloading of personal files, should you elect to use those services.

The terms and conditions in Japanese (PDF) also indicate this is the case.

Would you be more willing to buy a Kindle if 3G web browsing was free?

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Contributor Bio: Steve has been splitting time between the US and Japan for the past 10 years or so and is now a post doctorate fellow at a large, lumbering University in Tokyo, where he gets paid to play with dirt.

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10 comments - What do you think? Posted by steve - October 13, 2009 at 11:53 am

Categories: Books, Technology Tags:

http://www.japanprobe.com James

Downloading personal files via Whispernet already costs money to U.S. owners of the Kindle. Transferring personal documents via USB is free.

According to this site, the browsing will work in Japan:

Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener confirmed that blogs are not available internationally on Kindle and that the Kindle’s experimental web browser only works in some countries (in Japan, for instance).

and:

PaidContent calls the international Kindle’s fee structure a “virtual ATM for Amazon,” but notes that users can avoid most fees by dowloading content to a PC and transferring it to a Kindle via USB, thereby avoiding the need for wireless download.

The terms and conditions you quote for the international Kindle are almost the same as those for the U.S. Kindle:

Amazon provides wireless connectivity free of charge to you for certain content shopping and downloading services on your Device. You may be charged a fee for wireless connectivity for your use of other wireless services on your Device, such as Web browsing and downloading of personal files, should you elect to use those services. We will maintain a list of current fees for such services in the Kindle Store. Amazon reserves the right to discontinue wireless connectivity at any time or to otherwise change the terms for wireless connectivity at any time, including, but not limited to (a) limiting the number and size of data files that may be transferred using wireless connectivity and (b) changing the amount and terms applicable for wireless connectivity charges.

So they shouldn’t be seen as a definite statement that 3G browsing will cost extra in Japan.

steve

James, so it does indeed cost $$$$ to surf with the Kindle in the US? I knew that wired article was flawed, but now I see it as complete FUD.

I understand about the definite statements thing you mention, but when I read this in Japanese, it comes across as a definite statement (to me at least) because in Japanese it seems that definite statements are often written in an indirect way…

ウェブブラウジングや個人ファイルのダウンロードなど、特定コンテンツ以外のワイヤレスサービスをお客様の機器で使用することを選択された場合は、ワイヤレス接続に対する料金が発生する場合があります。

料金が発生する場合があります to me means that it will certainly cost money. But I guess we’ll know for sure next week.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

James, so it does indeed cost $$$$ to surf with the Kindle in the US?

I don’t think so, but from what I understand, most websites don’t load very well on it. Amazon.com and Wikipedia work fine.

[I've only ever used by U.S. Kindle in Japan, so I am not sure.]

I guess Japan users will have to wait and see what kind of stuff is considered “特定コンテンツ”.

Personally, I think the best option for ex-pats would be to buy the U.S. wireless version and have it forwarded by a friend to Japan. With a U.S. address registered, you will probably be able to get the $9.99 prices for best sellers and have access to a wider selection of titles. You can’t subscribe to magazines and newspapers, but you can buy and download individual issues for about a dollar each.

Using USB to transfer books really isn’t much of a hassle.

steve

I don’t think so, but from what I understand, most websites don’t load very well on it. Amazon.com and Wikipedia work fine.

I admit that I haven’t looked into what amazon is using for their browser, but from what you say I assume it is not using webkit, which brings me to an interesting aside. The rendering engine for Apple’s safari has the potential to become the defacto web standard. Safari as a desktop browser has miniscule market share, but since it is used in the iphone and open source, other companies have picked it up. Google uses it in chrome and the android browser. It used to be that a website had to render in IE (6) to be of use. In the future, maybe it will have to render properly in webkit. Which is a very good thing if you are into the whole standards-compliant thing.

Not to mention that next year a number of US makers, including AT&T, are releasing android phones (with webkit browsers).
http://madpla.net aragoto

The bigger issue by far with the Kindle in Japan is the incredibly limited range of books available, and the fact that magazine and newspaper subscriptions are far more expensive. A bit more detail: http://madpla.net/post/207510651/why-i-dont-think-i-can-buy-a-kindle-yet-in-japan
level3

direct cut-and-paste from amazon.com (USA) website

“Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise. When traveling abroad, you can download books wirelessly from the Kindle Store or your Archived Items.
U.S. customers will be charged a fee of $1.99 for international downloads. ”

So, basically the privilege of “free” international book downloads via 3G is NOT free, it’s $2 EXTRA per book or magazine? No thanks.
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com Andrys

level3,
US customers are charged fees for downloading when away from the U.S. We can avoid fees by choosing to download the stuff to our computers and then using the usb cable to move it all to the Kindle.

The ‘free’ international book downloads are for international customers. When they come here they won’t be paying additional.

steve,
There’s no cost currently and for the past 2 years for U.S. customers to use the slow experimental browser in the U.S. The language for possible charges to come later is in there, they say, to be able to start charging if it is worth that to customers, but I doubt this will be true for some time. It takes patience, though I use the web browser often when away from home, and a bit of knowledge about how to use the 3 modes to minimize load time.

It’s a leg up over the competition as far as the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, and Mexico go.

– Andrys
kindleworld.blogspot.com

Iago

Though I have read in some reports that the actual costs of the books will be higher for international customers:

http://thenextweb.com/2009/10/14/amazon-kindles-international-launch-mess/

steve

It takes patience, though I use the web browser often when away from home, and a bit of knowledge about how to use the 3 modes to minimize load time.

Sounds like “experimental” really means beta- or alpha-version.
RMilner

I’m not buying a Kindle because I already have a Sony Reader.

While the wireless download system is a nice feature, it’s far from essential. One of the good things about ebook readers is that they can contain many hundreds of titles. It’s hard to imagine being so desperate for a new book I couldn’t wait a couple of hours to get to a computer.

Will the Amazon Kindle be crippled in Japan?

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