So, I read the live blogs of the Amazon announcement and, as expected, new Touch Kindles as well as the Amazon Fire tablet were launched.
The entry level Kindle is now only $79 US. That is a steal. I really hope it will encourage more people to read ebooks. For the full range of new Kindles, please check out Amazon's web page. Engadget posted a live blog from the event, so I'm not going to repeat all the tech specs.
From my own perspective, my predictions from yesterday's entry were confirmed. The Amazon Fire tablet looks to be a nice media consumption unit, and at just $199, a wonderful entry tablet. If I were not already in possession of an iPad, based in the US and not hooked into iTunes/iOS I'd certainly consider it.
The announcement of the Kindle Touch was what I'd been hoping for and I immediately went online to place my order… only to see that it's only available to US users, as are all other models except the current versions and the new $79 entry one! Thanks, Amazon. That is one way to generate interest and then kill it off.
This is not the first time I've had cause to complain about Amazon's US centric focus. Library lending, ebook lending are all only available to US customers. Please Amazon, do not forget you have customers beyond the US…
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