Today Amazon has made a number of announcements about the expansion of its operations in Australia, announcing that the Australian Kindle Store is now open, and that a range of hardware is now available in Australia both online and through retail partners.
Australian Kindle Store
Firstly on the Australian Kindle Store, over 2 million eBooks are on offer including 26,000 free English-language titles. A range of current best sellers in fiction, sports, cookbooks and even graphic novels are available. Over 700,000 books are priced at $3.99 or less, and 1.4 million are priced at $9.99 or less.
In news for independent publishers, they too will be able to sell their works on the Australian Kindle Store using Kindle Direct Publishing, and a 70% royalty is on offer. For more information check out the Kindle Direct Publishing site.
New Kindle Fire devices
The newly launched Kindle Fire HDX range gives you the basics including apps for email, calendar, Skype, Facebook and Twitter. The home screen is clearly geared towards eBook users, and naturally it connects directly with the Australian Kindle Store.
Hardware wise, Amazon has packed a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor into the magnesium body, and the 8.9-inch model even includes a flash with its 8MP camera. For a tablet, this is pretty impressive.
Other sources have had a hands-on with the HDX models and they report vivid, sharp displays, which Amazon claims dynamically adjusts not only brightness, but contrast for different lighting conditions.
The 323 ppi screen resolution for the 7-inch model and industry best 339 ppi for the 8.9- inch models will certainly leave other tablets in their dust. Apps reportedly open fast and the games look great, though I doubt anyone’s had time to get a proper feel for the claimed 11 hours of battery life.
Price for these two new tablets is on par with competitive compared to other high-end Androids. Looking at 16GB Wi-Fi versions, the 7-inch, 311g has a suggested price of $329, more expensive than Google’s Nexus 7, but much less than say the 7.9 inch, 331g Retina iPad mini at $479.
In the large tablet category, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 will be available for $479 from December 10, and is smaller than most competitors. It’s up against Android tablets such as Sony’s waterproof $539 10-inch 495g Xperia Tablet Z and Samsung’s stylus-equipped Note 10.1, which JB Hi-Fi is selling for $498.
One of the features Amazon has talked about is the MayDay function, which allows the users of these tablets to receive direct on-device support from an Amazon specialist. It is unclear whether this feature will be available in Australia, but if it is, this will doubtlessly be a hugely valuable selling point for less technically inclined audiences.
It is also worth nothing that Kindle Fire devices do not have access to the Google Play Store, instead accessing their apps from the Amazon Marketplace.
Last but not least, the Kindle Paperwhite will also be available through Big W and Sick Smith for $159, and like other Kindle products, it seamlessly integrates with the new Kindle Store.
With all these new products, are you minded to jump on board with a Kindle device?
Still no note 2014 here…
Wake me up when they’ve make an actual Australian Amazon store.
Amazon would need Australian streaming rights to offer their movies and TV service. Just like Hulu, Netflix would need to officially launch here.
If it doesn’t have TV Movies and Music (Amazon prime) whats the point ?
Already went to Kobo instead and couldn’t be happier.
Fixing ” We’re sorry. This item can’t be shipped to
your selected destination. You may either change the shipping address
or delete the item from your order.” would get me excited.
Android without Google doesn’t get me excited, I can get Android with Amazon already…
Since we’ve all been happily buying eBooks from Amazon for a while, I don’t see why they’ve made a big deal out of this. They’ve also always shipped the eInk readers here from the US with an Australian power adapter. So, as far as I can tell we can now purchase the Android based kindle devices, but not get any movie, TV, or music content from the Amazon store, while losing access to Google Play Movies and Music. Am I wrong? Because if it is how I see it, hardly seems worth even looking at – until Amazon on demand… Read more »
Are they not just announcing an Australian store denominated in aud?
They haven’t been shipping any power adaptors with Kindles for a while now. But I agree, I don’t see the big draw, I’ve been purchasing Kindle ebooks for years without needing phony addresses.
So just books, no TV shows or films? Are these tablets worth it until the come to Australia?
I would not say so. The only appealing thing is that Amazons reader features are so far ahead in terms of notes, highlighting, dictionary, and now author history and more.
If you read a lot and want and enjoy the features you get, buy an Android tablet with play store access and buy your books through Amazon and read them on Amazon software. If you read a lot get an Amazon ereader.
“…through Big W and Sick Smith…”
Maybe the paperwhite but the fire is way way wayyyyy overpriced