Amazon Kindle - International

[Gold Heart]

I know that Mr. Lee and others are fans of technology so I thought I would share my experience with the Kindle which was one of the hottest gifts this past Christmas.I have had the Amazon Kindle starting with Version 1 shortly after they were initially released almost 4 years ago. I loved the ability to read on the road as I was a relatively frequent traveler. The device is light small and easy to read. The more light and sunshine the easier it is to read. I can read on the beach in full sunshine. You can change the text size so that it is readable by the extreme visually impaired. It is not back lit, uses a technology of digital ink and had a very long battery life. There is also an excellent digital text to voice function which is quite usable so any book can become an audio book. I can have the news read to me if I prefer. You can now read horizonally and can import PDF files directly with recent upgrades. I upgraded to the Kindle 2 when it became available 2 years ago and during a trip home in October 2009, received the newly released international version which I brought back to the Philippines.While the functionality of the Kindle 2 could be used here in the Philippines, It required manualy computer connected download of content when here vs wireless delivery in the US. I had sent one to a friend of mine here in Iloilo who enjoyed it as his way to read the New York Times here daily.The new international version works quite well here in the Philippines. Content -- including the NY Times for me is available seemlessly and wirelessly to my Kindle via Whispernet as soon as available. Whispernet uses the 3G network of cell providers here in the Philippines. My blogs, and other periodicals are there automatically when available. In addition the experiemental web browser functions work here -- which means with my kindle I can look up scores or read the latest news and get scores from the web sites CNN, ESPN, etc. or look up information on google -- or even read this forum. All tied into the 3G network here in the Philippines.There are additional fees for services. In addition the cost of the subscriptions, there is a $1.99 for each book e-delivered. There is a weekly fee of $4.99 for my daily subscriptions (all included -e.g. I have 4 or 5, NY Times, Living in the Philippines, Readers digest, Amazon, Kindle, etc.) You can also send personal documents delivered via whispernet at a charge of .99 per megabyte. There is no charge for book shopping and no charge for browsing the internet using the Kindles experimental web browser.Of course all costs can be bypassed with manual downloading. My friend in Iloilo and my wife who inherited my old K2 use this method. I'm not sure what they are doing with these with the new travel restrictions but they were great for travel before the underwear bomber changes were inacted.