Amazon To Launch Kindle In The UK Before Christmas

E-tailer giant Amazon is set to launch its popular electronic reader, the Kindle, in the UK as it tries to release the device in UK and possibly in Europe before Christmas 2009.

Mobile today revealed that Amazon has already received the green light from book publishers. The company is busy negotiating with news and magazine publishers who might be uncomfortable about the kindle eating away their margins on both side of the Atlantic.

Telecoms specialist Qualcomm, it is understood, will deal with all the aspects of manufacturing the Kindle for the UK market which could mean that the European version will be slightly different to its US counterpart. 

The UK version of the Kindle DX could well have some subtle keyboard differences and the device is likely to run on EDGE rather than CDMA or EVDO.

The new Kindle, the DX, uses an ARM processor and runs on Linux and has spun a number of rivals includin the £189 Ebook Reader launched by Elonex and Borders.

Sources have also told Mobile Today that Amazon is currently talking with a mobile operator for a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) license. Amazon needs one of them in order to ensure that its customers are able to receive downloads wirelessly.

Amazon partners with mobile network operator Sprint in the US to distribute its content over its own Amazon Whispernet.

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