Kindle International - Free 2-day shipping for Xmas - Update2

Amazon announced today "FREE Two-Day expedited shipping offer for Kindle ... in time for delivery by Christmas Eve."

  This is only for shipment within the continental U.S. though and is for orders between now and December 22, in order for delivery by December 24.

The larger Kindle DX does not ship, however, for 4 to 6 weeks at this point.  It's been popular with those who need to read PDFs for business or who are in college and for better (larger) display of web pages. See differences at my Kindle photo pages and a list of questions you should ask yourself if not sure whether to get a Kindle Int'l or the Kindle DX.  In the meantime I suspect the DX Int'l might be released in a few weeks, but I don't know.  They always have the 30-day refund policy with no re-stocking charge (which is rare).

Amazon also announced that more people bought Kindles in the first half of December than in any full previous month.  So many different e-readers were announced for release this year, which indicated other companies recognized the demand for e-readers, that I think those increased e-reader interest even more while the vendors were unable to release their own new readers in sufficient quantities (or condition) in time for Christmas.

  PaidContent's Staci D. Kramer confirms that the iRex 8" DR800SG won't be ready after all due to iRex having "experienced unexpected delays” and there is no new delivery-date yet.

  I do think a lot of thought went into the features the Kindle has and which the other e-readers don't and won't have:

. a free 24/7 web browser for mobile-unit optimized websites
(most areas outside the U.S., except for Japan, Hong Kong, and Mexico, get only Wikipedia but plans are to include them later, Amazon has said)

. Read-to-me (text-to-speech) feature for most books and all personal + business documents and subscriptions for times anyone wants that (small stereo speakers or headphones can be used)

. an inline-dictionary that shows a bottom-line summary definition of the word your cursor is on

. Search of a book with several results present in 6 rows with context shown ...

. Searches of a word/phrase with clickable options to Google the word/phrase in countries with webbrowser generally enabled -- or, if not, to be presented the current Wikipedia page for that information, live, and for free in countries with Kindle and its wireless delivery access for books.

. a private webpage for Kindle owners, showing, on one page, annotations for any of their books if they have authorized Amazon to back up their annotations

There are more differences, but these are the outstanding ones, in addition to an interface that minimizes the number of steps you have to thumb through, with more direct access to your reading.
  I think that other companies did find it's not that easy to do well.

An available pocketable alternative for less but with no wireless and no study features
  The Sony Pocket Reader, at $189 At Amazon, is a good pocketable reader that has no wireless, and none of the study features mentioned (dictionary, search, annotations), but if one wants a basic pocket reader and limited storage, and doesn't care about the rest, it's a good alternative. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Kindle for iPhone in 60 countries. iRex 8"reader missing.

KINDLE APP FOR IPHONES GOES GLOBAL

Amazon announced today that the iPhone Kindle App is now worldwide, expanded to 60 countries, though the press release doesn't identify which countries are included.  Techwatch reports that the UK is one of the countries.

  TheBookSeller explains to new Kindle customers internationally that "a user can read a book on their Kindle and then pick up where they left off on their iPhone.  Other features include the ability to read the beginning of books for free, read books in full colour and choose from six font sizes and number of words per line."  It's not necessary to buy a Kindle to use the free app to download and read Kindle books.

IREX $399 (or $449) 8" EREADER MISSING IN ACTION
Marketwatch's story on Amazon today and the difficult Xmas season for e-reader competitors, has the first mention I've seen of the iRex DR800SG, which was due to appear late November, with Best Buy having readied (per an earlier news story) a spot for the device, with labels showing $449 rather than $399 as had been planned earlier.  But iRex hasn't made an appearance.  It was or is to be one of Barnes and Noble's e-reader choices and is slated to offer books from the B&N store

  Marketwatch's Brett Arends reports that Best Buy yanked it from their website.  It mentions "three weeks to Xmas" (but the article is dated today, 11 days from Xmas) and there is no sign of it.  He adds that iRex "admits" in email to "unexpected delays" but is mum otherwise.

Is it really worth $260?
There is a long, current Amazon forum thread in which someone asks if the Kindle has been worth $260 (or more), and the answers are interesting.  Many give reasons that some reviewers have said were not that germane (free web browsing, text-to-speech) but they're real-world uses. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!