Amazon's Kindle comes to Oz

Amazon's hyped e-reader Kindle is coming to Australia, with plans for the device to begin shipping on 19 October.

The Kindle
(Credit: CBS Interactive)

Until now, the popular e-reader has only been available to customers in the US. Now, however, the Kindle is being sold in countries across the globe.

International readers, including those from Australia can pre-order the device on this site. The price for the international Kindle sits at US$279. A spokesperson for the company said that there would likely be an Australian price but it had not been released as yet.

The reader can either download books via USB or by 3G or 2G wireless, without any mobile contracts. To operate in Australia the company will likely have done a deal with an Australian carrier for use of its 3G network, but the spokesperson could not give any information on which carrier had been selected.

A spokesperson for VHA said it hadn't signed a deal with the bookseller. Telstra has yet to respond to queries. Optus said it "had nothing to confirm". On the site, however, it is possible to check wireless coverage that the device will access, which seems to be quite extensive.

The coverage
(Credit: CBS Interactive)

The device weighs around a third of a kilo and is 203.2mm by 134.6mm by 9.1mm. It has 2GB internal storage, with around 1.4GB available for user content, which Amazon says will store up to 1500 books. With one charge, the reader will operate for up to four days.

The reader can download books from leading publishers such as Penguin in less than 60 seconds according to Amazon, as well as automatically receiving newspaper and magazine subscriptions. It also has the ability to read other document formats such as PDF.

According to our colleagues at our sister site CNET.com, the Amazon Kindle is not perfect, but its built-in wireless capabilities and user-friendly interface keep it atop the e-book reader heap in the US. Read their full review of the device here.