Amazon Kindle coming to the UK

The Amazon Kindle is finally set to land in the UK. Word is out that the online book giant is in advanced negotiations with a mobile operator and is working at full speed to ensure its eBook reader can hit our shores in time for Christmas.

Qualcomm will take care of the manufacture of the Kindle in the UK as well as secure the deal with an unspecified operator (please not O2) which should mean 3G connectivity as well as Wi-Fi and PC side-loading for access to a wealth of books, newspapers and magazines.

Amazon is said to have held talks with Orange, Vodafone and 3 in the past but all broke down. There also seems to be a belief among some of the operators that they can produce a reader of their own in light of their control of connectivity, relationship with hardware manufacturers and customer base but Amazon argues that it’s their access to the publishers will be key.

The trouble is that theses are just the kinds of problems that will cause talks to break down again and, ultimately, it could be the consumer that ends up with the raw deal. There’s no doubt that there’s plenty of good things about the Kindle and lots of other eBook readers but will it really be worth paying the subscription price as set by an exclusive operator just for the access e-ink newspapers and magazines?

(via Mobile Today)