Ad-funded Amazon Kindle headed to the US

Amazon US are launching a new version of the Kindle 3 called Kindle with Special Offers. $25 cheaper than the the current Wi-Fi only model at $114, it has the exact same specs as it’s more expensive sibling, but will also throw the occasional advert into your Kindle experience.

From our understanding, it appears that adverts will replace the standby screensavers of famous authors and illustrations when the ereader is inactive. The odd adverts accounts for the cut price of the device.

$25 is a fair discount, and so long as the adverts remain solely in the screensavers (which I mostly ignore with my Kindle anyway) I think it’s a reasonably good idea. However, if the adverts go anywhere near the main text of novels you’re reading, or occasionally pop-up between page turns, I can’t think of anything more horrific.

No word on a UK version yet, but providing the adverts are fenced off into the screensavers, it’s a fine, cheap option.