Kindle India: Free Wireless Book Downloads

Thanks to a surprise worldwide release, Amazon now allows consumers in India to buy a Kindle International for $259 USD (12,150 INR) from Amazon.com. The wireless book reading device has been a US-only product for the past 2 years, but is now available in over 170 countries across the globe, with free wireless coverage in 100, India being one of them.

The Kindle is similar in size to a regular DVD case, but thinner, and weighs 289 grams. It has a built-in wireless modem that allows for downloading ebooks, newspapers, and magazines directly to the device itself. The wireless service is free and doesn't require any monthly payments or roaming charges. Because of this, you don't have to use a computer to download your books, although you have that option if you prefer it.

To view a wireless coverage map, visit Kindle in India. From there you can also find a detailed review of the device and watch a video demo to see how it works.

Users in India can expect to have access to over 280,000 English-language ebooks from Amazon's online book store, with 100,000 of those titles priced below $5.99 (278 INR). Most new releases and bestsellers sell for $11.99 (557 INR). A nice perk with Amazon, they allow you to download the first chapter of a book as a free sample. And the Kindle comes with 2 GB of memory to hold about 1,500 ebooks and personal documents.

You can also find free ebooks from a number of websites like Project Gutenberg, Free-eBooks.net, Manybooks.net, feedbooks, and Baen's free library—just to name a few—that will work on a Kindle, along with LibriVox for free audiobooks. It's important to note the device doesn't support PDF and EPUB natively, but you can convert these files types using free software, so Google's vast library of free ebooks is an option too.

The Kindle uses a technology called electronic paper that mimics the look of a printed book, giving it a high contrast ratio with rich, dark text. It's like high-definition for books, and is very easy on the eyes unlike LED computers and phones. Another benefit of this technology is that it's extremely energy-efficient; a battery will hold a charge for roughly 7,500 page-turns, or 2 weeks of regular reading.

The Kindle India has built-in speakers and a headphone jack for listening to MP3's and audiobooks. It also has a text-to-speech feature that will read a book aloud, provided the publisher hasn't turned it off (some claim this feature violates copyright laws). If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can sync them with your Kindle and read whichever you like. The device has a mini keyboard that allows you to take notes right on the page and save them for later reference. You can bookmark, highlight, and search for synonyms and definitions too.

You can read more about the Amazon Kindle here, and find updates and news about other ebook reading devices and free ebooks currently available.