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WiFi on the way for future Kindles? And what about Kindles that could hook into the Sony e-book store?
June 17, 2009 | 8:34 am
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By David Rothman
WiFi could be coming to future versions of the Kindle if the sharp-eyed folks at Kindle Zen are right.
As a way to reach the Kindle store when local cellphone arrangements get in the way, this might be one option for the Kindle users outside the U.S.
Kindle Zen reports: “The Kindle DX includes an area on its main printed circuit board (PCB) that almost certainly implements electrical connections for a Wi-Fi radio.”
WiFi and other connections to rival stores someday?
In a somewhat related vein, here’s an interesting question. If Jeff Bezos really wants to separate the Kindle gadget business from the book business, would he please consider letting the Amazon machines hook up with bookstores other than his, via WiFi or through cellphone networks?
Laudably, an equivalent scenario is already in Sony’s plans. Someday could Sony Readers interface with the Kindle store and vice versa? Along with a truly universal format, without DRM to muck it up, this could be a win-win-win-win-etc for retailers as well as customers. In effect it would expand hardware capabilities and customer choices.
Needless to say, a multistore approach with nonDRMed ePub would be one way to show that Jeff was competing by merit rather than through monopolistic practices. At least in regard to e-books, this approach might blow antitrust arguments out of the water. Is Amazon gutsy enough to consider it?
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Comments:
All this talk of the Kindle possibly getting access to other stores, but what about the reverse? I have a PRS-505 and do you think that with the release of the source code it may possibly be able to access Kindle editions? He did allude to the service on other computing devices.
Granted at this point nobody seems sure that the Kindle proprietary bits are in there (doubtful, this sounds like a Tivo style release), but it would truly give the Kindle hardware team some competition, and in my opinion open up the eBook market a great deal.
What do you think?
Since WiFi came as a basic feature on the original Kindle, it’s not as though Amazon hasn’t thought about it.
Maybe they’re just keeping their options open to restore the feature if events demonstrate the shortcomings in relying solely on the 3G data connection.
Roger, I’ve had an original Kindle since day 1 and it doesn’t have wifi connectivity.
Thanks for this link my to “Hints of Wi-Fi” post at Kindle Zen. I have today updated that post with some additional information:
http://www.kindlezen.com/2009/06/hints-of-wi-fi-for-future-kindles/