The glow of manga. Photo: Amazon
Hot on the tiny-tablet heels of Apple announcing an iBooks update with Japanese support along with its new iPads, Amazon just announced Japanese pre-orders of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fires. Let the international book battle begin.
Amazon announced that pre-orders for the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire and 7-inch Kindle Fire HD on Wednesday. The e-reader and tablets are joined by the Japanese Kindle Store which will launch on October 25.
The online retailer is offering two Kindle Fires. The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD will sell for ¥15,800 ($ 200) while the Kindle Fire will retail for ¥12,800 ($ 160). Both tablets can be pre-ordered now with shipping beginning on December 19.
The Kindle Paperwhite will begin shipping a bit sooner on November 19. The Wi-Fi+ 3G model will cost ¥12,980 ($ 163) while the 3G only version is available for ¥8,480 ($ 106). Amazon is launching the Kindle Store with 50,000 Japanese-language books and over 15,000 manga titles.
The manga titles, while suitable for the Kindle Fire tablets, seems like an odd fit for the Paperwhite but after reading a few panels of Midnight Hunters and Awaken Forest the black and white display worked well with the graphic novels. While the Kindle Fire is preferred for color books, the Paperwhite held its own with both black and white and color novels.
During Tuesday’s iPad mini event, Apple touted improved language support including the ability to render text vertically and read from right to left. But with Wednesday’s announcement in Japan, Amazon seems to be poised to hold its own.
Gadget Lab
Source:
http://www.gadgetstech.co.uk/amazon-announces-kindle-paperwhite-and-fire-preorders-for-japan/