Buying Kindle Fire in the US, and bringing it home.

[georgeoshardo]

My uncle is coming to the UK from the US for Christmas, and I've asked him to get me the Kindle Fire, which comes out in November over there, but there is no UK release date. If he buys it for me there, and beings it home to, will I have any limitations on what I can do with it? Like the kindle store for example, if it's built for the America region, and I choose to use it in the region of Europe, will I not be able to do some things that I'll be able to do there? I figured not, seeing as there's no 3g on it, it charges from a computer, so no voltage difference, and I'm assuming the store will be international.

Thanks
GH

[jingda]

The store will be international, since you will be downloading app from its Amazon store.

[mjdodd]

I agree with Jingda but a word of experience. I know that amazon are world wide but we have used a Sony reader bought in the UK and used in France. There is a very big problem with trying to download some ebook files where the copyright is in another country. Kindle will restrict you to amazon copyright (ie amazon worldwide) and other machines usually to the country in which they were purchased;
However on our Sony we can only download amazon UK stuff and not Amazon france stuff.
to get round this there are stores in the USA that hold copyright over a far wider range and if you intend using the kindle elsewhere you might wish to check up on what amazon actually allow across country borders.
M

[jwenting]

The store will be international, since you will be downloading app from its Amazon store.

no, the Amazon app store is not available for customers outside the USA and maybe Canada.
No indication when and if that will change.

You will also have no access to any of the streaming services (so no movies, music, etc.) through the Amazon cloud and Amazon Prime, which also are at the moment unavailable outside the US (and seem to be unavailable outside the US even for US customers).

This may of course change over time, but there's no indication from Amazon as to if and when that will happen (Amazon doesn't usually release such information, customers suddenly finding capabilities unlocked they previously couldn't use, with a press release following a few days after once everything has been shown to indeed work to expectations).

Amazon is very strict (and rightly so) in enforcing intellectual property rights of their vendors, and at current there are no contracts in place allowing the distribution of that media to customers in the EU (and the same for many eBooks, though that situation is evolving as more and more publishers consolidate their electronic publication rights).

[georgeoshardo]

no, the Amazon app store is not available for customers outside the USA and maybe Canada. No indication when and if that will change.

You will also have no access to any of the streaming services (so no movies, music, etc.) through the Amazon cloud and Amazon Prime, which also are at the moment unavailable outside the US (and seem to be unavailable outside the US even for US customers).

This may of course change over time, but there's no indication from Amazon as to if and when that will happen (Amazon doesn't usually release such information, customers suddenly finding capabilities unlocked they previously couldn't use, with a press release following a few days after once everything has been shown to indeed work to expectations).

Amazon is very strict (and rightly so) in enforcing intellectual property rights of their vendors, and at current there are no contracts in place allowing the distribution of that media to customers in the EU (and the same for many eBooks, though that situation is evolving as more and more publishers consolidate their electronic publication rights).

So if I did buy it in the US, I could still get the store if it comes out in the UK, I don't need a region specific device? And I could use a US proxy if all else fails.

[jwenting]

So if I did buy it in the US, I could still get the store if it comes out in the UK, I don't need a region specific device? And I could use a US proxy if all else fails.

No, you'd need a US billing address and a credit card issued by a US bank attached to your Amazon account.