Amazon lights up Kindle Fire HD pre-orders for Australia

Amazon Kindle Fire HD
Is it too late for Amazon to Kindle an international Fire?

Amazon's plans for global domination continued today, with the online giant announcing its plans to ship the Kindle Fire HD tablet to an additional 170 countries, including Australia.

Both the 7-inch and the 8.9-inch versions of the HD tablet are currently available for pre-order, with the 7-inch version starting at $US214 and the 8.9-inch version starting at $US284.

The tablet will officially begin shipping to the additional regions on June 13. That's nine months after the tablet was originally announced in the US and eight months after it launched in the UK.

Apps, but no media

To accompany the tablet's international rollout, Amazon has also enabled its Android app store around the world today. While the app store is available on most Android devices, it is designed to truly work with the Fire range of tablets.

Despite the availability of apps and ebooks, one thing the Kindle Fire HD appears to be missing in its global rollout is entertainment content like music and videos, as well as the Amazon Prime streaming video service.

Given the difficulties companies like Apple and Google have had getting Australian rights to content, this isn't a surprise. But it's not clear if Amazon is working towards launching these features in the future, or if it is cutting its losses to try and get the device out to a global market.

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Having spent the past decade editing some of Australia's leading technology publications, Nick's passion for the latest gadgetry is matched only by his love of watching Australia beat England in the rugby.