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Amazon Kindle Touch touches down in UK on 27 April

The Amazon Kindle Touch is coming to the UK on 27 April, but there's no sign of the hotly-tipped Amazon Kindle Fire tablet.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Touchdown! The Amazon Kindle Touch is coming to the UK next month -- but there's still no sign of the hotly-tipped Amazon Kindle Fire tablet.

The Kindle Touch ebook reader and its 3G counterpart, the Touch 3G, go on sale on 27 April. They include new features such as X-Ray, which adds bonus bits and bobs to your ebooks, like Wikipedia entries explaining stuff mentioned in the story. They're also arriving at a perfect moment, as Harry Potter can now cast a spell on your Kindle in ebook form for the first time.

The Kindle Touch ditched the keyboard at the end of last year, and made its way outside the US in February, arriving in Togo, Suriname, Aruba and Belarus before Britain. Cheers, Amazon.

Amazon has a long history of making us wait for new Kindle kit: the original Kindle never even made it across the pond, and the international version of the Kindle 2 actually had to be imported from America, rather than being sold directly this country -- clocking us with associated import costs and duties.

It was a full two and a half years before the Kindle 3G arrived on British shop shelves -- and we face a potentially similar frustrating wait for the Kindle Fire, Amazon's 7-inch Android tablet. I'm keen to see the Kindle Fire ablaze in our green and pleasant land, not just because it's a nifty tablet, but also because it's an interesting take on Android. The Fire boasts a custom version of the Google-powered operating system that goes deeper than the jack-of-all-trades skin slapped on by most manufacturers, instead tailoring the tablet specifically for its task: browsing, buying and watching media.

As interesting as that singular approach to Android sounds, it may be what's holding up the Fire, as complex cross-border movie, music and TV licensing deals delay an international release.

Press play on our video below to see the Kindle Fire in action:

The Kindle Touch costs £110 and the Kindle Touch 3G costs £170, with no 3G costs once you've bought it. Place an order at Amazon now and you'll receive your new Kindle on 27 April.

Will you order a Kindle Touch or are you waiting for the Kindle Fire? Touch me up in the comments or light a fire on our Facebook page.