Kindle Team responds
at the Amazon Kindle forum thread. At the link, you’ll see the now clear answer to the questions asked over the last 3 days:

‘Posted on Oct 2, 2011 4:42:59 PM PDT

The Amazon Kindle team says:
(AMAZON OFFICIAL)

We apologize for the confusion. Our new Kindle Touch 3G enables you to connect to the Kindle Store, download books and periodicals, and access Wikipedia – all over 3G or Wi-Fi.

Experimental web browsing (outside of Wikipedia) on Kindle Touch 3G is only available over Wi-Fi.

Our Kindle Keyboard 3G will continue to offer experimental web browsing over 3G or Wi-Fi. ‘

All bolding mine, of course, to emphasize the most salient points.

Finally! Thanks, KTeam.  I do appreciate the confirmation, too, that the Kindle Keyboard 3G model (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G) will continue to allow the experimental free web browsing.

Via A Kindle World Blog

8 COMMENTS

  1. I think it’s that with a faster processor now, along with touchscreen processes making the web browser much easier to use, Amazon was probably (rightly) concerned that people would use the experimental web browser much more and be on it for unpredictable hours at a time.

    Including this projected usage in the price of the unit would have probably made the device too expensive.

    Depending on the clunky 5-way controller for web navigation and a slower processor on the current Kindle Keyboard (Kindle 3) makes it a far less attractive activity. I use the feature quite a bit when outside the home but only for info lookups, and, while slow, the results I can get are often very useful while not costing Amazon that much, as I avoid the image-heavy versions of websites and I just don’t use it as much as I might if the experience were less painful.

  2. Touch navigation on the new Kindles does not necessarily mean that the experimental web browser will be much improved. Is there any evidence yet that the touch Kindles enable the user to move the cursor smoothly to any area on the web page, or must the user step through links in cumbersome fashion as is the case with Kindle 3?

  3. Thank you for the update. I purchased my kindle 3g because of the free internet. Every thing else is a bonus. Truth is if it was not for the 3g I would have bought the nook. I like my kindle though and I have no regrets. I was planning on upgrading to the touch. But no way, not now. Thanks for saving me a bundle… Oh and avoiding a huge frustration….

  4. Beevster,
    This is a late reply but someone told me there were comments here I’d not seen. Yes, there’s evidence in that web browsing is said to be much easier with Touch when some were able to see it at the launch, I guess. There’s no question (for me) that just touching a click spot directly would take less time than trying to move the 5-way button’s cursor up up up and sometimes to left or right when it sometimes even misses the click spot during movement if it is to the left or right. Also, it has a faster processor, so loading of pages with images would be faster.

    On the touchscreen version there’s no need to move the cursor at all nor to step through links, so, you can see how much time and tedium that can cut.

  5. I am very sorry that the Kindle Touch 3G does not allow web use. I have both a keyboard 3G and Touch 3G. The Touch is much easier to use. The page turning buttons on the keyboard seem to find my large hands and fingers constantly and that is my biggest complaint. I travel a lot and use gmail on the keyboard. The 3G allowed me to use email in locations where there is no WiFi. I had hoped to carry only the Touch with me for reading and email but now will leave it home. I hope that Amazon will offer a 3G web browsing app in the future if it is possible. If they don’t, there is no good reason to buy a Kindle Touch 3G.

  6. I admit, I did not collect enough information when I ordered Kindle touch 3G and I am really disapointed. Access to gmail is all I would have needed.
    My disappointment will be manifested in downloading all books form torrent trackers, though I intended buying them before I learned that browsing is not supported. But now I wont.

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