Isn’t competition wonderful? On the heels of the nook announcement, Amazon has decided to do a bit of maneuvering to stay competitive. Until recently, the two “flavors” of the Kindle 2 were U.S. Wireless and International Wireless. Amazon has consolidated to just the International Wireless and dropped the price down to that magical $259 mark.

If you happen to have ordered the Kindle International at the higher price point, Amazon is going to take care of you. Word is that $20 rebates are being handed out to early adopters, so there’s no reason to send your Kindle back.

Things have really gotten interesting in the eReader world. I can’t wait to see what is in store for us over the next few months. Amazon has a good lead in the eReader race and you can be sure they want to keep it that way. B&N appears to have released a good runner, but I have a feeling that the finish line is miles and miles ahead.

For those of you who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of your internationally-flavored Kindle, your wait is nearly at its end. Amazon has announced that the Kindle International is shipping out today. Also, it seems they have plenty on hand, so if you’d like pick up the international version for yourself or maybe for the upcoming holiday season, now’s the time to place your order.

This Kindle International version is an answer to many of those who either live or travel outside of the United States. Owners of the Kindle International version will be able to download new material while travelling abroad. Those of you who have been waiting for Amazon to begin shipping the Kindle to other countries will finally get to see what all the fuss is about!

The international version of the Kindle is essentially a Kindle 2 with a different wireless service. This is great news since the original Kindle 2 (if I can call it that without causing too much confusion) has been Amazon’s most popular Reader. So, you’ll be able to purchase, download, and store a library of books (over 1500) all with the same little device. You’ll get all the features that made the Kindle 2 a huge success with the international mobility so many have been asking for.

If you’re looking for the perfect traveler’s gift for this holiday season, give the Kindle International a look. But don’t wait too long… just like previous releases, it’s possible this version of the Kindle will sell out quickly, especially with Christmas being right around the corner!

Just weeks ago, Jeff Bezos, the founder, president, and CEO of Amazon.com, unveiled a new version of the Kindle 2 with International Wireless capabilities. On the surface, this announcement appeared to be the harbinger of a global consumer invasion, drawing those living and traveling abroad into the warm fold of Kindle ownership. As is the case with anything spanning international borders, however, things are not always quite as simple as they seem.

Despite assurances on Amazon’s page that most titles and New Releases are going to be pegged at the attractive $9.99 price point, subsequent interviews with The Guardian revealed that international customers will be paying as much as 40% more than their American counterparts, to the tune of $13.99 per title. When you also consider that the International Wireless version costs $20 more than its domestic counterpart, it’s easy to see why potential international users are wary. The Amazon spokesman interviewed by The Guardian cited factors like higher tax rates abroad for eBooks than print books, but that doesn’t explain the higher fees they want to charge in other places, like Australia.

It appears that the blame for the higher cost likely lies at the feet of the new partnership Amazon has with AT&T, who will be providing the wireless 3G service for international users. Existing Kindles in the United States currently utilize the Sprint network to connect to the Internet and deliver titles wirelessly to the device anytime and anywhere. But while Sprint has much lower operating costs for their wireless network than AT&T (which might help explain the recent price drop), AT&T’s strategic partnerships with foreign wireless carriers gives them an advantage in coverage area that other providers can’t match.

This higher price point might have been but one slight bump in the road to global success, but it’s hardly the only area of resistance. Amazon has also struggled to secure deals with the book industries in other countries. The 200,000+ titles currently available might suffice for American users, but users in Australia, for instance, might be reluctant to make the plunge knowing that the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has resisted publishing anything through the Kindle.

That organization, which represents 3000 Australian authors, has expressed displeasure with Amazon’s price model. Jeremy Fisher, executive director of the ASA, explained their reasoning in a piece by The Age, remarking, “As I understand at this point in time, Amazon asks for a very, very big discount from publishers for their works to be included in Kindle so that the return coming back to the publisher is smaller and the return coming back to the author is smaller.”

With Australia’s two biggest newspaper companies also taking a very ‘wait and see’ attitude regarding the Kindle and its competitors, citing similar complaints about their cut of the take, the battle for international e-Reader dominance is wide open. While I’m more than willing to admit that I’m a total Kindle loyalist, having an open and competitive marketplace produces the best products at the best price for consumers, so I say let the battle begin!