Kindle 2 gets stripped bare, reveals space for SIM card

Posted by Al Warmington on Wed 25 Feb 2009

European launch looking ever more likely?

There’s always one isn’t there? Faced with a brand new Amazon Kindle 2 eBook reader, the inquisitive tinkerers at iFixit did not sit down with a nice brew and a Dan Brown novel. Instead, they chose to strip it naked and expose its inner workings to the world, making a couple of interesting discoveries in the process.

The investigation revealed an empty outline on the left side of the logic board, exactly the same size and shape of a SIM card. In the US, the Kindle connects to Amazon Whispernet to download books, newspapers and other reading material using Sprint’s EVDO network. Outside the US, however, there aren’t many EVDO networks around, so if Amazon wants Kindle 2 to spread to a wider region, it’ll probably use GSM or HSPDA.

The presence of an unused SIM card slot could therefore be seen as a good indication that Amazon is planning to bring its eBook reader to other countries. Like this one. Where we speak (and read) English.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that it was simply a left over from an earlier stage of the design, but we don’t like that kind of pessimistic thinking.

Other discoveries from iFixit’s journey beneath the Kindle 2’s skirts reveal that the E-Ink display can hold text even after the battery has been completely disconnected, that the processor clocks in faster than an iPhone 3G and that there’s no protective covering over the screen at all. And you can get inside it by removing a mere 16 screws. To these people, that’s practically like putting a door handle on the back.

Link: Amazon (via iFixit, Engadget)

Buy one here: Amazon