14 DAY TRIAL // Some may have been excited about the 3G support that Amazon's Kindle Touch sported, but it looks like the newest version of the gadget doesn't really support it in full.
Amazon really is utilizing strange tactics lately, going for very low prices with the apparent goal of spreading around as many means as possible to expose users to its trove of digitized content and abundance of physical products.
The new Kindle Touch 3G, for instance, may allow people to access Wikipedia, books and periodicals over 3G, but that doesn't go for everything else.
While the now renamed third-generation Kindle, Kindle Keyboard 3G, has general access via its experimental browser, the current Kindle Touch 3G does not.
“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” an Amazon official reportedly said.
However, “experimental web browsing (outside of Wikipedia) on Kindle Touch 3G is only available over Wi-Fi.”
It is true that the user experience over 3G was quite underwhelming on older versions of the e-reader, but that changed when the third-generation one brought the Webkit engine to the equation.
Then again, it is also true that, considering the greyscale screen and the fact that owners of an e-book reader usually own a web-connected PC or other device as well, roaming the Internet on a Kindle isn't exactly the most often used feature of the electronic.
In other words, only people who think they will need to surf the web often will clash with this limited access.
People who don't intend to use the web for anything besides getting and reading new books don't need to worry about it.
Consumers can check out this list of so-called surprises that the Kindle Touch, and its siblings (even the super-cheap one) have in store for them, courtesy of Beyond Black Friday.