Amazon Heats Up Competition With a $20 Auto-Rebate on 6-Inch Kindles

With Barnes & Noble’s recently-officialized Nook coming in about a month, the heat is on Amazon to keep the Kindle competitive. With a variety of new features including color LCD and e-reader screens, book lending and replaceable battery, along with the advantage of physical retail locations everywhere, the Nook poses the greatest threat to the Kindle seen thus far. Toward this end, Amazon has lowered the $279 price tag of the international version of the 6-inch Kindle and dropped the Sprint-powered U.S. version. Amazon has hit customers with a random $20 rebate, meaning that the total price of their device is $259–a rather familiar figure. The international Kindle will rely on AT&Ts wireless network.

Customers eligible for the rebate have received the following email:

“Good news! Due to strong customer demand for our newest Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6″ Kindles. As part of this consolidation, we are lowering the price of the Kindle you just purchased from $279 down to $259. You don’t need to do anything to get the lower price–we are automatically issuing you a $20 refund. This refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a credit on your next billing statement.”

Nice.

Unfortunately, the international six-incher has suffered some hits in the review department, including slow speeds, very narrow browsing and the inclusion of a U.S. power plug no matter what destination country the Kindle is headed for. Not so nice. [via Engadge and CNET]