Rumours abound at the moment regarding the expected UK release date of the Amazon Kindle 2 ebook reader.

Well the top brass at Amazon announced today that the Kindle 2 will be available to purchase by UK consumers on the 19th October. But there is a bit of a problem here as they have also stated that it has to be bought in dollars from the amazon.com site and shipped over to the UK. This is only a short term solution and it is expected that the Kindle will be available from amazon.co.uk in the new year.

I have yet to work out the pound to dollar exchange rate, but by the time you factor in the shipping charges and any import taxes that may arise I would expect that the take up rate is going to be low. Even with the Christmas period looming where the gadget hungry consumer may have an ebook reader in their sites, I suspect that they would prefer to get their hands on one of the latest Sony readers rather than take a chance on a missed delivery from the states.

There is also some confusion as to who will be the phone carrier that powers the Amazon Kindle wireless network that allows users to download books and other media whilst on the move. AT&T are to have control over this network as they do in the US, but the powers that be were being a bit vague as to who AT&T would be partnering with in the UK.

More news to come as soon as certain things can be clarified.

UPDATE
UK Price after dollar conversion will be about £175 plus VAT which at 15% is £26.25. So expect to pay around £200 for the import version of the Kindle 2 plus any shipping charges.