The short answer to that task is “No, you cannot do that”. And following is the long answer and how I did it a couple of days ago in a trip to US. (See also the Update 1 below)
You cannot register your Kindle 2 (click Settings in Home / Menu) outside US, as it works only wirelessly with Sprint network in US. And even you can hack your Kindle to connect to Internet (without the Sprint network), the built-in GPS in Kindle 2 will reject the registration. In other words, you need to fly to US or ask your friend to take your lovely Kindle 2 to US to do it for you.
But still, without registering your Kindle 2, you still can buy eBooks and read those without any problems.
Anyway, I did register mine in a recent trip to US, and here are the details. I arrived San Francisco airport and I took out my Kindle 2, switched it on, turned on the Whispernet and tried to register.
Surprisingly, the device registered itself (I thought I needed to enter the Amazon membership information). And my Kindle also downloaded the previous sample reading, downloaded Jeff Bezos welcome letter and even whispersync my other book I was reading with my Kindle for iPhone. Freaking brilliant.
Then I started the Kindle shop from within the Kindle 2, searched the book I want (Quiet Strength), clicked Go and bought a book. Within a minute, my Kindle 2 homepage shows the new book. It’s that easy. The only thing I thought it could improve was it should have indicated that the book has been downloaded – as just from the name in the homepage, I could not tell (from user experience point of view) whether the Kindle was downloading a book, or already finished the download. Anyway, I browsed the new book a bit and confirmed all chapters were there.
So, my Kindle 2 is kinda completed all the basics, the next frontier is to hack the Kindle 2. Stay tuned.
Update 1 : If you really want to register your email address, Kindle name etc. to your Kindle – without Whispernet, here is a trick … create a reginfo file and copy it to your Kindle (for expert only though …. I warn you here).
M.Y. Lessons Learnt 
Thanks for sharing this!! I will visit the states later this June. Will for sure try the true Kindle experience by registering it!! :D:D
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Great !! May be by that time you can also buy / register the bigger Kindle that to be announced this week.
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michael
before you went to the us did you register and deregister your kindle on the amazon site?
will be in us in september and have my kindle registerd on amazon (online since i am in europe)
now ,do i need to deregister before my trip?
pieter
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Hi Pieter,
No I did not deregister my Kindle before my trip to US last April. Register / deregister your Kindle to the Amazon account from the website such that you can buy / download book is one thing; physically register your Kindle thru the Whispernet such that you can buy books from your Kindle is another thing.
Please note the Whispernet relies on the Sprint network, and not everywhere are covered by it.
Hope it helps and enjoy your trip.
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Hi Michael,
you mentioned that you can still buy e-books even without registering the kindle… do you have the procedure?
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Hi Toss,
You can always buy e-books even without registering the Kindle, are you referring to the recent Amazon’s IP blocking issues ? If yes, you can run some IP hiding software or you can try this method (it works for me) … http://www.michaelyung.com/blog/book/2009/11/01/buying-us-kindle-books-without-hiding-ip-address/
Hope it helps.
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Hello Michael,
I m kind of stuck here. A friend baught for me the kindle 2 international from the US and sent it to me. The kindle 2 is registered in his name with his email. I have three questions that i highly appreciate your feedback on:
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1- Do i need to deregister the kindle 2 and use it with my email, if so how can do that (I live in Lebanon – Middle East). 2- I aaplied for my AE which i will receive in couple of days, do i need to wait for it or use my local visa card 3- I can use my friend’s home address in the US but not his email, so when i register can i use his address with my personal email since they have the kindle registered with his name and details. thank you very much.
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Hi Fadi,
In your case, you need to ask your friend to login to Amazon and deregister, then you can register it again to your Amazon account. Since what you got is the International Kindle, so in your Amazon account, you can use your own address, Visa card etc. You need the US address and AMEX card only if you want to buy US Kindle books (usually more choices and cheaper).
Hope it helps and enjoy your Kindle 2.
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Hi Micheal,
I asked my friend to deregister the kinlde for me to register it again and buy ebooks online. What seems to be the problem is that he is not aware of his account; it seems amazon created the account for him which explains that my kindle displays his name and a kindle email (which matches his gmail email but @kindle instead). He is asking me for guidance on where and how to login in and deregister, I tried finding out through the net but didn t get lucky. If you can guide me here it will be great as I can’t wait to have books on my kindle and start using it.
Thank you one more time!
Fadi
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Hi Fadi,
That’s weird, because your friend needs to go Amazon.com to order that Kindle for you … I guess what your friend can do now is just go to Amazon.com and try to login with his Gmail email address, and his usual password. If he still cannot login to Amazon, then check the “Forgot Password” link and retrieve the password. Afterward, login again, go to “Manage your Kindle” and deregister the Kindle from that page.
Hope it helps.
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Micheal, thanks so much for sharing with us so much of your kindle adventures. I would like to own it too but I still have reservations. Buying it and get it shipped over to Singapore is fine. I wonder if they still allow foreigners to buy up their Amazon Card to purchase the book. Also, do they allow you to actually register? I mean you did it when you were physically in the States. Singapore, for some odd reason, isn’t in the international list. I hope it isn’t what I’m thinking why they don’t allow us to be eligible, ‘cos its really discrimination.
I have been trying to find an alternative to the kindle but nothing come close. The local Keyreader is a possibility but they seem to have some problems during their launch somehow..
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Hi Karen,
I already switched to the International version and properly registered – however, with AMEX card and the way I searched (please check my other blog posts), I managed to buy US books at US prices. In the case of Kindle in Singapore, I think it’s not about discrimination but really Amazon could not strike a deal with Singapore TelCos …
I think you can consider iPad as alternative, but again, not sure by when iPad will import to Singapore.
Hope it helps.
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