Amazon releases new, improved entry-level Kindle e-reader at the same affordable price

Amazon has unveiled its new entry level Kindle e-reader that is actually thinner and lighter and with twice as much memory as the previous model but at the same affordable price.

The new Kindle, available for pre-order in black at www.amazon.com.au/kindle, will go on sale in black and white at Officeworks in the coming weeks.

It is priced at $109.

The new device has a sleeker and more rounded design and lightweight making it easy to hold in one hand to lose yourself in a book for hours at a time.

It has 4GB of internal memory which is enough room for thousands of books and it weighs just 161g.

The Kindle’s high contrast touchscreen, unlike the backlit screens of a smartphone or tablet, has no glare and can be read comfortably even in direct sunlight and with no annoying reflection.

Studies have shown that exposure to a blue light while reading from a backlit tablet or smartphone screen in the evening, can suppress the body’s natural production of melatonin – a hormone that helps you fall asleep.

The Kindle’s display emits no light so you can read anytime, even in bed, without losing sleep.

And the new e-reader, like all other Kindle devices, has a battery that will last for weeks on a full charge.

The new features you’ll find on this new Kindle include the ability to export notes and highlights from a book to your email for easy reference.

Also onboard is Bluetooth audio so visually impaired users can access the VoiceView feature to read the on-screen content when paired to a set of wireless headphones.

Users can now also personalize their home screens thanks to an updated interface to discover your next book or recommendations from friends.

And on top of these new additions, the new Kindle will also include all of the other features that make the device so popular including:

* New Fonts—Fonts like Bookerly, Ember, and OpenDyslexic provide more choice for customers on top of the world-class fonts already available on Kindle.

* Weeks of battery life—Battery life is measured in weeks, not hours.

* Whispersync—Saves and synchronises your last page read, bookmarks, and annotations across all of your devices and Kindle apps, so you can always pick up where you left off.

* Worry-free archive—Automatically backs up your Kindle books in the cloud, so you never need to worry about losing your books—re-download your books wirelessly anytime for free.

* Goodreads—Kindle is integrated with the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations, with over 50 million members, 1.5 billion books added, and 50 million book reviews.

* X-Ray—Explore the “Bones of the Book”—see all of the passages across a book that mention relevant ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places, or topics of interest.

* Word Wise—Available on many popular English language titles, Word Wise makes it easier to enjoy and quickly understand more challenging books. Short and simple definitions automatically appear above difficult words, so you can keep reading with fewer interruptions.

* Time to Read—Tells you how much time it will take to finish a chapter or a book based on your personalised reading speed

* Vocabulary Builder—Compiles words you look up in the dictionary into an easy-to-access list. Use these lists to quiz yourself with flashcards and instantly see words in context.

* Share your favourite passages—Share book recommendations, highlighted sections, and meaningful quotes with friends via Facebook and Twitter.

* Smart Lookup—Integrates a full dictionary definition with other reference information via X-Ray and Wikipedia.

* Custom-Built Typesetting Engine—Word and character spacing, with hyphenation, justification, ligatures, and kerning lays out the pages just as the author intended.

The new Kindle is priced at $109 and can be preordered here and will be available through Officeworks in the coming weeks.