Here is some hot off the press news about a revolutionary e-book introduction…

‘Amazon’s revolutionary electronic book, the Kindle, will arrive in Australia next week after a two-year wait.

Amazon Kindle vice-president Steve Kessel confirmed the gadget’s Australian arrival after the online book giant released an international version of the e-book reader.

Its release is made possible by Amazon’s deal with AT&T to provide mobile internet access outside the US, which will mean users can browse Amazon’s Kindle website with no book download costs.

Online books are expected to cost $US13.99 to download: $US4 more than in the US.

Mr Kessel said more than 200,000 books were now available for download from the Kindle online store, in addition to magazines and newspapers, and Australian titles would be added in future.

‘On the book side, our vision is to deliver any book ever printed in any language available in less than 60 seconds,’ he said. ‘That will definitely, over time, include local Australian published books aren’t available at the moment. We have a relationship with over 100,000 publishers.’

The Amazon Kindle offers a 6in Electronic Ink screen that use little power, a built-in dictionary, the ability to store bookmarks and a wireless internet connection using the mobile phone network. The international version of the device will cost $US279.

Sony recently announced plans to launch two new e-book readers, including a touchscreen device and US book chain Barnes & Noble is said to be working on its own e-book gadget.’

Source: Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson of The Courier Mail