Amazon officially confirmed its new Kindle Paperwhite ereader this morning, and now the company is addressing the matter of international availability. When Paperwhite 2.0 hit Amazon.com yesterday, there was no sign of the device on Amazon UK or Amazon Canada. Though the local Amazon sites in Canada and the UK showed the current Paperwhite as unavailable, neither offered any information on the new model.
What a difference a day makes. Both sites now have news of the new Paperwhite on their homepages, and both are offering the device for pre-order starting today. Priced at £109 in the UK and $139 in Canada, the device is shipping to Canadians on October 10, about a week and a half after it ships in the United States. Amazon offered no indication as to when UK shoppers can expect their pre-orders to ship.
The sixth generation Kindle is marginally lighter than the previous generation Paperwhite. It boasts a faster processor as well as new display technology that offers higher contrast, an improved lighting system, and improved touch technology. The new Kindle will also come with Good Reads integration (included in an update planned for later this year), FreeTime (which hopes to get kids reading more via a tracker and rewards system), and a new Page Flip feature that lets you skim page-by-page, scan by chapter, or skip to the end without losing your place.
A WiFi+3G model will launch in the States on November 5. No word on international availability on that one.
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