Amazon Announces April UK Launch Date for Kindle Touch

Following its October launch in America, the Kindle Touch is available for pre-order from Amazon in the UK, with both Wi-Fi and 3G versions.

The Kindle Touch is very similar to the regular Kindle ebook reader, but has a 6in touchscreen instead of physical buttons so pages can be turned with the swipe of a finger.

Amazon is selling the Wi-Fi-only version for £109 and the Wi-Fi plus 3G model for £169, which includes free 3G access to download books, newspapers and magazines wirelessly - all with no monthly or annual data bills.

While users can pre-order the Kindle Touch now, it will not be released in the UK and Europe until 27 April.

The Kindle Touch is similar to the standard Kindle and shares the same two-month battery life, the ability to hold up to 3,000 books and the e-ink screen which can be easily read in direct sunlight, unlike smartphones and tablets.

Unlike the latest model, the Touch features text-to-speech which lets the Kindle read a book out loud if the user chooses; support for audiobook and MP3 file playback is also included. This is a throw back to the Kindle 3 which also offered MP3 playback and and text-to-speech.

New to the Kindle Touch is X-Ray, a feature that lets users learn more about characters and locations featured in a book. Tapping on a character's name opens up links to every passage where they are mentioned, as well as offering more detailed information sourced from Wikipedia and Shelfari - Amazon's "community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers".

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said on the retailer's website: "The Kindle store offers over one million books, magazines, newspapers and blogs, with more bestsellers and the lowest prices of any ebookstore in the UK. We've added over 340,000 titles in just the last six months, and are adding more every day.

"Our vision is to have every book ever written, in any language, and all available in under 60 seconds."

The news comes just a day after the Harry Potter ebooks went on sale at fan site Pottermore. In a unique partnership, the books will be listed on Amazon but buyers are then linked to Pottermore - it is believed the two sites have an arrangement to both earn revenue.

The Kindle Touch will go head-to head in the UK with the Sony Reader Touch Edition and the Kobo eReader Touch, both of which have been on sale for some time in this country.

While a lot of e-reader fans will be happy to see the Kindle Touch launching, more people would have liked to see the Kindle Fire become available here in the UK. The Kindle Fire went on sale in the US before Christmas and the 7in tablet has been selling very well so far, priced very attractively at $199.

Amazon has so far been silent on when or indeed if the Kindle Fire will be coming to the UK, but we remain hopeful it will arrive on these shores, and it could coincide with the launch of a rumoured 10.1in Kindle Fire, which could launch this summer.

We will be getting the new Kindle Touch in for review very soon, but for now why not check out our review of the non-touch Kindle here.