Amazon has just launced its latest Kindle, which as expected uses the company's new Paperwhite technoloogy, which offers an illuminated screen to help read in the dark.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
Reuters

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is an all new model from Amazon and integrates touchscreen with a frontlight, a feature which has been seen previously in the Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight and the recently announced Kobo Glo.

The LED light will help reading in the dark, but won't impact on battery life even if it's left on all the time, with the Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos saying the Kindle Paperwhite will have a battery life of eight weeks.

The Kindle Paperwhite screen will have a sharper resolution, bumping it up to 212 pixels per inch, as well as adding a higher contrast ratio. The Kindle Paperwhite has no physical buttons, is 9.1mm thin and weighs 212g.

Some of the other new features are the ability to change fonts and font sizes on the fly, and swiping through your book collection offering a cover mode homesreen like the Kindle Fire tablet.

The Kindle Paperwhite will be available in Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 3G with the former costing $119 and the 3G model costing $179. We are waiting to hear about UK pricing and availability.

The Kindle Paperwhite is avilable to pre-order now in the US, shipping on 1 October.

Amazon has also updated its regular Kindle range, with faster page turns, improved fonts and better parental controls, and it will cost just £69. It is available to pre-order today and will ship on 12 September.