Amazon unveiled on Thursday during a press event held in Santa Monica, Calif. a new “frontlit” e-ink Kindle, with a sharper display.

Called “Kindle Paperwhite,” the device will likely compete with Barnes & Noble’s Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight device. The Kindle Paperwhite 3G is $179 and $119 for Wi-Fi only. (Note: the Barnes & Noble device is priced at $139 for the Wi-Fi only version.)

The Kindle Paperwhite is still touch enabled like the Kindle Touch, but while the latter hasnphysical control buttons, the Kindle Paperwhite is all touch. The display of the Kindle Papewhite has been improved over the Kindle Touch. It now has a sharper (212 ppi) and higher-contrast display. The interface of the Kindle Paperwhite is a bit similar to the Kindle Fire’s. It now features a “cover mode” homescreen that lets users swipe through their library.

The Kindle Paperwhite is already available for order in the U.S. and will start shipping on October 1.

This new Kindle is a traditional eBook reader, in the sense that it does not really aim to give the user more than eBook reading. In other words, it’s not a tablet with a host of features and apps, it’s the basic Kindle, only improved.

Via: mashable