Key features of Amazon's would-be iPad "killer".

Thousands of US libraries have begun lending digital books over the internet for reading on Amazon's popular Kindle devices.

Amazon has launched a test version of Kindle software that lets readers fire off questions to authors in text messages sent from the popular electronic book readers.

Well, now we know why Amazon's stock of Kindle 2 e-readers evaporated so quickly. Just hours after I wrote about the devices being out of stock, Amazon announced a new model of its popular e-reader. The device, called simply the Kindle, is available for pre-order now and will ship August 27. While most of us will have to wait a month to get our hands on the new gadget, a few lucky bloggers and technology reporters already got a chance to check it out. So far, they seem to like it...a lot. In fact, in reading many of the reports about the new Kindle, I found it difficult to find anything they didn't like about it.

Amazon.com's announcement late Wednesday that it will launch a new version of its Kindle e-book reader in August could further stoke a price battle between major players in the e-reader market.

What It Is: Big business has learned its lesson about paper consumption: We read Word docs on laptops, use the copier sparingly and print only what we need. Yet, the paperless office is still a distant dream. E-Readers at least give the trees--and therefore the human race--a chance. The 170 dot-per-inch screen resolution--well over twice that of the typical computer monitor--lessens eye fatigue. Right now, the Amazon Kindle DX, with its 9.7-inch screen, is as close to reading printed material as possible on an electronic device.