Amazon.com introduced two new versions of the device today, including a US$139 model that works with Wi-Fi. A second version, with 3G mobile technology as well as Wi-Fi to download books, costs US$189.

But publishers said it is still too early to gauge for the entire industry whether the growth of e-books is cannibalizing sales of paperback books, a huge and crucial market. Amazon's chief executive, Jeff Bezos, also countered the perception that sales of the company's Kindle e-reading device had suffered due to competition from other devices, such as Apple's iPad.

Amazon announced the release of a new Kindle reading application, called Kindle for Android, that is available as a free download for phones running Google's Android software.

A color version of Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-reader may come eventually, but it won't be soon. Speaking Tuesday at the online retailer's annual shareholder meeting in Seattle, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said that adding color to the Kindle's "electronic ink" display is a difficult technical challenge and that a color screen is "still a long way out." Bezos said he's seen things "in the laboratory" that are "still not ready for prime-time production."

Penguin books said on Wednesday it reached a deal with Amazon.com to again sell its new titles for Amazon's Kindle e-book reader in another step in book publishers' ongoing efforts to find profitable pricing models for e-books.

Target will become the first retailer to carry the US$259 Kindle on Sunday. At first, the Kindle will only be sold at Target's flagship store in downtown Minneapolis, plus 102 stores in South Florida. Target plans to offer Kindle at more of its stores later in the year.

In addition to the ability to upload and sell books in English, French and German languages, authors and publishers now have more options when offering their books to Kindle customers.

Barnes & Noble, the largest bookstore chain by revenue, just became the latest company to launch its own eBook store to compete with Amazon and its increasingly popular Kindle family of electronic readers. It joins Sony and other companies that aim to capture a piece of this young, but fast-growing market.

In George Orwell's "1984," government censors erase all traces of news articles embarrassing to Big Brother by sending them down an incineration chute called the "memory hole." On Friday, it was "1984”and another Orwell book, "Animal Farm," that were dropped down the memory hole — by Amazon.com.

Online retailer Amazon.com has cut the price of its standard Kindle electronic reader by 17% to US$299, the company said on Wednesday. The price cut comes amid a budding digital book battle where rivals like Amazon, Sony and a host of smaller companies are anxious to get in on the ground floor of what some say is the future of reading.

For the second time in a month, E Ink's new electronic reader, the Kindle DX, has sold out on Amazon.com.