It’s new Kindle time and having shown off a touch-friendly version of its ereader last year, the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is the online retail giant’s latest attempt to spell the end of the traditional book. Set to get you reading under the covers or in a very dark room, the Kindle Paperwhite was also joined by a revamped version of the original Kindle and a duo of Kindle Fire HD tablets.

Filling in the blanks for those of you that missed the announcement, here’s all the vital specs to look out for in the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite.
 

Build and design

The new Kindle measures in at a slender 9.1mm thick making it slimmer than the Kindle Touch. At 213g it still matches the Touch in the weight department however. In terms of the interface, Amazon has taken inspiration from the Kindle Fire incorporating the ability to swipe through content and head into the cloud to browse through your digital library.
 

Paperwhite screen and built-in light

Inevitably the new paperwhite display is the star of the show offering a higher resolution, and sharper images managing 62% more pixels than previous Kindles. With a considerably improved 212 ppi you can expect clearer, sharper text, while the new built-in light delivers an ambient lighting effect across the screen. This is spread evenly with the brightness adjusted by a simple stroke of the display. The increased contrast ratio and resolution also means the opportunity to add new fonts previously not capable on Kindle devices.

Time to Read, X-Ray and WhisperSync on Voice

Hardware adjustments aside, Amazon has also added some nice new touches in terms of the software including the Time to Read feature which works out how much time it will take to finish the chapter or the entire book depending on reading speed and habits. X-Ray will let you explore every detail from quotes to chapters in an ebook while WhisperSync on Voice means you can read an ebook then listen to it on an audiobook exactly where you left off. There is of course access to Amazon’s ebook library which packs 180,000 Kindle exclusives to peruse and spend your money on.

Battery, storage and connectivity

Amazon claims that you can expect the Kindle Paperwhite to stay juiced for eight weeks, and that is with the light on. In terms of capacity, there’s free storage courtesy of Amazon Cloud. On the connectivity front, the Paperwhite Kindle will work over free 3G, so there’s no need for data plans or annual contracts with W-Fi support also on board.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite price and release date

There were no details on a UK release or pricing, but Mr Bezos announced that there will be Wi-Fi and 3G models of the Paperwhite Kindle with the former costing $119 and the latter priced in at $179. US customers can expect to get their hands on one from October 1st but can pre-order it from today.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite preview video