Amazon Launches New Kindle E-Reader With Touchscreen at Rs. 5,999

After globally announcing a revamped lineup of Kindle ebook readers, Amazon has gone ahead and announced launched its new base model Kindle with a touch interface in India.

Surprisingly, unlike 15 percent jump in prices for this particular model of Kindle in the U.S., Amazon has decided to price the new Kindle at Rs. 5,999 in India, which is the same price as the previous-gen Kindle with no touchscreen. The updated model also features a 20 percent faster processor and twice the storage with 'weeks of battery life'.

The pre-orders for the new Kindle start on Thursday, and it will start shipping on October 9, 2014.

The new Kindle ebook reader features Kindle Freetime which allows parents to hand-select books for their kids to read, and hand out achievement badges when they hit reading milestones. A progress report keeps parents updated on total time spent reading, number of words looked up, badges earned, and books finished. It continues to have other features like the Vocabulary builder, Whispersync and Smart Lookup. Amazon states that over the next couple of months new features like Word Wise and Enhanced Search will be introduced as part of a free, over-the-air software update, which will also be available on Kindle Paperwhite.

"Our new Kindle is small and light, with weeks of battery life, a 20 percent faster processor, twice the storage, and a touch interface," said Peter Larsen, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "The new Kindle includes all the features readers love-Whispersync, built-in dictionary and new exclusive features like Vocabulary builder, Kindle Freetime and Goodreads integration. It's never been a better time to be a reader."

There is no word yet on the India availability of $199 Kindle Voyage, the $99 Kindle Fire HD 6 tablet, the Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition, and finally the upgraded Kindle Fire HD 7 (2014) and the Fire HDX 8.9 (2014) tablets.