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ces: e-readers

A student uses a Kindle DX during class at Pace University in New York.Mark Lennihan

The larger, more expensive version of Amazon's electronic book-reader is now available in Canada.

The online book retailer announced Wednesday it is making the Kindle DX available for online purchase in 100 countries, following a similar step it took late last year with the original Kindle - a product the company claims is the best-selling of the millions it offers.

"Kindle DX is great for personal and professional documents, cookbooks and textbooks - anything that is highly formatted. Documents look so good on the big Kindle DX display, that you'll find yourself changing ink toner cartridges less often and printing fewer documents," said Ian Freed, vice-president, Amazon Kindle, in a statement. "We're excited to be able to offer Kindle DX to customers worldwide so they can carry all of their personal documents along with their whole library in one slender package."

The Kindle DX resembles the original e-reader in overall design, but is larger, with a 9.7-inch electronic display, as opposed to the 6-inch display on the Kindle. It is also significantly more expensive, at $489 (U.S), compared to $259 for the original model.

Last year, Amazon came under fire from angry Canadian consumers when it offered the original Kindle for sale in 100 countries, but not Canada. The delay appeared to stem from difficulty working out a deal with a carrier to enable the Kindle's wireless functions - the device allows users to download e-books from its online store wirelessly without connection charges.



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However Amazon eventually reached a deal - believed to be with Rogers, though neither the carrier nor the on-line retailer will confirm that - and offered the Kindle for sale in Canada well before Christmas. With a wireless deal already in place, there was no such delay with the Kindle DX.

While it still has perhaps the most well-known e-reader on the market, Amazon now faces stiff competition from products such as the Barnes and Noble e-reader, the Nook. In addition, a number of devices currently on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will soon be available in Canada.

For example the Entourage eDGe, a dual-screen e-reader Web tablet with the ability to write on one of the screens, should be available in Canada by February, its makers say. The eDGe is one of several devices running on Google's mobile operating system that have hit or will be hitting the market soon, giving the Kindle stiffer competition to deal with.

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