Amazon Kindle DX coming to UK this month

The Kindle DX has a larger screen and displays PDFs

Amazon has announced that its Kindle DX e-book reader will be available in the UK from 19 January, offering a larger screen and PDF support that could make it more attractive to business users.

First announced in the US in May 2009, the Kindle DX is the newest in Amazon's e-book reader line, which competes against rival devices such as Sony's Reader models.

The device is larger than earlier Kindle models, with a 9.7in e-ink display, auto-rotate capability and 3.3GB of available storage for up to 3,500 books. It also adds support for PDF documents, a capability most other e-book readers have had for some time.

Also included is Amazon's 3G Global Wireless connectivity, first introduced to the UK with the Kindle 2, which enables users to download content to the device via the internet rather than via a computer. Amazon said that books can be downloaded in under 60 seconds, and users require no monthly fees, data plans or service contracts.

"Now Kindle DX with Global Wireless lets customers enjoy the ease of Whispernet wireless delivery of books, newspapers, magazines, blogs and documents while traveling in over 100 countries worldwide," said Amazon.com vice president Ian Freed.

Over 400,000 books are now available from the online Kindle store, according to Amazon, with titles typically costing $9.99 (£6.27) or less.

While the Kindle DX offers better battery life, allowing reading for up to one full week with wireless on and up to two weeks with wireless off, it still uses Amazon's proprietary AZW format for e-books rather than the EPUB standard used in most other e-book readers.