Amazon confirms European Kindle release

Amazon's Kindle will become available to UK users on 19 October

Amazon has finally released its Kindle e-book reader in Europe. The device wirelessly downloads books, magazines, newspapers and personal documents to a high-resolution 6in electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper.

However, the Kindle also uses 3G wireless technology to update itself, posing a problem as Amazon has been unable to make the telephone deals required to get European-wide coverage.

The reader is listed at $279 (£175) on the Amazon.com Kindle web page, and will begin shipping on 19 October.

Amazon is also trying to get European newspapers and magazines to sign up to produce Kindle editions. So far it has got La Stampa, El País, El Universal, O Globo and The Daily Telegraph to sign up.

Other than these, users are stuck with The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and The Washington Post.

No operators have yet indicated that they will run the Kindle service in Europe.