Amazon unveils three all-new Kindle e-readers

Amazon on Wednesday unveiled the fifth generation of its dedicated Kindle e-readers: the $79 Kindle, the $99 Kindle Touch, and the $149 Kindle Touch 3G. All three go up for pre-order today and will begin shipping on November 21.

The three models each offer the latest high-contrast 6" E Ink Pearl display and an even smaller profile than previous versions, but they're not all the same. The low-end Kindle offers a much smaller chassis, and weighs only 5.95 ounces, while two flagship models, Kindle Touch, and Touch 3G, have infrared touchscreen interfaces like the Nook Simple Touch and Sony Reader and slightly larger bodies.

Kindle Specs:

Size: 6.5" x 4.5" x 0.34"
Weight: 5.98 ounces
Storage: 2GB
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n (WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not connect to WPA and WPA2 secured networks using 802.1X authentication methods; does not support connecting to ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks.)
I/O: USB 2.0 (micro-B connector), 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

Kindle Touch Specs:

Size: 6.8" x 4.7" x 0.40"
Weight: 7.5 ounces
Storage: 4 GB internal
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n (WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not connect to WPA and WPA2 secured networks using 802.1X authentication methods; does not support connecting to ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks.)
I/O: USB 2.0 (micro-B connector), 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced(AA,AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

The Kindle Touch 3G Specs are identical except for the weight (7.8 ounces) and, naturally, the fact that it has an HSPDA/EDGE/GPRS modem and free AT&T wireless coverage.