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Close on the heels of Amazon reducing the price of its previous version of Kindle, comes the unveiling of this all-new eReader, priced at a low $139. This release also comes in the wake of Amazon’s significant announcement that its eReaders are now outselling the hardcovers.

This new Kindle is smaller by 21 percent, lighter by 15 percent and has 50 percent better contrast than before, bringing it closer to a newspaper feel than ever before.

If you thought the earlier version’s 2-week battery life was aplenty, take this – this one’s got a one-month battery life. This eReader also comes with more space – 4GB space instead of the earlier 2GB one.

Also in lieu of the Kindle being labelled unfriendly to the blind, Amazon has come up with a text-to-speech menu guide for this version.

The economical version of the kindle that costs $139 has an in-built Wi-Fi; however the earlier version (whose price was recently reduced from $259 to $189) has both Wi-Fi and 3G inside.

The economical model comes only in one colour – graphite, unlike the other version that’s available in both white and graphite.

This lowering of price will give Kindle a market of its own, and will not need to face-off with the more fancied and expensive iPad. The new version will be available from August 27, pretty soon with several tablet PCs closing in.

This new Kindle is even cheaper than the Nook eReader, Sony Reader Pocket Edition, Kobo eReader and now among the segments’ most-economical. Will this release intensify the price-wars? You bet!

What the Tech Gurus say:

David Carnoy of CNET

We got a chance to play around with the new Kindle for a short time and while Amazon wouldn’t immediately let us photograph it side by side with the old Kindle, the new model is clearly smaller and sleeker and the screen definitely pops a little more, much like the new Kindle DX’s screen does. The letters appear a little darker and Amazon has tweaked the font options, so they also appear slightly sharper.

Devin Coldewey of crunchgear.com

They say they’ve updated the web browser, which is nice, I suppose, but the idea of an E-ink web browser still leaves me cold. Focus on the reading experience and leave the browsing to iPads. There is a new voice navigation option, though, which sounds handy — I look forward to barking “next page!” at my e-reader in a crowded cafe. Personally, I think this is a nice little improvement.

Melissa Perenson of PC World

The new Kindle uses the same E-Ink Pearl screen found on the Kindle DX (Graphite). The screen offers a 20 percent faster refresh rate over its predecessor, a tangible difference that, together with software enhancements, makes the Kindle fly through menus. Other boosts: Internal storage can now handle up to 3500 books, 2000 more than the previous version.

First reactions on Twitter:

1. 
   Werner New York Times on the new #Kindle http://nyti.ms/ctzu9V (wifi, smaller, lighter, more storage) 28 Jul 2010 from bitly
2. 
   dantaipan The new #kindle offering is sensible and will extend the kindle’s life for another year at least. 29 Jul 2010 from Twitterrific
3. 
   marknswick New #Kindle! Only $140! I’ve been waiting for you! http://tcrn.ch/9XuMRE 29 Jul 2010 from Echofon
4. 
   kristar19 I can’t wait to get my hands on that new #Kindle 3. My son already has plans to steal my current one. 29 Jul 2010 from Twitter for iPhone
5. 
   emlary The new #Kindle still doesn’t look appealing to me =[ http://bit.ly/a0vEiv 29 Jul 2010 from ついっぷる
6. 
   dpcwollmann New kindle looks awesome. Black. 2x the storage, insane battery life, cover w/integrated light using kindle power, sharper display. #kindle 29 Jul 2010 from Seesmic for Android

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Though the craze for eBooks is yet to catch in India, an economical yet feature-rich eReader like this one could just the device that could start a whole new trend. Would you like your books and newspaper on an eReader, instead of the hard copy? Tell us why