The Irish Times will be among top international newspapers to feature on Amazon.com's new electronic book reader that is to go on sale from the end of the month.
The battery-operated Amazon Kindle will sell for $399 and let users download books, newspapers and blogs over a wireless connection. It can carry about 200 books downloaded from Amazon.com at about $10 each for new release.
Although the market for e-books is limited, and competing devices have yet to catch on, one analyst said Amazon's book reader could evolve into one that is able to capture all of the company's many offerings.
The battery-operated Amazon Kindle
Wireless access, based on the mobile broadband technology EVDO, is built into the 10-ounce, thin white device. Downloading content does not require a computer and takes less than a minute for a full-length book, the company said.
The Kindle service will also offer subscriptions to newspapers, magazines and blogs for a monthly fee.
Subscriptions to newspapers such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Le Mondeor Frankfurter Allgemeine, will range from $5.99 to $14.99. Magazine subscriptions will range from $1.25 to $3.49 per month.
Amazon will offer subscriptions to blogs at a cost of about 99 cents.
Amazon said it currently offers more than 90,000 books. Downloading and reading the first chapters of most books is free.
"The question is, can you improve upon something as highly evolved and well-suited to its task as the book? And if so, how?," Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said at a press conference in New York.
The device's screen is not back-lit and uses electronic ink to mimic paper. The competing Sony Reader from uses similar technology but does not include wireless access.
Additional reporting Reuters