The Kindle 2 will cost £175 not including any import or other charges, and will be available from its amazon.com website, with the larger format DX version released sometime next year.

The device connects wirelessly to Amazon's content store via an AT&T network that Amazon refers to as Whispernet.

International users will have 290,000 titles of more than 350,000 titles available to their US counterparts and may end up paying more for some content depending on international publishing agreements.

According to research company Forrester, Amazon will sell around 3m of the reader devices in the US this year, accounting for 60% of the market.

Read associate editor Jo Francis's blog: Keen interest in Kindle