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Kindle has made their latest ebook readers available. There are several models, from the affordable Kindle Wi-Fi, priced as low as $79 with "special offers and screensavers), to the Touch models, and finally, the long awaited Kindle Fire which offers a more tablet-like experience.

Certainly some ereaders before the Fire have added access to web content and browsers, but this Kindle offering is particularly well adapted to the task. Certainly, it's a great reading device with a wide range of file fomat compatibility (video, audio, photo/image, and text) and provides a myriad of reading-centric features, along with access to the huge library of books, magazines and newspapers that one would expect.  It also provides plenty of storage for that content; 8GB onboard plus of course, users get the security of Amazon Cloud backup.

However, this device runs with a dual core processor and "cloud accelerated" browser that makes streaming video, movies, and TV shows fast. Beyond the 1,000,000 books and the ability to borrow from the public library, users can also enjoy 17,000,000 million songs via the Amazon MP3 store and magazines, movies, TV shows, and apps/games at the Amazon AppStore.  Amazon even throws in a free month of Amazon Prime service  which includes instant movie streaming and free shipping from the Amazon site.

The 7" multi-touch color screen is perfect for those movies and navigation is quick and intuitive. The top mounted stereo speakers and 3.5mm stereo audio jack provide a rather good audio experience as well. This device is now available for pre-order for $199.

The question is, is this the next step in the evolution of ebook readers or the end as they fade in to tablets? Either way, the result seems to be positive for consumers.