Amazon Cuts Kindle Price By 10%, Throws In Free Shipping

New York (NY) - Amazon has modestly cut the price its Kindle E-Book reader. Barely released late last year, the white hand-held reader is now 10% off at $359 and buyers will also receive free two-day shipping. Amazon hasn’t released an official statement about the price cut (at least not yet), but this should provide a decent boost in sales for anyone sitting on the fence. Heck, I’m putting my Mastercard deeper in the red by buying mine today.

When the Kindle was released in November 2007, critics slammed the device for its ergonomics (mainly on how easily you can accidently turn a page) and lack of content. Since then Amazon has beefed up its Kindle content offerings into an impressive iTunes-like catalog of more than 125,000 books, 18 daily newspapers, 333 magazines and countless blogs.

Electronic books are available for approximately 60% off the list price while the newspapers and magazines often are available for a far steeper discount - perhaps the savings on delivery costs has something to do with it. Content is wirelessly delivered through Sprint’s EVDO network in a few minutes after purchase and since Amazon pays for the bandwidth, you’ll never receive a pesky airtime bill.

The Kindle’s six-inch diagonal screen uses E-Ink electronic paper technology to give newspaper-like clarity while saving power. The 600 by 800 pixels are energized to set the ’ink’ and then the device only requires power when the pages are turned.

Analysts estimate that Amazon sold approximately 50,000 Kindle units in the first quarter of 2008.