I was heading to Musee du Fort to meet a friend and while waiting for my bus, I pulled out my Kindle Touch out of my side pocket and pressed the power button. With just a few taps, I started reading Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James, which I just downloaded before I left the house. I read for almost 10 minutes until my bus came. I pressed the power button and slipped it inside my bag.

Amazon has just shipped Kindle Touch in Canada a few weeks ago and I was one of the first customers who received it. I ordered the e-reader immediately when Amazon announced that they were ready to ship the Touch internationally.

With a device that’s as small as a paperback novel weighing 7.5 ounces only, my hands never get tired holding it even for 30 minutes or so. Downloading eBook is fast. Within a minute, the novel was right in my Kindle ready for me to start reading. Since Kindle Touch supports Wi-Fi connectivity, you can download an ebook anywhere that has Wi-Fi signal.

I’m okay with my Kindle Touch since I own a wireless router at home. But if you are traveling a lot, the Kindle Touch 3G should suit you perfectly. Its Internet connection comes from cellphone signals making it easier to download eBooksanytime and anywhere without paying for anything other than the cost of the eBook. Amazon pays for your Internet connection and that is their best selling point against their competition.

The key feature of Kindle Touch is its touch screen. But unlike other touch screens that require you to swipe it to move from one window to another, Kindle Touch works by tapping its screen. When you tap the left portion, you are moving the page backward. Tapping the center screen will get you to the next page and tapping the upper portion will bring up the menu.

Reading through Kindle will not cause a lot of strain on your eyes because of its e-Ink technology. Unlike reading from LCD screen, the e-Ink technology removes the glare on its screen making the text readable even under direct sunlight.

A single charge of the battery is supposed to last for 2 months with wireless off and 30 minutes per day of reading. I read for an average of 2.5 hours a day. I only browse through Amazon’s store for about 30 minutes in two weeks and the battery lasted for about 3 weeks.

What I really like about Kindle is its Whispersync. Any reading material that you purchase from Amazon is not exclusive to your Kindle. It’s a great technology that synchronizes the bookmarks and furthest page read among your devices. You can continue reading on your Mac notebook or any other device that you register on your account. Whispersync saves all your reading activities on cloud and it works perfectly.

For me, the best part of owning a Kindle is having a library of books and personal documents that I can carry along with me anywhere I go. With a Kindle Touch that’s retailed at US$ 139, it’s cheap as compared to its functionality.

Additional Resources:
Kindle Touch in Canada
Amazon Kindle
Kindle Store Canada