Amazon has been raging war in the e-reader market with its Kindle series. The tiff between the company and Barnes & Noble in recent times surely caught everyone’s interest. But the latest dosage from Amazon’s pocket is shaking the pants off every competitor.

For just $139, a measly sum compared to other mainstream e-reader lying around, Amazon is offering the latest, third-generation Kindle. This one will be equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity and boast of an electronic-ink screen that has better-contrast display. The Kindle has been toned down to a 21 percent smaller body and weighs 15 percent less.

If you don’t mind shelling out a tad bit more, Amazon even offers you a $189 3G version with mobile broadband connectivity. Sad enough for the others in the market, who were hoping to surpass Amazon with either minimal prices or better features, that the US-based company decided to oust everyone else in both directions.

Slated for an August 27 release, the new Kindle gives 20 percent more speed in turning pages, enough space to stock 3,500 books and up to one month of battery life. To increase the attraction-coefficient, Amazon has even ensured that e-books downloaded via Kindle are compatible with other devices like iPod touch, iPhone, PC and Android gadgets. For the convenience of readers, the Whispersync technology in the new Kindle will keep tab of the reader’s progress so that it can resume on that exact page the next time an e-book is accessed.

Amazon.com Founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos is visibly upbeat right now. He says, “Kindle is the best-selling product on Amazon for two years running. We lowered the price to $189 and sales growth tripled. Kindle Wi-Fi has all the same features, same bookstore, same high-contrast electronic paper display, and it’s even a tiny bit lighter at 8.5 ounces. At this price point, many people are going to buy multiple units for the home and family.”

Currently, buyers can choose from more than 630,000 titles in the US Kindle Store, with more than 1.8 million classics completely free. The rest of the e-books mostly come for $9.99 or less and the rate at which Amazon hikes up those figures is simply impressive. Seems like the rivals will have to do more than just stare at the new wonder.