Amazon.com has announced it is releasing an international version of the Kindle and trimming prices of the coveted electronic book readers as it expands its pursuit of a "renaissance in reading."

Kindle models designed to synch with telecom networks in countries around the world are priced at 279 dollars and the prices of basic Kindles tailored for use in the United States were cut 40 dollars to 259 dollars.

"For the first time ever, Kindle is available for sale outside the US," Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told AFP as he provided a glimpse of the international model in Cupertino, California.

"Now, Kindle will work in a hundred countries. With Kindle you can be in France and get an English-language book within 60 seconds."

International versions of the e-readers can be ordered online through Amazon but shipping won't start until October 19.

"Our vision for Kindle is every book ever printed, in print or out of print, in every language available," Bezos said.

For now, downloads are only available in English, although the giant online retailer has teams working on digitizing books in other languages.

Kindle has become the top selling item at Amazon since its US launch two years ago. It is also the most "gifted and wished for" product on Amazon's virtual shelves, according to Bezos.

For every 100 ink-and-paper books Amazon sells, 48 digital editions are bought for reading on Kindles.

Amazon does not reveal sales figures for the Kindle, so the paper-versus-digital figures help shed light on e-reader popularity.

Bezos told of a flood of email messages from Kindle converts, book lovers who went from shunning to embracing digital works.

"What people realize is they can enter the author's world and have the device disappear the way a book does," Bezos said.

"There really is a renaissance in reading in that regard. There is no turning back."

While the e-book industry is still in its infancy compared to physical book publishing, digital products are rapidly gaining ground. The Association of American Publishers reports 63 million dollars in e-book sales in the first half of 2009, a 149.3-percent increase over the same period last year.

Penguin, one of the largest international book publishers and a leading supplier of digital books to Kindle, was "delighted to be extending that successful partnership to the rest of the world," said Penguin Group chief executive John Makinson.

"The publishing industry is experiencing explosive growth in digital book sales in the US and we hope to stimulate digital buying elsewhere by making our content widely available on new devices," he said.

Amazon plans next year to release an international version of the new Kindle DX model that hit the US market about five months ago.

Kindle DX e-readers are still available only in the United States and will remain priced at 489 dollars.

Cost reductions resulting from high-volume manufacturing -- not the increasingly competitive electronic book reader market -- has led to the price cuts, according to Bezos.

US telecom colossus AT&T handles wireless connections for Kindles in the United States and is overseeing deals with telecom firms in various countries to wirelessly link Amazon e-readers to the Internet.

Kindles use high-speed mobile telephone networks to download books, magazines, newspapers, or personal documents.

"Kindle has revolutionized the way we purchase and read books, by making it mobile, easy and intuitive," said AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson.

Seattle-based Amazon's list of more than 85 newspapers and magazines available on Kindle includes Italy's La Stampa; Spain's El Pais; France's Le Monde, and Britain's Daily Telegraph.

Rival companies are boosting their e-reader business.

Sony unveiled plans in August to do away with proprietary software on its electronic Sony Reader and convert to an industry standard in a move that "allows Sony to make its e-book store compatible with multiple devices."

Sony's move is seen as a direct challenge to Amazon, whose electronic books can only be read on the Kindle or on an Apple iPhone using Kindle software.