Amazon has made its premier Kindle DX model large e-reader available for pre-orders in over 100 countries; and the shipping of the device, which is currently available only in the US, will begin from January 19.

The $489-priced new Kindle DX, which is essentially aimed at students, businesspeople and newspaper readers, features a two-and-a-half times bigger screen as compared to the international Kindle model that Amazon released worldwide late last year. The bigger screen adds the 'convenience' factor to highly-formatted reading content of newspapers, magazines, textbooks, and PDF documents.

Commenting on the international availability of the new model, Ian Freed, Amazon's VP of Kindle, said that DX customers will now be able to "take all of their books with them when they travel and all their loose printed documents," and added that all their newspapers can "follow them from country to country, delivered fresh each morning, with no additional fee."

Freed further said that Amazon has nearly 300,000 e-books, available for international purchase for the Kindle. While most of the book titles for Kindle are in English, the digital versions of magazines and newspapers are available in local languages.

In addition, the Kindle store also offers over 100 newspapers and magazines which are available either for single purchase or for subscription - the most notable among these being The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Times and Le Monde.