The downside: The screens on most E Ink readers on the market refresh in 1, 000 milliseconds, compared with an lcd, which typically refreshes at 8 milliseconds.

FORBES: Magazine Article

"We're excited to make the best-selling and most advanced e-readers in the world available to our Amazon.ca customers for the first time, making it easier and more affordable than ever for Canadian readers to own a Kindle, " said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle.

ENGADGET: Amazon's new Kindles now available in Canada, Paperwhite starting at CAD $139

The e-paper slate is quite a lot bigger than most tablets, let alone e-readers, sporting a 13.3-inch screen (1, 200 x 1, 600) to match the standard A4 size of normal, boring paper.

ENGADGET

The four companies have been able to bring out e-readers in quick succession because most of them utilize the same base hardware.

FORBES: Qualcomm Gets A Fourth Mirasol Device: Taiwan's Koobe Jin Yong E-Reader

Mobcast provides a digital book retail platform with a catalogue of more than 130, 000 of the UK's most popular titles which can be bought and read on smartphones, tablets and e-readers.

ENGADGET: Tesco recruits Andy McNab's e-book firm Mobcast to help win the Supermarket content war

Apple, the world's most valuable technology company, and Amazon, an upstart in tablets and the leader in e-readers, do not participate.

CNN: Mark Milian,

As with most professions, the book business is changing rapidly with the advent of the Internet and new technology like e-readers.

FORBES: Entrepreneurial Life: Tales of a Young Bookseller