San Francisco, June 22 (IANS) Online retail giant Amazon.com has joined the price war of e-book readers, and has slashed the price of its popular Kindle reader by more than a quarter.

The Kindle is available at a new price of $189, down from the previous $259, Xinhua reported citing a statement released by Amazon.

Amazon’s move came hours after Barnes and Noble, the largest bookseller in the US, slashed the price of its 3G Nook e-book reader from $259 to $199. Barnes and Noble also introduced a Wi-Fi version of Nook which is priced at $149.

Amazon said it will continue to offer free 3G connectivity for Kindle with no monthly fees or annual contracts.

Amazon sells another e-book reader called Kindle DX, whose price has remained unchanged at $489 since it was unveiled in May 2009.