Update, 10 a.m. Sept. 3: Amazon has put up a product page for the new Kindle Paperwhite online here. The WiFi version with ads goes for $119, and $139 without ads. The 3G Paperwhite will sell for $189.

More details here.

Original story:

Over the years, one of the best indications of an impending Amazon launch is the sudden disappearance of an existing product. And it looks like we’ve got ourselves one of those situations right now.

Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi has gone out of stock. It’s available only used, and not from Amazon.

GeekWire columnist Frank Catalano spotted this over the weekend when he went shopping for a new Kindle to replace his second-generation Kindle e-reader, which is no longer holding a charge for very long. Frank also notes that the older Kindle Keyboard models are not available directly from Amazon anymore, either.

It looks like the Paperwhite went out of stock last week. The device, launched by Amazon last year, features a front-lit display that illuminates the screen for easier reading.

The end result, for now, is that you can get a Kindle e-reader at the low end (the basic Kindle, starting at $69 with ads); or the high end (the Kindle Paperwhite 3G, starting at $179 with ads). However, the mid-range Kindle e-readers (in the range of $119 to $159) are no longer available directly from Amazon.

That leaves a big gap to fill with new products.

On the tablet side, the “limited time” $40 discount for the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD remains in effect nearly a month after it started, leaving the price at $159, the same as the regular Kindle Fire.