Paid iBookstore content now live in New Zealand, 17 other countries

It looks like e-book lovers around the world can definitely look forward to tomorrow's expected iPad mini reveal, as paid iBookstore content has just gone live in 17 new countries. If a smaller iPad is indeed in the cards -- and we're pretty sure it is -- it will compete directly with Amazon's Kindle line. Expanding the company's e-book offerings might be a good indication of how Apple will angle its announcement to appeal to would-be Kindle buyers.

The full list of countries getting refreshed iBookstore content is as follows: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.

This news also matches up nicely with the recent discovery of titles in the iBookstore referencing the as-yet unannounced iBooks 3.0 platform in their descriptions. Apple launching a smaller iPad with a focus on reading and education is something our own Erica Sadun is already betting on, and these two clues seem to support that theory quite nicely.