e-readers

Put Kindle on your Android

The free Kindle app for Android is a rock-solid e-reader option that seamlessly ties to your Amazon account. It may not have many bells or whistles, but it does its job well, and can easily reach into Amazon.com's enormous library of downloadable works.

The app opens up directly into your Kindle library, which shows all of the books tied to your account. If you want to expand your library, you can tap the Kindle Store button on the top right and sift through Amazon.com's catalog of books, magazines, and newspapers. And thanks to a recent update, … Read more

Get a Nook Color and Nook Simple Touch for $149

Holy unexpected bundles, Batman!

While supplies last, Barnes & Noble is offering a refurbished Nook Color e-reader and Nook Simple Touch e-reader for $149 shipped.

The deal is available only through eBay. To get it, click the above link, scroll down a bit until you see the Special Offer section, click the check box next to the Simple Touch (which is shown at $79 but will drop to just $20 in your cart), and then click the Buy These Items button on the right.

This is a fairly unprecedented bundle. The Nook Color alone is a steal at $129, especially … Read more

Apple's iBooks reader with books and textbooks

iBooks is a stylish, crisp-looking, colorful e-book reader and storefront that runs on Apple's iOS devices. The latest version of the software includes support for textbooks, a new addition to the iBookstore for students.

As with other e-book readers, iBooks responds to the device's accelerometer and switches between landscape and portrait modes. Its controls disappear when unused, and a swipe (or tap on the left or right side of the screen) will cause the pages to turn. iBooks' page-turning is smooth and engaging, with page corners digitally curling toward you as you advance, but this behavior is only … Read more

The 404 1,005: Where the iPad HD is Hardly Different (podcast)

Extra-short show today to make room for this morning's Apple iPad HD coverage, but we'll quickly speculate about the deal-making features that would push us to run out and buy an iPad HD--we'll also talk about the possibility of a haptic feedback display, a new AppleCare+ program, and what sites you should use to sell your old tablet if you upgrade.… Read more

Amazon's Kindle Lending Library touts indie writers

Can e-readers help independent writers and publishers? Amazon thinks so. The e-commerce giant announced today that not only did it top 100,000 titles in its Kindle Lending Library but also that more Amazon customers are reading independently published books.

"After a year of marketing 'Whispers from the Ashes' in book clubs, genealogical magazines, and local newspapers with steady, but slow results, I joined the KDP Select program," author Patricia Hester said in a statement. "The results have been absolutely amazing - I have now accomplished every author's dreams: worldwide interest, fan enthusiasm, and wonderful sales.&… Read more

Consumer electronics spending hits $144B in 2011

Recent news of Apple killing it with fourth-quarter earnings and holiday spending showing more people shopping online was re-confirmed today by market research company The NPD Group.

Their numbers show that these fourth-quarter trends actually held true for all of 2011.

According data crunched by NPD, U.S. consumer electronics sales reached $144 billion in 2011, with Apple topping as the No. 1 brand. Additionally, in-store sales fell by 2.5 percent in 2011, while online sales jumped by 7 percent.

The top five categories for electronic spending were PCs, TVs, tablets and e-readers, mobile phones, and video game hardware, … Read more

Get a Nook Simple Touch Reader for $84

A few weeks ago, CNET's Scott Stein made the case for using a dedicated e-reader instead of a tablet--for book reading, that is.

I'm inclined to agree with him, as I find that when I read on my iPad or Nook Color, I'm frequently distracted from my book. It's hard to resist the siren song of e-mail, Web browsing, Flipboard, and the like when they're just a tap or two away.

With a regular old e-reader, however, all you get is your book--and that's a good thing. Hence I'm seeing the value … Read more

How the Kindle replaced my iPad...for book reading

There's a case to be made for convergence devices, and for merging every product down to just one. The iPad, in many ways, has been that device for me: I travel light, I read or watch movies or play games or surf the Web on it. It's a security blanket and a thin catchall.

Still...I bought a Kindle. … Read more

New CEO at BlackBerry maker

Popular file-sharing site FileSonic limits use after the MegaUpload arrests, Obama uses Google+ Hangout, and Research In Motion's co-CEOs resign to make way for a new leader.

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Tablet ownership nearly doubled during the holidays

The holidays were certainly prosperous for the tablet industry.

The number of U.S. tablet owners just about doubled from 10 percent to 19 percent between the middle of December and the start of January, according to a Pew Internet report out today.

Coming from a period of flat growth since the summer, tablets enjoyed a surge during the holiday season as lower-cost devices such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble's Nook tablet reached shoppers just in the nick of time.

But tablet vendors weren't the only ones on a holiday hot streak.

E-book readers … Read more