Stephen King to Pen Kindle Exclusive

(NEWSER) - Nicholson Baker wanted to like the Kindle, honest. But when he unwrapped it and began to see what all the fuss was about, he "tussled with a sense of anti-climax," the prolific author writes in the New Yorker. Things never improved. He slams the e-reader for having a "greenish, sickly gray" screen, cruddy images, and limited selection of books. Amazon "is very good at selling things," he writes. "It isn’t so good, to date anyway, at making things." More»

1M!

(NEWSER) - Looks like there are going to be plenty of Kindles under the Christmas tree. Amazon says it has sold more than 1 million Kindle devices each week for the past three weeks. It's the first time the company has given specific sales numbers for the e-reader, notes the Christian Science Monitor . The $199 Kindle Fire has been leading the pack for the last 11 weeks, revealed a company VP, and has sold "millions of units." More»

Barnes & Noble e-reader boasts touch screen, lighter weight, two-month battery

(NEWSER) - If you’re looking to do some e-reading on the beach this summer, Consumer Reports is advocating something other than the Kindle for the first time: Barnes & Noble’s Simple Touch Nook finally has beat Amazon's offering. Unlike the Kindle, the Nook has a touch screen; it’s also lighter weight, turns pages quicker, and has a battery that lasts two months. All this, notes the Christian Science Monitor , and the Nook’s price is competitive with the Kindle’s. More»

Amazon will have a decision to make eventually

(NEWSER) - Some unexpected titles have charted high on the Kindle's bestseller list, notes James Ledbetter in Slate . Take Compromising Positions, about an "international fitness company" executive who gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to help a friend demonstrate Kama Sutra positions for her yoga class—you get the picture. It's not so much porn as a typical romance novel, a genre that often has explicit scenes, and it's doing well because its publisher is using the e-reader trick of temporarily giving away free downloads. More»

It's also thinner, has better screen

(NEWSER) - Amazon has announced a new, improved and cheaper version of the Kindle, boasting that the price cut will make it a “mass market” device. The new, slightly smaller, device boasts a higher-contrast screen and a one-month battery life, but can be had for just $139 for the WiFi-only model. Adding 3G connectivity boosts the price to $189. “We developed this device for serious readers,” Amazon boss Jeff Bezos tells the Wall Street Journal . But “at these price points, it may be much broader than that.” More»