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This holiday, why not try giving more with less by dematerializing your gifts? Essentially, dematerialization is the digitization of items, mostly media like books, music and video games (that’s a hint of what to expect on this list). These works, now freed from physical media — at least on the consumer end since they still [...]

Read more Digital Gift Guide 2011

by Pedro Hernandez on December 8, 2011 · 1 comment

Talk about coming in under the wire. Amazon’s promise to activate a Nook-like 14-day lending feature on its bestselling Kindle e-reader before year’s end  has been kept, just barely. (I’d like to think that my protestations played a part, but who am I kidding.) Now you too can loan someone a Kindle e-book that’s been [...]

Read more Amazon’s Kindle lending feature is a go

by Pedro Hernandez on December 30, 2010 · 0 comments

It takes some doing to unseat the final Hogwarts adventure, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as Amazon’s top selling item in its history. And its own Kindle 3 e-reader was just the gadget to do it. In what’s become tradition, Amazon is once again reporting gangbusters sales of its Kindle e-reader. This is in [...]

Read more Kindle tops Amazon’s bestseller list

by Pedro Hernandez on December 27, 2010 · 1 comment

In case you haven’t noticed, the clock is ticking on getting your 2010 holiday shopping done. Here are some great last-minute gift ideas that are still in stock (at least of this writing) and are sure to delight the green geek in your life. Curl up with a good e-book this Christmas: Amazon Kindle Smaller, [...]

Read more Green gift guide 2010: Five last-minute green gadget ideas

by Pedro Hernandez on December 16, 2010 · 1 comment

Score another brick and mortar victory for Amazon. Best Buy has announced that it will start selling the Kindle this Fall starting with the 3G an Wi-Fi versions. It’s an interesting turn of events considering that Best Buy also offers Barnes & Noble’s Nook, making it the first physical location where both e-readers will presumably [...]

Read more Best Buy to sell Kindle

by Pedro Hernandez on September 9, 2010 · 0 comments

Are e-readers really all that much better for the environment than books? The answer to that question is a resounding yes, at least according to Cleantech. The numbers break down thusly: A typical book has a 7.5 kilograms (~17 pounds) of carbon footprint. The iPad’s weighs in at 130 kilograms. The Kindle is estimated to [...]

Read more Kindle’s kinder to the environment

by Pedro Hernandez on August 25, 2010 · 0 comments

Qualcomm is investing $2 billion to manufacture its low-power Mirasol display technology thanks to a new “major client”. It’s also a signal that it’s confident that it will make a huge splash, particularly as tablets and e-readers become staples of consumers’ gadget bags. Mirasol takes a cue from nature — specifically butterfly wings — for [...]

Read more Qualcomm bets $2B on Mirasol – Color Kindles on the horizon?

by Pedro Hernandez on August 24, 2010 · 0 comments

The e-reader market is heating up but there are also signs that the industry is trying hard to pin down what’s next. What’s next is color, social networking and for some, video and interactivity. FoxIt, a maker of wonderfully bloat-free PDF software, is ditching its e-reader efforts and retiring the eSlick. Sure, it’s a sign [...]

Read more Snapshot of an e-Reader market in flux

by Pedro Hernandez on August 4, 2010 · 1 comment

It’s true! Barnes & Noble’s Android-powered e-reader, the Nook, is officially available at Best Buy. Unfortunately, the in-store pickup option is a no-go, so that means you’ll have to trek over to your local big-blue-box for instant gratification. And while…

Read more It's Official: Nook Lands at Best Buy

by Pedro Hernandez on April 18, 2010 · 0 comments

To be honest, I was less than wowed when I heard about Amazon’s Kindle for PC software (Mac version available soon-ish). After reading BetaNews’ take on it, it occurred to me that Amazon may have already established a toe-hold in…

Read more Kindle PC software: A stealth Amazon tablet

by Pedro Hernandez on November 10, 2009 · 0 comments