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Amazon promises to replace problem Kindle covers, look into issue

If you have a new Kindle and have poked around for a cover for your device, you may have noticed some diverging user reviews on Amazon.com of the non-lighted Kindle Leather cover. While the cover has many five-star reviews, there are more than 100 one-star reviews claiming the cover has problems that cause the device to freeze or reboot itself.

In a recent review, for example, customer Gunjan Srivastava writes:

I bought a Kindle 3 (Wi-Fi only) about three months back and was using it without any trouble. Then, I bought this leather cover and suddenly my Kindle ran … Read more

What's next for e-readers: a Mirasol in the making?

At last year's CES, the e-reader product a lot of people were talking about didn't exist. It was a concept from Mirasol, a Qualcomm-backed company that was showing off its screen technology in a prototype unit.

Mirasol's screen caught people's attention for a few reasons. For starters, it was color. Secondly, its high-tech reflective display technology was not only energy-efficient but readable in direct sunlight. And finally, it was capable of displaying full-motion video. Marrying the best of what e-ink had to offer with some of the strengths of LCD, it looked a lot like the … Read more

Portable fuel cell generator: Green and powerful

I am not a film critic, but I find Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz's recent action movie "Knight and Day" quite a snooze, for the most part. Spoiler alert: There's one thing I like about the movie, however, and it's the idea of the "Zephyr," a perpetual battery about the size of a regular AA that has enough power to run a small city, forever.

Now powering a small city forever with a tiny battery is quite an ambition and will take at least until 2020 to get (I am an optimist). For … Read more

iPad Mini rumors surface again

Just a few days after reports of iPad 2 rumors flooded the blogosphere, Reuters is stoking the fires with a story that says Apple is "preparing new iPads," as in plural. And one of those models, according to the usual anonymous supply chain sources, is "about half the size of the current tablet computer, and will include front- and back-mounted cameras" for Apple's FaceTime video-conferencing app.

Aside from the cameras, one source claimed the new iPad "would be slimmer, lighter, and have a better-resolution display than the first iPad."

Duh. None of that's new info--or particularly revealing (of course, the new iPad is going to be slimmer and have a better screen, right?). But it's interesting that we continue to hear chatter about Apple having a smaller iPad up its sleeve. Back in October, Steve Jobs famously scoffed at the notion of a 7-inch iPad, insisting the screen would be "too small to express the software." Since then, Barnes & Noble has released the $250 7-inch Nook Color and several other Android-powered 7-inch tablets have hit the market or will soon. … Read more

Cybercrooks create fake Amazon receipts

The bad guys have created yet another online scam, this one involving fake Amazon receipts.

Targeting Amazon and its retail partners, cybercriminals are using a phony Amazon receipt generator to print bogus receipts, and then are asking for refunds from the retailer, claiming that the items they ordered were never received.

Reportedly discovered by security vendor GFI Software, this scam comes at an especially bad time, as online retailers are dealing with the onslaught of the holiday season.

"The free program available online allows scammers to create an HTML 'receipt' for phantom Amazon.com purchases," Christopher Boyd, senior … Read more

Is now the wrong time to buy an iPad?

Mr. Carnoy:

Some months back I read with interest your amusing series of articles about buying an iPad. I myself have held off but have been recently considering picking one up as a Xmas gift for myself. However, I just read about how the iPad 2 might be shipping in February. Also, I saw that Apple lowered the price for refurbished iPads, which got me wondering, all things considered, whether it was a bad idea to buy one now. Know you're busy, but can you give me any advice?"

Charles, St. Louis

Ah, Charles, I just went by … Read more

Aaxa introduces 'world's first' XGA micro projector

Mainly because of mediocre image quality, the Pico projector market just hasn't taken off as some thought it might. But we're seeing a new trend in mini projectors: go a little bigger and offer improved performance.

That's the idea anyway behind the Aaxa M2, which the company is calling the "world's first" XGA micro projector. It weighs in at a pound, produces a "vivid" 110-lumen image, and has some built-in memory and a media player (you can play files right off the projector). Here are the specs that Aaxa is highlighting (the … Read more

New Nook coming soon?

For those of you who like to keep track of release dates, the Barnes & Noble Nook was announced on October 20, 2009. Almost to the day, Barnes & Noble has sent out an invite to members of the media, requesting their appearance at an event next Tuesday, October 26th in New York. We presume--but can't confirm--that this is for the launch of a next-generation Nook e-reader.

We'll be covering the event and will have more details as soon as they emerge. Until then, feel free to speculate on what type of e-reader Barnes & Noble might announce. … Read more

Why I think Steve Jobs is lying

At yesterday's Apple earnings call, CEO Steve Jobs quelled rumors that the company was on the verge of producing a smaller 7-inch iPad to counter the arrival of such mini slates as Samsung's Galaxy Tab. He said that these devices were "tweeners" and would be dead on arrival. He scoffed that normal-size human fingers are simply too big to be able to accurately hit icons on a screen that size.

"Apple has done extensive user testing and we really understand this stuff," he said. "There are clear limits on how close you can … Read more