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By Andrew King, December 22, 2009 5:57 am

Amazon will remember 2009 as being a very good year for them. A great deal of the credit for that must go to the Kindle e-book reader. The first Kindle debuted in November of 2007 when it sold out in under six hours. No new stock was available until April of the following year.

Amazon released the Kindle 2 in February of this year, and it featured several enhancements over the original model. They then followed up very quickly with the large format Kindle DX. Amazon now had a “family” of Kindles and, helped by a fair bit of free publicity from bestselling writers like Stephen King, partnerships with universities and colleges together with a lot of discussion by political bodies, the Kindle quickly became synonymous with e-book readers.

Of course, Amazon’s competitors were also checking out the nascent e-book reader market and wondering how to get their share. Currently, there is a very impressive list of manufacturers who all have their own e-book readers in development. Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Barnes and Noble and Asus are just a sample of the competition lining up against Amazon.

The title of “Kindle Killer” is immediately bestowed upon any reader which shows the slightest potential. The technical specification of each new reader is studied in detail and reported to the eagerly awaiting public – especially if it includes features which are superior to the current Kindle – for example Sony’s Daily Edition reader which has touch screen controls.

However, whilst the technical aspects of e-book readers are certainly important, they are not the be all and end all. Some of the key factors in the Kindle’s success to date were the large choice of books on Amazon’s website, the freedom to download books in under a minute wirelessly – without the need for an internet connection and without monthly fees – and Amazon’s highly trusted brand name.

Many of the new readers will have wireless connectivity, and Barnes and Noble’s Nook will offer users a choice of over 1,000,000 titles. However, the single unifying theme that seems to be developing is the emergence of a standard e-book format.

The large majority of the new readers seem to be adopting the ePub format. The Kindle however, uses a proprietary format which means that Kindle books can only be used on the Kindle reader.

Right now, considering that the Kindle is pretty much the only show in town, that’s not too much of a problem. However, in the near future, the ability to lend e-books to friends and family may become an important feature.

The Kindle has, in a very short space of time, become Amazon’s number one selling product. They won’t be giving up their number one position without a fight. It could be that 2010 will see the release of the Kindle 4, which will almost certainly feature a number of technical enhancements. Could it be that Amazon may also adopt the ePub format – or provide some translation service?

Find out more about the Amazon Kindle reader and learn how you can save money by getting free Kindle ebooks direct from Amazon’s website.

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By les scammell, July 31, 2009 4:42 am

After the release of the movie Leally Blonde, the pink laptops became all the rage. However, at first Mac did not want to play ball so people were left having to get the Mac custom painted. Today though you can now pick up a pink Apple Mac in almost any computer store along with a pink laptop backpack at the same time.

People were becoming tired of seeing the same old black whites and grays that the laptops were made in. It did not allow one to fully express themselves. However, those days have long since been gone and today you can find sleeker, sexier and more powerful laptops then ever before.

It too Apple some time to get around to making their laptops pink. After all, they had the pink iPod for quite some time already. When combined with the color options of digital cameras and cell phones, now that the pink Mac is finally available, the women are going nuts over them and making sure they are properly color coordinated with regards to all of their electronic accessories.

It’s about individuality and freedom of personal expression. There is no way that someone can freely express themselves without adding unique and interesting colors to their electronic accessories. Of course this is not just for girls either because men are also picking up pink laptops in all of their exciting shades.

This laptop is stylish, it is sexy, it is cute and most of all it is very trendy. Do not even think for a moment that just because the laptop is pink that it is lacking in the features department because you would be quickly proven wrong as these laptops are all state of the art and top of the line when it comes to performance.

Never again will you ever have to settle with another plain and boring looking monochromatic laptop. Now that you have the choices of different colors, the only real question that you should be asking yourself is, “What could possibly come next?” You may find that in no time there will be multi-toned color schemes and even brushed or polished aluminum accenting much like there is with cell phones already. Furthermore, it is only a matter of time before you will start seeing patterns as well.

The most important thing to remember though is that when it comes to style you cannot be the last person to conform or you will just be considered a follower. Instead be the trend-setter by having the very first pink Apple in your office or school and this will ensure that you are always in the right style when it comes to electronic accessories.