E-reader, Ipad | featured news

The U.S. government has filed an antitrust lawsuit in New York against Apple Inc. and various major book publishers. The lawsuit said the alleged conspiracy came as Apple was preparing to launch the iPad.

Kindles, Nooks and iPads can do many amazing things, but they can’t bump you ahead in line at the Reston Regional Library. In fact, if you want to borrow a book, it may be quicker to put down your sleek new device and head into the stacks.

Amazon’s souped-up color version of its Kindle e-reader hopes to undercut the iPad in price and steal away a couple of million in unit sales by Christmas.

RadioShack will begin selling Barnes & Noble Nook e-readers next month. The retailer already carries iPads and Kindles.

In my teens, I never went on vacation without my yellow Sony Walkman. Today's travel gear may be more sophisticated, but the premise is the same: high tech toys that help out when it's time for R&R. When I'm leaving on a trip, I spend hours syncing iPads, iPhones, and eReaders with my media library so I can watch new episodes of AMC's "The Killing," listen to tech podcasts, or read ebooks. But you need fun gear to play all of this digital content too.

Last week, a consortium of Dutch publishers unveiled the so called “delay app”, which allows the reader to choose a story to read while waiting. It allows the user to chose a story from a well-known Dutch author to match the time you spent waiting, from 5 to 60 minutes. It still has some issues: the app contains a certain amount of stories so no new content can be added and it is only for the iPad and iphone.

Barnes & Noble is adding an applications store and an email program to its Nook e-reader. That brings the $249 device closer to working like a tablet computer in the vein of the iPad.

Disney Publishing has crossed the one million downloads mark for its book apps globally from the App Store. This includes apps downloaded for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.The company's most popular apps include: Mickey's Spooky Night Puzzle Book, Princess Dress-Up: My Sticker Book, Toy Story 3 Read-Along and Winnie the Pooh: What's a Bear to Do? Puzzle Book.

Amazon.com Inc said sales of its Kindle e-reader were strong over the holiday season amid competition from devices such as Apple Inc's iPad, a computer tablet that also has e-reader capabilities.

Apple has sold more than three million iPads since April, but Amazon’s success with the Kindle is cloudier because it doesn’t reveal sales numbers.