May 9 - 5:15pm EDT   E Ink finished the week with news that it has launched a new generation of e-paper cells. Normally used for devices such as the Amazon Kindle or basic displays on flash drives, the new cells are as much as 40 percent thinner and can be cut into either unusual 2D shapes or bent into regular forms, such as curves. They also survive harsher temperatures, the designer says, allowing the extremely power-efficient designs to stand more exposure outside. [full story]

May 7 - 3:10pm EDT   iRex today sought to compete against some of its more frugal rivals and introduced the iLiad Book Edition. The updated version drops the Wi-Fi used for downloading content and fixes but as a result is less expensive; its €499 ($768) price is €150 below that of the original. The lack of native e-book content that sometimes plagues these readers is also purportedly solved with 50 vintage books already preloaded on the iLiad's built-in 256MB of memory, saving the user from having to buy more online. [full story]

May 2 - 9:15pm EDT   Sound Studio 3.5.6 ($80) sound recording and editing tool. This new version provides enhanced marker support, localization updates and bug fixes, and is a free upgrade for existing owners of Sound Studio 3. The new release also includes Unicode marker name support in AIFF, AIFF-C, WAVE, and Sound Designer 2 formats and updated Japanese localization resources. [Download - 34.7MB] iMedia Browser 1.1 (freeware) a stand-alone utility, the Karelia iMedia Browser lets users easily browse and drag content from their entire collection of photos, music, movies, and bookmarks, including their Pictures, Music, and Movies folders as well as applications such as iPhoto, Aperture, iTunes, GarageBand, ... [full story]

May 2 - 12:45am EDT   Amazon has filed for legal action against the State of New York because of a bill that recently passed, requiring online resellers to collect sales tax to New York residents. The New York Times writes that the online commerce giant is suing not out of desire to see taxes abolished from goods bought over the internet, rather that it does not wish to be held liable for collecting taxes, the company feels is the job of state officials. [full story]

April 23 - 10:45am EDT   Microsoft late yesterday stirred controversy by telling former customers of its shuttered MSN Music service that it will shut down its license activation system for the service by the end of August. Although it allows customers to play any purchased songs on existing operating systems and computers, any music transfered to a new PC or OS install after the cutoff date will no longer be authorized to play. [full story]

April 21 - 4:15pm EDT   Amazon has without fanfare begun carrying regular stock of its self-made Kindle e-book reader. The device now reportedly ships immediately from the online store and appears to at least temporarily end the continued shortage of the reader, which Amazon has attributed to demand outstripping supply. The company's e-paper screen supplier, PVI, has recently said it would double its output in part to handle Amazon's order load. [full story]

April 15 - 2:15pm EDT   British grocer and retailer Tesco today said it would launch Tesco Downloads, its own attempt at a digital music and video store. The service will follow the cue of Amazon, Wal-Mart, and other similar stores with a web-based interface and initially plans to offer about 3.3 million songs; about 1.6 million of those will be available in unprotected MP3 versions that should work with iPods and other devices that don't support the protected Windows Media Audio format of other songs on the store. [full story]

April 14 - 8:00pm EDT   Apple has reached one of its goals announced at the Macworld Expo in January while missing another, with 100 high-definition Dolby Digital-enabled movies available in the iTunes store of a total library of 604 movie rental titles. iLounge writes that Apple had set a goal of 1000 rental titles by the end of February, but has since fallen short. Apple's main competition in the digital rental marketplace comes from Amazon's Unbox service, and Netflix, who offer thousands of titles. [full story]

April 9 - 3:20pm EDT   Online retailer Amazon is the latest company to offer compensation for having bought an HD DVD player, reports and anecdotes indicate. Customers say they are now receiving e-mail bulletins from Amazon, informing them that as "someone who purchased an HD DVD player from us before February 23, 2008," they are being given a $50 credit for any future purchases from the website. To claim it users must enter an individual promotion code during checkout, and do so by the end of April 9th, 2009. [full story]

April 3 - 9:30am EDT   iTunes for at least a short while has been single largest outlet for music sales in the US, according to new data collected by The NPD Group's MusicWatch Survey conducted in January. The digital store at the time accounted for 19 percent of all music bought in the country versus 15 percent for Wal-Mart's combined in-store and online sales. Best Buy managed 13 percent, while Amazon sat further back at 6 percent despite offering the second-largest digital store in the US. RealNetworks' Rhapsody was the second digital-only store in the market but commands just 1 percent of the US marketplace. [full story]

March 28 - 4:00pm EDT   Massive Internet retailer Amazon.com is deliberately strong-arming some of its publishing competition, reports say. Amazon bought print-on-demand (POD) publisher BookSurge in 2005, but has for some time also sold books from other POD outfits, namely the largest such company, Lightning Source. Representatives for Amazon are said to be approaching Lightning Source customers however, and insisting that they either switch to BookSurge, or have the "Buy" buttons on their Amazon pages shut off. This forces customers to turn to a reseller, where they are also ineligible for free shipping. [full story]

March 26 - 1:25pm EDT   Amazon MP3 is quickly catching up to iTunes despite having been on the market for only a fraction of the time, according to new data. Launched in September, the web-based music store is now ranked second in the US only to Apple's service and is the highest-ranked store to offer all its tracks without digital rights management (DRM). The success is credited largely to the lack of copy protection, which allows songs to be played in nearly any modern operating system as well as any portable devices, including historically locked-down devices such as the iPod or the Zune. [full story]

March 24 - 1:25pm EDT   Two major music labels are close to signing a deal for the rumored MySpace Music online store, say sources talking to the New York Post. Both Sony BMG and Warner Music are reportedly near the end of talks that would make their catalogs available the service, which is still expected to offer paid MP3 downloads as well as ad-subsidized free streams of music and videos. The feature is also now said to have downloadable ringtones through a deal with News Corp.-owned (and MySpace sister company) Jamba. [full story]

March 20 - 12:45pm EDT   Amazon today took the unusual step of posting an open letter apologizing for the extended shortages of its Kindle e-book reader, also explaining the reasons behind the shortfall. Company chief Jeff Bezos notes that the e-paper device has essentially been sold out since just hours after its November launch due demand constantly outpacing production. The company has been repeatedly increasing its ability to make more of the 6-inch e-paper device but has never fast enough to catch up with increased demand, the Amazon head claims. [full story]

March 19 - 9:50am EDT   American spending on electronics is about to take a sharp slide, suggests a study by ChangeWave Research. In a survey of over 4,400 Americans conducted between February 18th and the 25th, a full 33 percent said they would be spending less on electronics in the next 90 days, versus only 19 percent who said they would spend more. Although "spending less" responses tend to dominate in most months of the year except for the run-up to Christmas, the gap is now the largest it has been since 2002, a factor which may both reflect and harm an already damaged US economy. [full story]