June 6 - 3:50pm EDT   (Update: service back late in the afternoon) Amazon has been suffering an ongoing shortage that has both affected its main business as well as hurt its Kindle e-book reader, according to user reports. The outage began earlier this afternoon and has left Amazon's main page nearly, blank, with only a "service unavailable" message at the front. Kindle users in turn note an inability to access the company's site for downloading e-books. [full story]

May 28 - 1:20pm EDT   Amazon is about to launch an on-demand video service, the company's chief Jeff Bezos said today at the Wall Street Journal's D Conference. Expanding on the company's existing Unbox download feature, the retailer will launch a paid streaming service "in the next few weeks," according to the executive. No details beyond this early news are available, though the move would directly compete with a similar option from Netflix, whose Watch Instantly feature is largely web-based and requires a regular Netflix subscription of $9 or more. [full story]

May 27 - 4:50pm EDT   The Amazon Kindle e-book reader on Tuesday received a 10 percent price reduction along with free two-day shipping from the online store. The hot-selling device, launched in 2007, has suffered a supply shortage back in March due to demand overwhelming the screen supplier's production capability. While Amazon has not released numbers, it is estimated more than 50,000 Kindles have been shipped in the first quarter of the year. [full story]

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]

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]

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]

February 1 - 4:40pm EST   The Kindle handheld is doing extremely well, claims Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon. Speaking in a quarterly earnings call, Bezos has described the e-book reader as "outpacing our expectations," doing so well in fact that it is causing manufacturing problems. The company is scrambling to increase the number of Kindles produced each week, with the eventual goal of having a Kindle ready for immediate shipment after ordering. Customers must currently enter a waiting line. [full story]

January 31 - 8:20am EST   Amazon today said it would acquire Audible in a share buyout deal worth roughly $300 million. The agreement effectively gives Amazon control of Audible's audiobook collection and is described as an effort to develop and expand the audiobook forrmat, which is largely dominated by the now-acquired company. The finished deal is expected to be approved sometime during the spring of this year. [full story]

January 21 - 3:25pm EST   Polymer Vision this afternoon revealed that it has begun producing the Readius, a device billed as the world's first phone with a foldable display. Even more advanced than Amazon's Kindle, the device uses a 5-inch e-paper display that not only replicates the sharpness of ink but tucks into the main body, creating a much smaller profile than any e-book reader. It also serves as a full-fledged phone: thanks to tri-band HSDPA, the Readius can make calls and connect to the Internet in the US and most other 3G-capable areas of the world. This allows live RSS reading as well as e-mail and other real-time information. [full story]

December 28 - 1:00pm EST   Despite its features, the iPhone is not the most innovative development of 2007, according to PC World's top 25 list for 2007. The magazine instead presents the top award to Google Gears, the search engine giant's platform that allows Mac and Windows users to run web apps such as Google Reader and Zoho Writer without an active Internet connection. Though still in beta, Gears is more innovative for eliminating one of the last obstacles to abandoning at least some desktop-based software in favor of downloads. [full story]

December 11 - 3:05pm EST   Amazon's hyped Kindle book reader now has third-party support, an electronic book publisher has announced. Fictionwise says that over 15,000 titles are available for the Kindle from its MultiFormat category, including works by the likes of Mark Twain, Franz Kafka and Poppy Z. Brite. Shoppers cannot however download directly to their readers, as they can with official Amazon books: they must either download to their computer first and sync via USB, or else have Fictionwise e-mail books to their Kindle with a 10-cent Amazon surcharge. [full story]