Welcome back from your Thanksgiving break -- and for those of you in Canada and beyond ... well, welcome back anyways :)

We've got a bunch of stories to catch up on, but first I want to thank everyone for their entries into our Pre-Thanksgiving giveaway and make an announcement: We've got another great giveaway right on the heels of the Atomic9 GrungeBuds!

Starting on Wednesday, Dec. 02, we're going to open the second annual Byte-Sized Holiday Giveaway, featuring the new Rubik's TouchCube -- a touchscreen-style Rubik's Cube that's fully electronic! We've got our copy out with a reviewer right now, so tune in Wednesday for the full story!

In the meantime, here are the stories that have the tech world buzzing today!

--It's Cyber Monday, so where are the deals? Check this guide from DigitalTrends to get the most from your mouse clicks, or this one from CNet.com! And, for all you shoppers: Please remember to stay safe, and don't buy anything from an e-tailer you aren't familiar with, no matter what deal they are offering!!

--If you're planning on getting an ereader for your someone special (and trust me, they want one!), here is a fun guide to help you pick out the right one.

.... Though, if you want my opinion, which I know you do, I'd say go for the Kindle every time. The Barnes and Noble Nook is a cool ereader to consider, but I really haven't found my black-and-white Kindle 2 lacking in anything the Nook now delivers. Oh, and stay as far from the Sony ereaders as you can -- I've tried one and it's garbage. Sorry, that was harsh. How about, 'They can't hold a candle to the Kindle or Nook. Heck, they can't hold the unlit match that lights the candle.' Yeah, that at least sounds nicer. Convoluted, but somehow nicer. Moving on ...

--File this one under 'Gee, you don't say...,' right alongside the complaints of there being long lines on Black Friday: A new study shows people complain more online than they do in person. Shocker.

--See what all the twits have done?! Twitter has become the most-used word of 2009. Well, I'm not really surprised ... but it came in higher than 'Obama' and 'vampire.' That's actually pretty impressive. Sorry, Twi-hards -- you lost this round.

--Amazon has sneakily announced-without-announcing that its Kindle had a banner November. Highest sales ever! Awesome job, but move over, this bandwagon is getting pretty full! :) (Why was the announcement shaded in mystery? Because Amazon doesn't ever give actual sales stats regarding the Kindle.)

--In other ereader news (I swear I'm not becoming the ereader blog, there is just a lot of news swirling on them today ...): Barnes and Noble has pushed back shipments of the Nook for a week to give priority to those who preordered. Good for them I say; I appreciate customer service.

That's all for today! Remember to come back for the announcement on Wednesday! Catch you on the flip side ...

Labels: eBook; Barnes and Noble; nook; Kindle 2, Rubik's TouchCube

I never in a million years thought I’d say this so recently after purchasing my Kindle 2 … but I think I want a Barnes and Noble nook, too.

The ‘nook’ e-reader, which I briefly introduced the other day, is the massive bookseller’s answer to Amazon.com’s ereader – and, priced at $259 (within a few bucks of the Kindle), it’s actually pretty cool.

Feature-wise, it’s very similar in design and technology to the Kindle 2. Sleek curves and an EInk display, which isn’t backlit to make reading easier on the eyes. It’s thicker than the Kindle 2, at about the size and weight of a paperback, but it does offer one thing special: a touch screen color display along the bottom (where Kindle keeps its keyboard) that allows you to scroll between color images of book covers to decide what you want to read next. Gotta hand it to ‘em – that’s really frickin’ cool.

So, where do they keep the keyboard? It’s virtual and accessible through the touch screen at the bottom a la the iPhone – and, in a weird twist of writing fate, the nook also runs on the AT&T Wireless Network using a 3G connection to the BnN database/online ‘bookstore.’ The operating system is Android 1.5. Another similarity with the Kindle: Book prices range from free classics to $9.99 for new releases.

So, now for the extras: You can listen to MP3s on the nook – but I don’t know if that means you can listen to them while you’re reading, which could be very cool. Nook has an expandable memory card to store up to 17500 books – as if you’d *ever* want to keep them all; and, something Amazon.com could never offer: special features on the nook that only come in to play when you’re sitting inside a Barnes and Noble location. Free Wi-Fi in the café will help you download free, exclusive content just for customers.

And, of course, the girly girl in me who swoons over designer purses and fawns over expensive shoes is positively impressed by the Kate Spade and Jonathan Adler cases created just for the nook. I wonder if they could fit my Kindle??

Now, for me, most of these features are slightly irrelevant when using my Kindle 2. I read novels on it. Lots of novels. I don’t look at PDFs, or read the newspaper, or do work things or look at picture books. It’s fun to see a book’s cover when I’m done reading it, but I’ve stumbled onto some great books whose actual cover art would preclude me from touching them with a finger let alone be seen buying them. Case in point: Anything my Charlaine Harris. Great, great books. Crappy covers. And, I love a cool cover, don’t get me wrong.

Also, I read before bed, or in a quiet room of my house, or while my kids are running around their playroom screaming – all times when I really don’t want to hook up earbuds and deal with a dangling cord and drown out the world. It would be nice to listen to ‘Linus and Lucy’ at the gym while I’m reading, but it’s not worth a brand new device if I already own one. I also am not the person who enjoys downloading free ‘exclusive’ content – sorry, but it’s usually not that great.

What’s the single thing that I dislike about the Kindle 2? I hiz-ate the screensavers of old writers portraits. They’re dumb and ugly, and I’ve written to Amazon.com suggesting a new line of screensavers available for download – I’d spend $5 to get rid of Harriet Beecher Stowe; hell, I’d spend $20 – but no go so far. With the new nook, though, you can download images and create *custom* screensavers! Wow, they took my idea and improved it dramatically, really creating something that feels personal and makes the device *mine*.

And, let’s talk about the name for one second – nook. Perfect! First, it’s a funny play on ‘book,’ which I give them credit for trying to be cute. But, more to my sensibilities, it speaks to the greater user experience of being in a Barnes and Noble, browsing the shelves. How? Well, when you find your book and want to sit down in a comfy chair, where do you go? Into one of the many *nooks* around the store to hop into the recently vacated overstuffed chaise and relax! *Applauds* Great idea!

So, is the nook a Kindle-killer? Nope. Do I think the Kindle and the nook can co-exist happily together? Of course! The fact that Barnes and Noble felt the need to create their own only legitimizes the market’s desire for these *awesome* gadgets! They’re not quite mainstream yet, but it’s going to be hard for America to ignore the promotion Barnes and Noble is (or, should) throw behind the nook. Posters in every store, featured writers available only on the nook (may I volunteer myself?) …

I look forward to the day when I won’t have to explain to curious onlookers what the heck I’m doing when I’m reading my Kindle. And, thanks to the nook, it looks like this day could be sooner rather than later.

Labels: eBook; Barnes and Noble; nook; Kindle 2