Hasta La Gadget!

Lookie here, digital bookworms — Google has just refreshed its Google Reader app for Android, adding a couple of “your most-requested features” along the way. Things like a unread count widget and news ticker widget are coming to those with Android 2.2+, while a ‘Mark Previous As Read’ is making its way back to all users with v1.6 or higher. Oh, and if you’re into reading Russian feeds, there’s now official support for Russian translation. Head on down to the Market below to get the install going, and do your best not to be ashamed when the number in your unread count stretches three home screen panels.

Google Reader Android app gets updated with unread count widget and more originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 03:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I guess this means war. App war. Apple is reportedly amping up control of its already fairly closely vetted App Store, blocking a number of companies from its wall-garden–namely those selling content through their offerings. The most high-profile offender? Sony. Apple sent a rejection letter to the consumer electronics giant over an iPhone app that let users but books from the Sony Reader Store.

The news, naturally, came out via Sony. Apple–at least for the moment–isn’t talking. “It’s the opposite of what we wanted to bring to the market,” Sony digital reading president Steve Haber told The New York Times. “We always wanted to bring the content to as many devices as possible, not one device to one store.”

According to Haber, Apple’s rejection letter informed Sony that all in-app purchases need to be approved directly by Apple. No word yet on how this will affect companies like Amazon, which already offer such content through the App Store.

We knew it was coming… and you know what happens to things you know are coming? They eventually come. Case in point: Amazon’s Kindle app for Windows Phone 7, first teased in October and now available to anyone with a WP7 device and a desire to read stuff. Grab it now, if you’re into that sort of thing.

[Thanks, Tiziano]

Kindle for Windows Phone 7 goes live originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not to be outdone by Amazon’s recent announcement marking the Kindle its “best-selling product of all-time,” Barnes & Noble declared its own eBook reader, the Nook Color, its “biggest bestseller ever in its nearly 40-year history.”

Like Amazon’s own announcement, Barnes & Noble isn’t offering much in the way of concrete sales figures, but this certainly doesn’t bode well for print media–particularly not when quotes like “Barnes & Noble also announced that it now sells more digital books than its large and growing physical book business on BN.com” are bandied about.

In the same press release the company noted that it moved almost one million NOOKbooks on Christmas Day this year, thanks to new titles by James Patterson, Stieg Larsson, John Grisham, and that George W. Bush guy.

The Nook Color first hit the market on November 16th.

If you are looking for an ebook reader for the bookworm on your list, but you want something a little special, that does just a bit more, without going so far as an iPad, the Nook Color with its vivid, color ebook reading experience and some tablet functionality would be the perfect choice.

Barnes and Noble finally gave the world the color ebook reader it has been begging for with the release of the Nook Color back in November. It’s bright, 7-inch LCD screen with 16 million colors and intuitive touch-based navigation displays book illustrations and periodicals like the hardcopy versions.

Plus, this ebook reader runs a version of Android 2.1 and is preloaded with some apps, a few games, such as chess and crosswords, and Pandora Internet radio. To add to its tablet-like functionality, the Nook color also comes with a browser. So you can listen to music while reading, or when you need a break from reading, you can check some things online or play a game. It also offers some social aspects to the ebook reading experience by letting you share recommendations, passages from within books by posting them to Twitter or Facebook, and even entire books with your friends through the Barnes & Noble’s LendMe application.

Our friends over at PCMag.com reviewed the Nook Color and gave it an Editors’ Choice for color ebook readers. I’m sure any bookworm would love to flip though the pages of this device this holiday season. It’s available from B&N for $249.