Kindle becomes most gifted Amazon item ever

The post-Christmas annual statement by Amazon.com has revealed that its Kindle e-book has become the most-gifted Amazon item ever this Christmas.

Reportedly, the e-book sales have outnumbered the sale of real books, and 9.5 million Kindle e-books were ordered on Dec. 14, which amounts to 110 e-books being ordered every second.

Jeff Bezos, the chief executive officer and founder of Amazon says, “We are grateful to our customers for making Kindle the most gifted item ever in our history.”

“The Kindle Store includes over 390,000 books and the largest selections of the most popular books people want to read, including New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases,” he adds.

E-books are very affordable and also cheaper than real books. Market analysts are assuming a further dip in the prices, now that Barnes & Noble's competing Nook e-reader is also in the market.

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Amazon cuts Kindle 2 price to $259, launches a global Kindle

In a nod to both the price resistance of consumers in this economy and growing competition in e-book readers, Amazon today dropped the price of the Kindle 2, its flagship e-book reader, by $50. It also launched a version of the device that will work outside the U.S.

At its new price of $259, the regular Kindle 2 is now priced below the Sony Touch, $299, which shares its 6-inch screen size. It costs more than the Sony Pocket, $199, the least expensive reader on the market, but the Pocket has a smaller (5-inch) screen and, like the Touch, lacks the Kindle 2's wireless access to content.

The cut is the second for the Kindle 2 within the last three months: In July, Amazon dropped the price by $60 from the original $359. For now, the price for Amazon's supersized Kindle DX remains at $489. One wonders how long Amazon will maintain that stratospheric price, though, especially with two wireless connected competitors, albeit with smaller screens than the DX, set to launch in the coming months at $399: the Sony Daily Edition and iRex DR800SG.

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Apple, Amazon offering Snow Leopard discounts

Mac OS X Snow Leopard arrives Friday and will cost $29 for those who already use Mac OS X Leopard. However, there are some deals out there.

The best of the deals comes from Apple. With its Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-to-Date Program, users can get the new operating system for $9.95. To qualify for that price, they must have purchased a qualifying Mac on or after June 8.

Apple is pretty open with the number of computers that qualify for this offer. Everything from iMacs to its MacBook notebooks is included. Specific model numbers are listed on Apple's Web site.

Apple's deal ends December 26.

For those who don't qualify for that deal, Amazon.com has an alternative one. Amazon is selling Snow Leopard for $25 for upgrades from Leopard. Apple said that Amazon also has reduced pricing--$149--on the Snow Leopard Box Set, which includes iLife '09 and iWork '09, for those upgrading from Mac OS X Tiger. (Amazon specifies that the box set is for those upgrading from Leopard. But Apple's site and an Apple rep said only Tiger users need the box set.)

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