Amazon’s new version of the Kindle e-book tablet is a user-friendly device that could finally carve out a place in consumer electronics for a technology that’s struggled to gain traction, one reviewer has said.
 
According to David Pogue of The New York Times, the new Kindle – a wireless device that can hold about 1,500 books from an available library of more than 230,000 books, has emerged as the most convenient and eye-friendly way to read written words electronically, though it doesn’t signal the death of “real” books or, as some feared, audio-book sales.
 
‘It’s all a thousand times more convenient and more exciting than loading books from a PC with a cable, as you must with Sony‘s Reader, the Kindle’s archrival. As a bonus, the Kindle includes a simple Web browser, great for quick wireless Wikipedia checks and blog reading. Amazon calls it the Kindle 2, but Kindle 1.1 would be more like it; the changes are fairly minor. Fortunately, they’re exactly what was needed to turn a very good reader into an even better one.’
 
The Kindle 2, introduced this month is slimmer than its predecessor and costs about $359.
   
One criticism of the Kindle, Pogue said is that ‘Its list of available books, though long, is far from ‘complete.’’
 
‘You don’t have to look far to find important titles still among the missing; they include all Harry Potter books; “The English Patient”; and “The Associate” or anything else by John Grisham.’

Overall the reviews of the Kindle e-book have been positive, but can you really beat the feeling of opening a new book to read?!!

Certain movies simply are THE perfect showcase to highlight the truly outstanding sound and picture quality achievable  only on a blu-ray disc, and the stunning Warner Bros film The Dark Knight proves this yet again by receiving another accolade to add to its already growing collection!

The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) Japan have given top honours to The Dark Knight as the number one blu-ray disc in 2008, having previously been awarded by the DEG North America as ‘Best Picture’ in January.

The film which also picked up Best in Picture Quality (Live Action), was commended by the judges (comprising of hardware manufacturers and home entertainment journalists) as having "Outstanding image quality that justifies its acclaim as the 2008 Blu-ray title of the year."

Other winners included The Nightmare Before Christmas for best animated picture quality, Ghost in the Shell for best sound, and Biohazard Degeneration for best Blu-ray interactivity.

LG has confirmed it will be bringing a series of Android mobiles to the UK in 2009, and that it will play a big part in pushing mobile social networking.

Although the much expected slew of Android handsets never showed up at this year’s Mobile World Congress, LG confirmed that 2009 will still be the year of Android for the company:

Head of marketing for LG Mobile in the UK, Jeremy Newing said:

‘We have a huge interest in using it for social networking handsets, as these are going to be big pillars of our strategy for 2009.’

There has been some criticism over LG’s strategy to use Android for the first time on the KS360, a QWERTY-based mid range handset, but Mr Newing believes the economic downturn has made this the ideal handset for the job:

‘The KS360 will be brought out in a 3G version, as well as an Android model too. We chose this lower-end handset as we’re in a recession, and customers want a value proposition while still expecting a similar level of functionality, so the handset has to be right for the price point.’

However, Newing also says that LG’s new S-Class interface, which uses two chipsets to help keep the animation and transitions running smoothly without lag, will also be used to varying degrees in a large number of LG phones, as well as the new Windows Phone interface making a big impression in the UK next year:

‘We will have a similar UI to the S-Class in more handsets, running the same two chipsets; the reason we haven’t done it before comes down to a lot factors, such as the size of the components.’

According to GFK research, Samsung has claimed the number one position in the UK for television sales for the second year running.

Andy Griffiths, VP of CE for Samsung UK is predictably thrilled and said “It just shows that Samsungs offering in this market is stronger than ever.”

As reported by us in an earlier blog, Samsung is expected to the first brand to release LED LCD TVs into the UK featuring Yahoo’s new TV widget platform in March 2009.

Valentines day is only a day away and if you are still undecided on the perfect gift for that special someone in your life, then Giant Buyer may have the answer for you!

Personal Audio

Whether it be an ipod or a Sony, these are perfect for playing those special downloaded tracks or for viewing moments captured on screen, plus the variety of colours make this a great gift for him or her.

Digital Camera

Is your loved one a keen photographer? If so, a digital camera is a perfect choice. From amateur to professional, Giant Buyer has a range of cameras to suit all tastes, abilities and budgets!

Digital Photo Frames

Want to display your digitally taken photographs to their best advantage? A digital photo frame is just the thing and with changeable decorative themes you can choose the picture or theme to suit your mood.

Blu-ray player

An absolute essential for the movie lover and perfect for spending romantic nights snuggled up together. With the sleek designs available and outstanding HD picture quality a blu-ray dvd player is a truly memorable gift!

Gifts for under £50!

If you are still unsure what to buy or are on a budget check out Giant Buyers gifts for under £50, you are sure to find something which would make a perfect valentines gift.

The Sony KDL-32W4000 32 inch LCD TV has been voted a ‘best buy’ by What Hi Fi Sound and Vision awarded 5 out of 5 stars. With its many attractive features it is easy to see why.

With its full HD capabilities, Blu-ray discs, games, movies and integrated freeview are all displayed in a crystal clear format with images vibrant and high in detail – in particular the blacks which are rich in depth.

The Sony KDL 32W4000 32 inch LCD TV is stylish and sleek with its glittered midnight sky finish and showcases the PS3 inspired system perfectly. Together with its quality sound and swivel stand, this makes this LCD TV flexible and adaptable enough to cope with all your home entertainment needs.

What Hi Fi Sound and Vision say:

“With the W Series, Sony seems to be on to a winner and even in this fine company, it’s hard to look past this set if you’re in the market for a flatscreen.”

Giant Buyer are selling this ‘best buy’ Sony KDL 32W4000 32” LCD TV at a credit crunching price of £618.75!

Record sales of Macs, iPods and iPhones have pushed Apple to a 14th place in Forbes magazine’s annual list of America’s fastest growing tech companies.

It is a phenomenal achievement to make the list at all considering Apple’s young age.  Apple’s annual $33 billion in revenue far exceeded every other company on the list save No. 2 Google, which had a 2008 revenue of $21.7 billion.

Each company’s rank is based on its annualized sales growth from the previous five years. Apple’s was 40 percent, Google’s 72 percent. The No. 1 company, Illumina, grew at an eye-popping 110 percent.

A supplemental article on newcomers to the list says Apple “is growing more like a technology start-up than a big company.”

Samsung is to launch internet-enabled LCD TV sets in partnership with Yahoo allowing users to access the internet whilst watching TV, all controlled by the TV remote control in an user friendly format.

Thanks to the Yahoo Widget Engine, TV users can access internet content such as eBay, MySpace, Flickr, Yahoo News and more as new widgets are being developed.

Samsung LCD TVs with the Yahoo Widget Engine are to be available in about four months in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the United States.

Boo-Keun Yoon, executive vice-president of the visual display division at Samsung Electronics, said the new service would allow viewers to interact with web services on a level "way beyond" passively watching broadcasts. "It is no doubt the future of TV," he said.