Ever since The New York Times reported that a new version of Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN)'s Kindle e-reader product will be unveiled in New York on Feb. 9, there's been some speculation as to just how much money the device brings in.

When the company announced its fourth-quarter results last week, they gave no details on the Kindle, saying "Kindle revenue and costs are recognized over a two-year period." (The device launched in late 2007, so there is still a ways to go.)

Amazon's U.S. sales in "electronics and other general merchandise" were up 30 percent over the quarter, but, as The Wall Street Journal points out, because that segment includes "everything from large-screen TVs to refrigerators," there's no way to tell what kind of impact the Kindle is having.

The device, which sells for $359, has been out of stock since November, after Oprah featured it on her show, and the product's Website reads: "Due to heavy customer demand, Kindle is sold out." However estimates for Kindle sales -- "a quarter of a million" by CNN and 400,000 by Forrester Research -- aren't that far off from that of Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE)'s Reader Digital Book.

Sony told the WSJ in December that it had sold 300,000 units of its Reader Digital Book since it debuted in October 2006. The latest version of the Sony Reader, which sells for $399, is equipped with a touch screen, but doesn't have the wireless capabilities of the Kindle.

It's rumored that the upcoming Kindle 2 will have improved battery life and design, but there's no word on its touch screen capabilities.

In other news:

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Search was down for almost 55 minutes (which is almost an hour!) on Saturday, during which the service labeled every site ever as spam.  Google flagged all sites on search results with "This site may harm your computer," and users who tried to click on the link were told the desired destination could not be reached. Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience, explained on the Google Blog that the problems were due to a simple coding mistake and had been fixed.

On a recent customer service survey, Netflix Inc. hinted that it may start offering subscribers "premium" content from cable channels like HBO for an extra $9.99 per month. The survey, sent out to its 700,000 customers, asks "Would you pay an additional $9.99 for HBO shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Entourage, Big Love, and movies such as Jumper, Gladiator, and I am Legend?"

 

Tuesday, November 10. 2009 at 12:00 PM EST Post a comment News Bits Has Moved!

Monday, November 9. 2009 at 09:50 AM EST Post a comment News Bits: Major Brands Struggle to Take Back Twitter Accounts

News / Analysis Thursday, November 5. 2009 at 10:25 AM EST 1 comment News Bits: iPhone Users Are Lousy Dates, Study Says

Wednesday, November 4. 2009 at 11:20 AM EST Post a comment News Bits: Apple Exceeds 100K Apps

News / Analysis Tuesday, November 3. 2009 at 11:15 AM EST Post a comment News Bits: YouTube Loses Head of Content Partnerships

Monday, November 2. 2009 at 11:00 AM EST 1 comment News Bits: iPhone to Take Over E-Book Market?

News / Analysis Friday, October 30. 2009 at 10:45 AM EDT 1 comment News Bits: Will the iPhone Flop in China?

News / Analysis Thursday, October 29. 2009 at 11:05 AM EDT 1 comment News Bits: U2 Concert Streams to 10M on YouTube

News / Analysis Wednesday, October 28. 2009 at 11:10 AM EDT Post a comment News Bits: Broadcasters Asking Cable to Pay Up

News / Analysis Tuesday, October 27. 2009 at 11:15 AM EDT Post a comment News Bits: Microsoft Dumps Family Guy