Microsoft has initiated legal action against bookseller Barnes & Noble, alleging patent infringement by the Nook e-book readers. The manufacturers of the devices were also named.

The larger version of Amazon's Kindle e-reader is now available for order from more than a hundred countries around the world. And a price and on-sale date has been announced for the dual-screen competitor Alex.

Spring Design announced an agreement with Google that will make the more than one million Google Books accesible via the dual-screen Alex e-reader.

An analyst for investment firm Oppenheimer has told clients to expect a March or April launch for the Apple tablet. He also claims that Apple is wooing book publishers with more attractive terms than they get from Amazon for the Kindle.

Barnes & Noble's announced that its new Nook e-reader is out of stock until 2010. The next projected shipping date is early next January.

Spring Design, developers of a dual-screen e-book reader called Alex, has filed suit against Barnes & Noble, alleging that B&N's new Nook reader uses Spring's trade secrets and violates the companies' non-disclosure agreement.

The burgeoning market for e-book readers is about to become even more crowded, as Creative Technology demonstrated its MediaBook reader to attendees at its Annual General Meeting.

In less than three weeks the price Australians can expect to pay for a Kindle e-book has dropped from $314 to $280. If the $A achieves parity with the $US it could fall another $21 – leaving local Christmas shoppers literally hedging their bets about when to buy.