Amazon Kindle UK Pre-Orders ‘Sold Out’ Until Sept 4th

Nautilus Science & Technology News

By: Marco A. Ayllon
August 3, 2010


It looks like Amazon are going to have a monster hit on their hands with their new Kindle wireless reading device, as it seems that the first batch of UK pre-orders has already sold out due to overwhelming customer demand.


Amazon initially promised an August 27th delivery for anyone pre-ordering the compact, cut-price (£109/£149- U$129-179) eReader, but customers visiting the Kindle homepage are now seeing this message:

Temporarily sold out. Order now to reserve your place in the queue


Due to strong customer demand, Kindle is temporarily sold out. Order now to reserve your place in the queue. Orders are prioritised on a first-come, first-served basis. Orders placed today are expected to dispatch on or before September 4.

Outselling Hardback Books


Amazon boasts that the earlier Kindles have been the most-wished-for, most-gifted products on Amazon, with the eReaders receiving the most 5-star reviews and becoming the No.1 bestselling item for two years running.

The US Kindle store currently offers more than 630,000 titles, and the company recently announced that over the past three months, the number of e-books being sold on Amazon.com had raced significantly ahead of hardback sales.

Speaking to USA Today, Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos predicted that the company will, “surpass paperback sales sometime in the next nine to 12 months. Sometime after that, we’ll surpass the combination of paperback and hardcover.”

Early Review

Nautilus Information Systems bagged an early review model, and praised the eReader’s overall design, speedier navigation and build quality, delivering a very positive verdict:

The Amazon Kindle 3 made an unusually quick, and positive, impression. The new Kindle’s solid build quality, improved design, integrated store, and cross-platform transportability (books are usable on any Kindle reader app, including iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, and PC) all add up to a winner poised to top the pack.

We Want!


We’re certainly convinced, and have placed an order – so expect a review as soon as we can get our hands on it!

Microsoft Patches 'Critical' Crack in Windows Operating System

Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft

Nautilus Science & Technology News
By: Marco A. Ayllon
August 3, 2010


Microsoft released an emergency patch for a "critical" crack in Windows operating system software that could let hackers take control of computers over the internet.

"The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if the icon of a specially crafted shortcut is displayed," the US technology giant said in a security bulletin ranked 'Critical.' "An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user."

Computer users commonly use shortcuts in the form of on-screen icons they can click to instantly awaken favoured applications.

The Windows flaw lets hackers booby-trap such icons with malicious software that could let them control machines from afar.

Microsoft routinely releases software patches the second Tuesday of each month but resorts to making patches available "out of band" when it deems situations dangerous.

"Several families of malware have been attempting to attack this vulnerability," Microsoft Trustworthy Computing response manager Christopher Budd wrote in a blog post.

"We firmly believe that releasing the update out of band is the best thing to do to help protect our customers."

Some attacks have reportedly been directed at power plants and other vital infrastructure. People using computers running on any version of Windows software were urged to apply the update immediately.