TechBytes: E-Reader Price War

June 22, 2010— -- The e-reader price war is heating up, with the Nook and Kindle getting price cuts Monday. Barnes & Noble dropped the Nook's price $60 to $199, and announced that it will start selling a new Nook with Wi-Fi access for $149. Amazon responded by chopping Kindle's price $70 to $189. Both devices compete with the iPad, which costs more, but offers far more functions.

Last week Microsoft unveiled its new hands-free add-on for the Xbox, called Kinect. One detail it left out was the price. But that's not stopping major retailers from taking pre-orders. Best Buy, Amazon and Wal-Mart are among the stores selling Kinect for about $150, even though they don't know the exact price yet. The motion-sensing system doesn't go on sale until Nov. 4.

The company behind online phenomenon Farmville is back with a new game for Facebook, Fronterville. Instead of running a farm, this time players create a frontier town in the Wild West. Libe Goad of Games.com says it's a great follow-up to Farmville. "Instead of just tending crops and harvesting animals, you can do other cool things like marry someone, you can get a virtual spouse, and you can have babies in the game and you really don't see that in Farmville," Goad said. She adds that it's a sign this kind of simple gaming experience is starting to evolve into a richer form of entertainment. You can only play Frontierville on Facebook right now.

California is considering what could be a new digital distraction for drivers. Its legislature is considering a bill that would allow the state to begin researching the use of electronic license plates. The plates would display digital ads and other messages when a car is stopped for more than four seconds. Any advertising revenue would help the state close its massive budget deficit.