TechBytes: Shopping and Shipping

Dec. 12, 2011— -- In today's TechBytes: The online shopping boom.

Research firm ComScore says Internet sales are up 15 percent this year — $25 billion so far.

And this will be the busiest week of the year for online retailers.

That's because Friday is the last day to order and get delivery of items by Christmas — without paying extra for special shipping.

Kindle Fire Complaints

Many users would like to "fire" their new Kindle tablet.

Among the complaints about the Kindle Fire:

• No external volume control
• It's too easy to hit the "Off" switch by accident
• It tells anyone who picks it up what you've been reading

Amazon is promising a software update in the next few weeks, and there may be a new version of the Kindle Fire in the spring.

Ample Apps

The speed with which new apps are released is exceeding that of other media.

Each week worldwide:

• 100 new movies are released
• About 250 books
• and 15,000 apps!

The one-millionth program for a mobile device was released this past week.