Amazon introduced its third generation Kindle ebook reader on Thursday. It will be released with redesigned body and in two versions, with Wi-Fi and 3G, or Wi-Fi only. The new device uses the same E-ink display as the Kindle DX, and shares the same (graphite) shell color too. It weighs 8.7 ounces and can run up to a month on a single battery charge, and it can store up to 3,500 books — substantially more than the 1,500 books the second generation Kindle could hold.

Amazon has also worked to increase Kindle’s capacity, there’ll be some new features: highlighting, note-taking, Wikipedia access and dictionary lookup, and support for password-protected PDFs. The device also includes a WebKit-based browser, free to use over WiFi.

But Amazon’s biggest dream is to beat the iPad: “Last night, Apple stated it has shipped 3.27 [million] iPads since the April product launch, surpassing our estimate for an installed base of [around 3 million] Amazon Kindles to date despite supply constraints” said Marianne Wolk, an analyst of Susquehanna Financial Group, in a report.

Both the third-generation Kindle, which retails for $189, and the new Kindle Wi-Fi, which retails for $139, will ship on August 27.

According to Deadline.com Jennifer Lopez may take over the spot from Ellen DeGeneres in television show American Idol. Sources say that previously Elton John and Justin Timberlake were thrown out from the list, and now the latest potential new judge is Jennifer Lopez. Deadline reports, that J. Lo has already signed the deal, but the announcement was postponed until Ellen DeGeneres’ official exit.

Lopez’s manager Benny Medina set up a meeting with American Idol producers and they were negotiating the deal for a month. Another gossip site also reported that both Lopez and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler have been offered spots on the show. American Idol might be a beneficial move for Lopez, who had parted ways with her longtime record label, and the singer will also face a $40 million lawsuit after missing a concert in Cyprus.

Comedienne and chat show host Ellen DeGeneres is leaving American Idol after one season on the judging panel. She said in a statement that she “loved discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings”.

PhoneScoop reported that according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents, Sprint is set to launch a new case for the iPod touch that would enable 3G networking on the WiFi-only (!) device. The case was manufactured by “ZTE” and called the “Peel”, and it’s like a mobile hotspot for the iPod touch, that is giving you 3G connection wherever you want (or wherever you can get a Sprint 3G signal).The Peel has a 3.4Whr lithium ion battery with about 40 hours of standby time, and the battery recharges through microUSB port. According to gadget site Ubergizmo, the Apple Peel could be available as soon as this week, with a price ranging from $44 to $74. It can then use the Sprint EV-DO Rev. 0 3G network to bring connectivity.

Skillful iPod users already know how to make phone calls on their iTouch: plug in a headset, find a Wi-Fi hot spot, and start Skype or Fring. With iOS 4.0, Skype app will even be able to accept incoming calls, allowing you to eschew your voice carrier. Imagine, your iPod Touch could become a real mobile phone!

Sir Paul McCartney invited the Jonas Brothers to perform with him at the White House, to play for President Obama’s daughters Malia and Sasha. The former beatle said that “I know my six-year-old and the kids in her class are more likely to be excited by the Jonas guys”, and added he is “a very big fan” of President Obama. “His wife is beautiful and smart. I like the way they raise their kids.”

McCartney also confessed that he had felt very nervous before the performance, which will be broadcast for the first time on US TV tonight. “I anticipated flocks of butterflies. It’s the White House, a small room – talk about the whites of their eyes” but added “after getting the strength and enthusiasm to have a good, fun evening, the butterflies flew away”.

The show opened with a speech from President Obama, who said, “It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly half a century since four lads from Liverpool landed on our shores and changed everything overnight.” Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Faith Hill and the Jonas Brothers paid homage to McCartney and his well known songs. Wonder sang “We Can Work It Out,” Costello performed “Penny Lane,” Hill sang “The Long and Winding Road” and the Jonas Brothers did a rendition of “Drive My Car.”

ABC reported, that an internet security consultant has collected and published limited personal data on about 100 million Facebook users to show his concerns about Facebook’s privacy settings. Ron Bowles wrote a script which was looking for profile information from users who had not manually opted to hide their profile settings. Then he posted all the gathered data as a downloadable torrent to PirateBay.com. On the world’s biggest file-sharing website, the list was downloaded by more than 1,000 users.

Simon Davies of Privacy International told the BBC that Facebook should have seen this coming: “It is inconceivable that a firm with hundreds of engineers couldn’t have imagined a trawl of this magnitude and there’s an argument to be heard that Facebook have acted with negligence” said Davies. “People did not understand the privacy settings and this is the result,” he added.

In a statement Facebook said that the information was already freely available online, and “people who use Facebook own their information and have the right to share only what they want, with whom they want, and when they want”. In this case, the statement said, “information that people have agreed to make public was collected by a single researcher and already exists in Google, Bing, other search engines, as well as on Facebook”.

Porsche announced that it will build the 918 hybrid supercar based upon “overwhelming response from the public and customers”. The hybrid car will cost about $600,000, but Porsche promises customers that the new car will have exceptional performance along with stellar fuel economy and emissions. Porsche says the 918 will do: 500-horsepower, 78-mpg, 9,200-rpm 3.4-liter V-8 hybrid all-wheel-drive sports car capable of 3.2-second 0-60 mph, 198 mph top speed, 16-mile all-electric range, and looks to stop traffic cold.

The car will be based on the 500-horsepower V8 concept car Porsche showed off at the Geneva Motor Show previously. The new plug-in Spyder will be built in a limited edition. No time line has been given for when the car will be released, but it’s expected to be out within two years.

Porsche previously said, that if at least 1,000 buyer want the car then they will build it. It now looks like the 1,000-mark has been cleared, as Porsche president and chairman Michael Macht said in a release today, “Production of the 918 Spyder in a limited series proves that we are taking the right approach with Porsche Intelligent Performance featuring the combination of supreme performance and efficient drivetrain concepts. We will develop the 918 Spyder in Weissach and assemble it in Zuffenhausen.”

Paris Hilton has denied she was enacting a Nazi salute when she was partying on a luxury yacht. A spokesman for the American heiress Paris Hilton, insisted that she was “merely dancing and scratching her face at the same time”. Previously, in the early hours of Monday, she was pictured as he was pointing her hand upwards in a Heil Hitler-like salute. The pose is not illegal, but may be considered offensive in some quarters.

“Paris was dancing and having fun with her arm up in the air as she always dances like that and was scratching [her] face when a photo was taken”, said her spokesman in a statement and also added “the hat was not a communist hat, it’s a military style hat from a club. Half of her family is Jewish and many of her friends are as well”.  According to sources, Paris and her friends knew about the paparazzi’s presence “she wouldn’t do something so offensive to be caught on camera.”

Hilton has been in the headlines recently for her outrageous behavior. She was already questioned for drug possession and being picked up off of a nightclub floor by security.

Developer of Blackberry smartphones, canadian company Research In Motion opened its first BlackBerry retail store in China on Wednesday. RIM hopes that it could boost the smartphone’s presence in the Asian market. They call the Beijing store an “experience center” that will give visitors a better opportunity to try Blackberries and other RIM devices. “The key point is to attract users to the BlackBerry smart phone and stimulate purchases,” said Natalie Wang, a company spokeswoman. BlackBerries have been sold in China since 2006, but RIM sold the phones through third-party distributors, now “the consumers couldn’t really get a total experience out of buying the phone.” Currently customers can buy only two phone models, the BlackBerry 8910 Curve and the BlackBerry 8310 Curve.

Softpedia also reported, that Research In Motion has invited a number of people to an unspecified event to be held in collaboration with AT&T on 3 August in New York. Rumours say the event could be the first step for the launch of the company’s new BlackBerry 9800 Slider, which will be the first RIM device to run the new BlackBerry OS 6.0. “I would suspect this would be the new BlackBerry 9800, a touch-screen slider phone. It was well known it was with AT&T and they’d said they’d have two devices later in their fiscal second quarter” a Morgan Keegan & Co. analyst, Tavis McCount.

Are you collecting receipts from fast-food outlets or groceries? If yes then next time be careful, because a new study claims the receipts contain high levels of the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A. Environmental Working Group’s study showed plastic component BPA on 40 per cent of receipts from McDonald’s, CVS, KFC, Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Safeway and other businesses.

Animal tests have already shown that BPA can induce abnormal reproductive system development, diminishes intellectual capacity and cause behavioural abnormalities. It can cause serious conditions, such as cancer, obesity, diabetes, early puberty, resistance to chemotherapy, asthma and cardiovascular system disorders. “Consumers are being exposed to BPA at the point of sale once they’re handed a receipt” said Dr. Anila Jacob. BPA from register receipts can “enter the skin to such a depth that it can no longer be washed off.”

“A typical employee at any large retailer who runs the register could handle hundreds of the contaminated receipts in a single day at work,” said Jane Houlihan, the group’s senior vice president for research. Receipts from Target, Starbucks, Bank of America ATMs and the U.S. Senate cafeteria were BPA-free, says the study.

The study recommends these tips for reducing BPA exposure:

• Minimize receipt collection when possible, and store them separetely
• Never give a child a receipt to hold or play with
• After handling a receipt, wash hands before preparing and eating food
• Do not recycle receipts and other thermal paper
• If you are unsure, check whether paper is thermally treated by rubbing it with a coin (Thermal paper discolors with the friction; conventional paper does not.)

“Oscar”, a spanish farmer was given the world’s first full facial transplant, and today he was discharged from the hospital after a succesful operation. Oscar who did not reveal his full identity, before the operation was unable to eat, speak or breathe normally since a gun accident in 2005. Now, he can start a new life; Oscar can eat soft foods, drink liquids and shave.

At a press conference at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, he spoke with difficulty, and said “I am very happy and I want to thank the surgeons and the donors especially the man who gave me the new tissues I received”. He also said that his first thing to do will to taste his favourite lamb dish and going for a beer with friends.  His sister said, “He is looking forward to walking down the street without having people looking at him five times. He wants to go back and do the things that he loved like hunting and fishing. We want to have a family meal together.”

Oscar has most of the feeling in his new face, and he also can move his eyebrows, upper eyelids, jaw and part of his cheek muscles. Unfortunately, Oscar still cannot close his eyes and does not have feeling in his lips. Aside from minor complications, his progress was described by doctors as excellent. Oscar also said that he was inspired by the case of Isabelle Dinoire, the French woman who received the first partial face transplant in 2005.