iPad 2

How many Kindle Fires are being returned to Amazon?

An estimate based on the one-star reviews posted by disappointed customers

All happy Kindle Fire customers, to paraphrase Tolstoy, are the same. Unhappy customers, however, are unhappy in their own way.

To get a feel for what makes them unhappy -- and how unhappy they are -- we spent some time Saturday morning reading the Kindle Fire feedback on Amazon.com.

There were 3,678 write-ups in all, nearly half of them (47%) glowing five-star MORE

Amazon, Apple and Verizon join the Black Friday ad wars

Three new TV spots in advance of the holiday selling season

Following a pair of exceptionally well-produced spots from Samsung -- one tasteful, one clever -- pushing their newest Google (GOOG) Android phones, we have three fresh TV ads from Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Verizon (VZ). The latter doesn't seem to have gotten the memo that this season's fashion on Madison Avenue is the soft sell.

Amazon's Kindle Fire:

Apple's iPad 2

Motorola's MORE

Remember those rumored iPad production cuts? Nevermind.

Apple seems to be controlling inventory, not reacting to a slow-down in sales

Apple's (AAPL) stock price fell sharply last week after some confused reports out of China and Taiwan regarding the company's communications with its supply chain. The first report was that Apple had cut back orders 10% to 15% on parts for the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4S because, according to Taipei-based DigiTimes, "sales of the iPhone 4S MORE

Video: A relatively quiet iPhone 4S launch in the Big Apple

The crowd of 350-400 was smaller than the ones that showed up for the iPad and iPad 2

We counted 352 heads before shooting this video. By the time Apple (AAPL) staffers opened the doors at 8:00 a.m., it had probably grown to 400.

We counted 330 at this store for the launch of the iPhone 3GS, 500-600 for the launch of the original iPad and nearly 1,200 for the iPad 2.

Judging from the MORE

Ticonderoga on the new iPhone: Prepare for media blitz, long lines, unprecedented demand

An analyst looks at Apple as an investment opportunity today and likes what he sees

"We would rather own Apple than any other tech company in the current environment."

So writes Ticonderoga's Brian White in a note to clients issued Monday, the day before Apple's (AAPL) Oct. 4 iPhone event.

White has taken a look at the performance of Apple shares over the past two weeks and come to the same conclusion Bullish Cross' MORE

The supply of Apple's iPad 2 finally catches up with demand

A week after shipping times were cut to 3-5 business days, they shrank again to 1-3

Apple's (AAPL) has been having trouble keeping up with demand for the iPad 2 from the day the product launched in early March.

Shipping times were stuck at 1-2 weeks from mid-April to July 8, when they were cut to 3-5 days.

Reader Howard Kaplan noticed Saturday morning that they have since fallen to 1-3 business days, MORE

The iPad 2 leaks: A tale of bribery, theft and jail time

Three conspirators are fined and imprisoned for stealing Apple's secrets

In early December, when the original iPad was a hot-selling Christmas gift and the iPad 2 was still a rumor, there appeared on the Internet colorful images of silicone iPad cases that didn't fit the current model. For one thing, they each had a hole in the back that could accommodate a rear-facing camera.

Was it a hoax, a guess or an MORE

Boy sells kidney to buy iPad

Not feeling well now. Regrets taking 20,000 yuan ($3,000) for the organ, according to Chinese press

This is one of those stories that speaks for itself.

According to Thursday's Shanghai Daily, a 17-year-old student in Huaishan City, China, gave his right kidney to get his hands on Apple's (AAPL) hottest-selling product.

"I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it," the boy, surnamed Zheng, told the Chinese language Global Times. MORE

Apple settles with victims of Chinese iPad 2 scuffle

A line-cutting fracas that broke a window and injured four is reportedly "resolved amicably"

It turns out that the clearest account yet of the incident Saturday -- described by some observers as a "riot" -- that left blood and broken glass outside Apple's (AAPL) flagship store on Beijing's Sandilun Road was published Monday in the People's Daily, the official organ of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party:

"According to reports, MORE

Crowds, scalpers greet iPad 2 in China

By the time doors opened at Beijing's flagship store, the queue was 1,000 customers long

Remember all those iPad 2s purchased in the U.S. for re-sale in China's gray market? Their sell-by date arrived early Friday, when Apple authorized sales of the iPad 2 began at the company's four Chinese retail outlets and the China Apple Store online.

As a crowd estimated by a security guard at roughly 1,000 lined up outside MORE