Barnes & Noble Inc. is expected to unveil an electronic-book reader to compete with Amazon.com's Kindle in the still-small arena where some see book-selling's future playing out. The New York Times reported that the reader, to be announced Tuesday in New York, will be called the "Nook" and sell for $259. The newspaper cited an ad set running in its book review section Sunday.

The Walt Disney Company is refunding parents who bought its Baby Einstein DVDs following a row with a campaign group over their disputed educational merits. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a US-based advocacy group, is claiming victory after Disney said it would offer a full cash refund to anyone who bought one of the DVDs in the last five years

Microsoft took on rival Apple head on this week in the education market with a special offer for students to purchase Windows 7 for $30, about the same price as Apple's competing Mac OS X Snow Leopard.