2010: The Year of the E-Book

"Book applications for smartphones have the potential to become a bridge to other devices such as Tablet readers and netbooks," said Weiner. "Apple(AAPL), for example, could migrate the more than 500 book applications on the iTunes store to a Tablet device, and Google(AAPL), which recently announced a browser-based e-reader, could offer applications for Android-based devices of various form factors."

There has already been speculation that Apple's Tablet device could offer some form of e-book capabilities when it is launched next year, although the consumer tech giant is playing its cards close to its chest.

At this stage, however, it is e-books that are grabbing most of the attention.

Amazon, which recently enjoyed a massive third-quarter sales and profit hike, has been one of the stars of this earnings season and is gearing up for the 2009 holidays.

The Kindle has become the company's No.1 bestselling item by both unit sales and dollars -- not just in electronics but across all product categories on Amazon.com, according to the company's CEO Jeff Bezos.

-- Reported by James Rogers in New York

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