We've been keeping abreast of Spring Design's Alex e-reader as it's a promising little hybrid machine. It recently dropped out of the news though, prompting concerns about its future. All is well, however, and it'll go on sale in a month.

Everything you need to know about the pile of e-readers that debuted at CES.

A huge number of e-readers are on display at this year's CES. Although the biggest player, Amazon, isn't expected to reveal any Kindle surprises, plenty of other companies already have. The Alex dual-screener, for example, is a disruptive device that could become a real competitor in the e-reader market.

The look and feel of electronics always coalesces into "standards": the beige PC, the pyramid-backed tube TV, the two-button mouse. At CES this year, we're seeing a new decade of visual language emerge--and it's all about touch.

Sure, the iPhone has made touch-operation a gimmick often copied in the last couple of years. But for 2010, we're starting to see OEMs take touch seriously into their design philosophy with more refined enclosures and smarter software integration. (Sorry, stylus-lovers. Your era is waning.)

Gizmodo's leak of Barnes and Noble's twin-screen e-reader with a color display was a pleasant surprise last week, but not for Spring Design. The company just revealed its own e-reader, obviously in response--and it's very similar.