Cyber Monday is an entirely manufactured event – but it’s one that has found legs in the retail world. And Cyber Monday 2009 is looking to be a strong one.

CNNMoney reports that online shoppers numbered 4.3 million visitors per minute by 2:20pm ET. That was spread across 270 retail sites, such as Overstock.com, QVC.com and more. It’s a 39 percent improvement over last year.

Akamai, which collected the data, expected the number to spike even higher as the day went on (and the west coast hit the lunch hour and late afternoon office doldrums).

The National Retail Federation says 96.5 million Americans will shop online today – though the real surge in online shoppers will come in mid-December, as the last day with guaranteed pre-Christmas shipping draws near.

As with Black Friday, HD TVs, Blu-ray DVDs and video games are the most frequently discounted items on sale today.

Realizing that not everyone reads the print edition of Variety or scans all the stories that run on the site, thought this might be worth reposting.

With the holidays here, so too comes gift guide season. We’ll have a few extra items for the Technotainment reader in early- to mid-December, but if you’re planning to spend Black Friday in stores and need a few ideas, here are a few of the best items on the market for gadget lovers. Click through for additional information on why we selected each item.

DSLR: Nikon D5000

Home Media Player: FreeAgent Theater+ 

Blu-ray Player: PS3

Netbook/Notebook: Toshiba T100

HDTV: Panasonic V10 series

All-in-one remote: Logitech Harmony Remote 

Wi-Fi radio: Squeezebox Radio

Smartphone: iPhone 3GS

Personal Media Player: Zune HD 

Image by Lars Plougmann via Flickr

With the holiday shopping season about to “officially” kick off – and strong competition looming from both Sony and Barnes & Noble, Amazon has announced some drastic improvements for the Kindle.

The online retailer says it has found a way to increase battery life by 85 percent. This is for both new and existing models (a firmware update is available now). With this, you’ll be able to leave your Kindle on for seven full days (with WiFi activated) before you’ll need to recharge.

All Kindles will also now be able to read Adobe PDF files natively (as opposed to the conversion process they currently undergo). And users will be able to manually control screen rotation – a small, but very welcome change. Full details about the upgrade are available from Amazon.

The Kindle has a big leadership position in the eReader space, but it will face its biggest competition in the coming months. The category is expected to continue growing at a fast pace next year as prices start to fall. Barring something unforeseen, analysts say, eReaders will be the ‘must have’ gift of holiday 2010. 

Roku, the little box that was known for quite a  while as “that Netflix streaming device,” is broadening its lineup.

To be fair, the unit also streamed Amazon Video on demand and material from MLB.com, but it has now more than quadrupled the services it offers. Channels for Blip.tv, Facebook Photos, Flickr, FrameChannel, Mediafly, MobileTribe, Motionbox, Pandora, Revision3 Internet TV and TwiT,tv are coming on board.

Users will be able to choose which additional channels they want via an ‘app’ store similar to the one on your smart phone. The company says there will be a steady stream of new channels between now and the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Roku has been assaulted on all sides as other consumer electronics devices – such as the Xbox 360, many new Blu-Ray players and Internet-enabled TVs - have enabled people to stream online video into their living room. So far, though, neither Roky now the competitors have managed to lure Hulu to their side. The first to do that will likely see a significant sales spike.

Netflix has added another partner to its growing “Watch Instantly” option. IFC Entertainment has signed on with the online movie rental service, giving Netflix rights to stream 53 films online including John Sayles’ “The Brother From Another Planet” and Errol Morris’ “The Thin Blue Line”.

The films will be available beginning Nov. 20.

“We’re excited to give their customers instant access to this wide-ranging collection of independent film,” said Lisa Schwartz, executive vice president for IFC Entertainment. “Our top priority is to make independent film available to a wider audience and this partnership further underscores that commitment."

Other films covered in the agreement include Christopher Nolan’s first outing “Following” and Joe Swanberg’s “Nights and Weekends”. Several foreign language titles, including “Brothers,” “Sex is Comedy” and “Solo Con Tu Pareja” will also be enabled for instant streaming.

We’ve been there. A good glass of wine in hand, but no idea what to pair it with.

Oh sure, the cheese or food choice is a snap. There are PLENTY of apps for that. But what about the music? Now the iPhone has you covered.

Hope Family Wines has released Wine DJ – a streaming music app that matches music with your spirits. Not too surprisingly, the only wines featured are those produced by the Paso Robles winery, but you can probably substitute in any Cabernet Sauvignon for their Liberty School and still have satisfactory results.

Once you choose the wine, you’ll be presented with a series of sliders to help you set the tone of the evening, then the music will begin playing. Hear a song you like? There’s a convenient button to purchase a copy from the iTunes store.

Sorry folks, can’t let you know how the wine goes with the tunes. But the music choice is pretty good. 

Google is finally spilling a few more beans about its forthcoming operating system. The company held a press conference today at its headquarters to give the first in-depth look at Chrome OS and what makes it unique.

First things first: If you’re hoping to replace your current version of Windows with the system, you’ll be out of luck. When Chrome OS does launch – sometime next year – it will only be available on devices specifically made to run with it.

For the most part, that will be netbooks – but likely ones that are notably cheaper than the ones currently on the market. (That could conceivably put them below $200, which would be an efficient way to quickly build an installed base for the OS.)

Chrome OS is very closely tied to the Chrome browser. The OS looks very similar – with tabs for various applications. It won’t run Microsoft office and is entirely Web-based. (Want word processing or spreadsheet applications? You’ll need to use GoogleDocs or some other Web-based app.)

You will be able to set up several ‘virtual desktops’ – allowing you to quickly access applications you use for various functions (i.e. GoogleDocs for a ‘work’ desktop, a music player for fun, etc.)

It’s an incredibly light OS and start-up is reportedly lightning fast – making the system ready to use in seconds, rather than Windows rather laborious start-up time.

It’s not the sort of thing that has Microsoft worried in the short term, but it could lead the charge to an online operating system – which could ultimately put Google in a very powerful position in the OS category.

Curious to see how Google explained it? Check out the videos after the break. 

Blu-Ray may get a little more momentum this holiday season, thanks to a new program from Warner Bros. The studio, which earlier this year ran a trial program allowing customers to exchange their HD-DVDs for Blu-Ray copies of the same film, is now letting traditional DVD owners make the swap.

Consumers who visit the studio’s DVD2BLU website select the movies they want to exchange (assuming they’re one of the 55 listed), send the DVD in to the studio and can get the Blu-Ray version of the same film for a deeply discounted price (as low as $7.95). They’ll receive the BD versions within 4-5 weeks.

One important note: The film selection on the site is generally limited to older films, so if you’ve bought a DVD of a recent release and want to upgrade, you’ll have to make a second trip to Wal-Mart or Best Buy. And many of the films may be on sale during the holidays at prices rivaling the trade-in price. If the promotion gets good traffic, though, expect Warner to expand the number of films available for trade.

Sezmi, a burgeoning broadband service that will stream live TV (broadcast and cable) to sets, is one step closer to widespread launch. The company today launched a pilot program in Los Angeles with several significant partners – and a new cash infusion.

Sony Pictures, MGM Studios, Paramount Studios, Warner Brothers, Lion's Gate Entertainment and Universal Studios have all signed on to stream movies on demand. NBC Universal, Turner, MTV Networks and Discovery channel will offer some or all of their cable offerings (making up roughly 25 of the most-watched TV channels). And all of the major broadcast networks  - ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision – are on board as well.

The company has also received another $25 million in funding from several investors. Among those banking on the company are Morgenthaler Ventures, Omni Capital, TD Fund, Index Ventures, and Legend Ventures and a new, unnamed strategic investor.

Sezmi plans to be a cable competitor, offering live television content via broadband Internet services. Users will have a set-top box allowing them to access both broadcast and cable content, along with on-demand films and Internet video content. The system is promising more personalization options than existing TV providers as well as much lower costs.

Participants in the pilot will receive a free subscription – but when the service goes live, the company will offer two tiered packages.

Sezmi Select, the entry tier, will offer all local channels (in SD and HD) as well as access to on-demand content for $4.99 per month. Sezmi Supreme will run $24.99 per month – and will including the lineup of live cable channels as well as local. (The specific channels have not yet been revealed.)

This is suggested pricing. Sezmi will enter homes through distribution partners, rather than direct sales from the company – so those partners will have final say on what they charge.

Assuming the pilot goes well, the company is aiming for wider distribution in the middle of the first quarter. Sezmi officials say they will reveal more specifics around those plans (including distribution partner names) at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show has lost one of its high-profile keynote speakers.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has bowed out, citing a “scheduling conflict,” according to Karen Chupka, senior vice president of conferences and events for the Consumer Electronics Association.

She declined to offer further details.

The loss of Bartz is a noteworthy one. Yahoo skipped last year’s CES keynote circuit and onlookers were hoping Bartz would this year shed light on the company’s plans for its media properties, which are seeing their funding increase as Yahoo shuts down other divisions. The company also has some interesting projects underway that related to Internet-enabled TVs.

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs will seemingly take Bartz’s place in the keynote lineup. The CEA added him yesterday at a press conference in New York.

Other keynote speakers at this year’s show include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the CEA’s Gary Shapiro, Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasuvo and Hisense Chairman Zhou Houjioan.