eReaders are officially mainstream. And it’s not just Amazon’s vague sales numbers that tell us this. The devices are popping up left and right on television shows and are even getting written into the story lines.

NBC comedy The Office featured a Kobo in an episode about bookstores, the Kindle has shown up on The Cleveland Show, Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory, and President Barack Obama even mentioned “digital textbooks” in his State of the Union address.

Beyond Black Friday even noticed some interesting dialog involving the Kindle in a recent episode of Joss Whedon’s sci-fi thriller series Dollhouse. Here is more from the blog: “It’s set in the future, and Patton Oswalt warns a character about what are now some very serious legal complications. But instead of saying “They’ll throw the book at you,” he warns that “They’ll throw the Kindle at you!” One fan called it “a line that only Joss Whedon would try or could pull off.””

As the holiday season filled stockings with eReaders, the Gutenberg Girls published a post entitled How to Operate the New Paper Book You Received for Christmas.

The funny post reminded us of Medieval Helpdesk–a YouTube video with millions of hits (embedded above). The video was taken from a 2001 skit from Norwegian Broadcasting entitled “Oystein og jeg.”

Here’s more from the Gutenberg Girls: “I’d like to offer the alternative viewpoint, of those of the Gutenberg persuasion like ourselves. HOW TO OPERATE THE NEW PAPER BOOK YOU RECEIVED FOR CHRISTMAS: 1) Pick up book. Place in lap. 2) Open book. 3) Read the words. “

On the community site Reddit, one reader posted a heartwarming story about a 13-year-old boy who saved his allowance for a year to buy for a Kindle Christmas gift. As the family struggles through the recession, this family of readers chipped in for the eReader.

Here’s more from the post: “Money has obviously been tight, so my youngest brother often doesn’t get an allowance at all. He gets a few dollars every so often from my mom and he had managed to save about $30 in a year. My sister told me she got it in her head to buy me a Kindle for Christmas and my mom and 19 year old brother pitched in as well but they were still short. My youngest brother offered his entire savings to chip in so they could afford it. I just, I don’t even know what to say. I feel so unworthy of this sacrifice especially considering what he’s been through this year. It’s made me quite teary eyed the entire time I’ve written this.”

The story has already earned nearly 60 comments and hundreds of reads. Do you have any holiday gift stories to share about eReaders?

Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system launches on phones today. AT&T and T-Mobile will be various phones that use the new operating system.

Windows Phone 7 is available on the HTC HD7, the HTC Surround and the Samsung Focus. The HDC7 is available for T-Mobile customers, and the Surround and Focus are available for AT&T customers. The phones are all priced at $199 with a 2-year contract.

Amazon’s Kindle app comes preinstalled on the operating system. Like other Kindle apps, the Windows app will sync with a user’s other Kindle devices and apps so that a user can access their library from any app.

Samsung is back in the news again and reports are saying that the electronics manufacturer is getting ready to launch the Galaxy tablet as soon as September.

MSNBC reports: “Samsung may launch a 7-inch Android tablet based on its new Galaxy S line of phones, early next month at a consumer electronics show in Berlin in early September. The tablet, which may be called the P1000 Galaxy Tab, is reported to have a front-facing camera for video calls, something lacking in Apple’s iPad, but available on the iPhone 4. It’s not yet clear whether the Samsung tablet will go on sale first in Europe, when it will be available in the United States, and what its cost will be.”

The iPad will have a lot to contend with this fall, as Asustek’s Eee Tablet might also be out this October. Last year the holiday season saw the battle of the eReader and this year is poised to be the battle of the tablet.

The Fairmont Hotel is lending Kobo eReaders to gold member hotel guests in select properties in the U.S. and Canada.

The eReaders feature a library of new titles from Random House book including works by Bret Easton Ellis, Sophie Kinsella and Alexander McCall Smith. Hotel guests can also download additional titles from the Random House store should they desire.

Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo had this statement: “Travelers are a great fit for the Kobo offering and a group that is eager to engage in eReading. We know that travelers do not want to carry heavy books in their luggage, and vacations provide the perfect time to relax and catch up on reading. This partnership allows Kobo to expand our reach and offer our service to an important segment of our customer base.”

While many Fairmont gold members might already be eReader owners, it is a good way for Kobo to get in front of an audience that might only have iPads and Kindles.

After a guest returns the eReader to the hotel, they will receive a special offer for $2 off select Random House titles redeemable at www.kobobooks.com/randomhouse.

After many delays in a ship date, Plastic Logic has officially canceled its Que ProReader product, which debuted in January and was supposed to ship this year. At CES, mediabistro.com’s editorial director took a video tour of the eReader with a premium $799 price tag.

Looks like the new Kindle, the Nook, the iPad and the slew of other eReaders were just too hard to compete with. Richard Archuleta, CEO of Plastic Logic had this to say: “We recognize the market has dramatically changed, and with the product delays we have experienced, it no longer make sense for us to move forward with our first generation electronic reading product. This was a hard decision, but is the best one for our company, our investors and our customers.”

Still Plastic Logic isn’t out of the business entirely. Archuleta also stated: “We plan to take the necessary time needed to re-enter the market as we refocus, redesign and retool for our next generation ProReader product. We continue to perfect our core plastic electronic technology and manufacturing processes that are central to our product’s unique value proposition.”

Via Sarah Weinman.

Back in January Qualcomm demonstrated an amazing eReader screen called Mirasol, which has the battery life of EInk but is full color and can also play video. The above video from Engadget shows it in more detail. Amazon is testing the new screen, but don’t expect to see it in a Kindle anytime soon.

ZDNET reports: “Indeed, Amazon is testing color screens in its labs and reportedly were playing with Mirasol. The official line from Amazon, which was handed out with a quick demo of the latest Kindle a few weeks ago, is that color screens just aren’t ready for prime time. Apparently, the screens are ready for the big time, but the supply chain isn’t.”

Steve Mollenkopf, executive vice president of Qualcomm’s CDMA Technologies, told ZDNET: “The product itself has been getting pretty positive feedback from customers, and now the problem is really how do you build it. And I think we need to get that figured out and advise you guys as to when you should think about that being a significant business. But we’re positive on how it looks. I think it’s a little early for us to be guiding you to a particular revenue target and things like that, but I think we’ll be in a better position to do that in the upcoming months.”

It might have been a little too soon to tease us with the technology since it is not even in production. The Digital Reader blogger Nate the Great points out: “The mind boggles. They’ve been saying that the Mirasol screen was going to be on a device this year. I don’t know how many people they’ve told that to (including me). Now it’s not even in production!?!”

The Shanda Literature Group has released its Bambook eReader and opened up an eBook store. The eReader let users access the Yuzhong digital library and the Shanda network.

Publishing Perspectives reports: “Dubbed Bambook, the device is priced at 998 RMB ($147) and offers a six-inch gray-scale e-ink display, Wi-Fi and an ExpressCard expansion slot for use with mobile Internet data cards. The device includes voice functions in Chinese and English, primarily to enable the use of popular language learning books. It offers 24-day standby on a single battery charge and the company promises to offer solar recharging, though it is not yet clear if this is built-in or via an adapter. Yesterday, the company released the first 3,500 Bambooks, but only to existing Shanda customers and as part of an ‘internal trial.’”

In May, Shanda Literature had 43 million registered users. CEO Zhou Hongli discusses Shanda in this video post from BEA.

The eReader price wars are happening again, this time in the UK. Book retailer Waterstone’s has dropped the price of Sony eReaders from 179 pounds to 99.99 pounds.

The Bookseller reports: “Waterstone’s has slashed the price of its Sony Pocket Edition e-book reader to 99.99 pounds, making it the cheapest on the market. The price change was made in store and online yesterday (9th August). When it first went on sale in September last year, it was priced at 179 pounds. The price of the Sony Touch Edition, 199 pounds, has not changed.”

This is not a surprise as Amazon just opened up its Kindle store in the UK and the new 109 pound Kindles ship later this month.

Via TeleRead.