TechCunch is reporting that Borders is running a sale on the Kobo and the Aluratek eReaders. There is no evidence of this yet on the Borders site. As of 2:30 PM ET, the Kobo remained priced at $149.99 and the Alutrek remains at $119.99, but this is possible, so we are keeping a close eye on it.

The Kobo and the Alutrek have not come down in price this summer and with the new Kindles shipping this week, it would make sense for Borders to try to steal away some of those buyers.

Also, Borders just began selling the new Velocity Cruz eReader and tablet. These new readers are more expensive, but much sleeker and with color screens. They ship in September and October and Borders may need to make room in their warehouse.

If you hear of an update or see the sale price in the Borders store, let us know in the comments.

eBook community WattPad has updated their eBook app for the new BlackBerry Torch bringing their digital book library to the new smartphone.

Berryreview.com has more: “If you have been looking for another eBook app for your BlackBerry Torch check out WattPad at www.wattpad.com or in App World. Their app has some nice features like MobiPocket giving you control of the font size and color adjustment capabilities as well as an auto-scroll function for hands-free reading, something I miss in MobiPocket.”

Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders also have eReader apps available for blackberries.

eReaders are growing in popularity in China and a company called Hanwang/Hanvon Technology has a new 8-inch eInk screen eReader called the E800 that runs on Windows CE OS, rumored to launch soon.

Shanzai.com has more: “The Hanvon E800 has some great add-ons like handwritten touch function, speech function, voice recording, audio player, electronic dictionary and more…It boasts of a superb resolution of 1024×768 plus it comes with a built-in Wi-Fi module, a 3.5mm headphone jack, dual channel speakers and a mini USB port. The storage is impressive as well, with a 4GB microSD card that can be expanded up to 32GB. There is still no news about its price or launch date.”

Forbes pointed out that, “China’s eReader market will be the world’s largest by 2015, according to research firm Display Research. Hanwang had a 66% market share in the first quarter of 2010.”

As Eat Pray Love hit theaters around the country, Elizabeth Gilbert‘s follow-up memoir Committed has held a high spot on the NY Times‘ nonfiction hardcover bestseller list. Gilbert’s book is also the 32nd most highlighted book on Kindle–so we searched for readers’ favorite passages.

Using Amazon’s Most Highlighted Books feature, we can actually track which passages these eBook readers enjoyed. For our new Popular Passages feature, we will track the most underlined passages from bestselling books.

An impressive 645 Kindle users highlighted this passage: “Sometimes life is too hard to be alone, and sometimes life is too good to be alone.”

Read more

As students head back to school this week, we are featuring free eBook classics as part of our Free eBook of the Day feature. Today’s Free eBook of the Day is The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane.

This 1895 war novel depicts the hardships of the American Civil War. Here is an excerpt: “Once a certain tall soldier developed virtues and went resolutely to wash a shirt. He came flying back from a brook waving his garment bannerlike. He was swelled with a tale he had heard from a reliable friend, who had heard it from a truthful cavalryman, who had heard it from his trustworthy brother, one of the orderlies at division headquarters. He adopted the important air of a herald in red and gold.”

Project Gutenberg has the free download.

For more free eBooks, check out our Free eBook of the Day archive.

Independent press Angry Robot is getting into the eBook business with nine new digital releases.

From the Angry Robot blog: “We’re big fans of eBooks, here at Angry Robot. Well, we’re big fans of books, and eBooks are just one of the formats that we love. We’ve been working furiously behind the scenes to get you eBook versions of our titles, and today we launch the first 9.”

The eBook title releases include: Moxyland by Lauren Beukes; Slights by Kaaron Warren; Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero by Dan Abnett; Winter Song by Colin Harvey; The Crown of the Blood by Gav Thorpe; Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon; The Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon; Zoo City by Lauren Beukes; and Kell’s Legend by Andy Remic.

The eBooks will be sold from various retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Apple’s iBookstore, as well as Amazon UK and Waterstones. Blogger Mike Cane points out that the publisher is selling DRM-free titles, except through Amazon. From his blog: “The Kindle Editions, however, have DRM on them. This is because they wound up at Amazon via a distributor, instead of direct from the publisher.”

Kaplan Publishing is extending its free eBook trial service another week. The Free Back-to-School eBook promotion on the iBookstore lets students test drive eTextbooks for a limited time period.

After dominating the free eBook spots in the iBookstore last week, Kaplan is extending the free eBook promotion until September 6th.

Titles include Law School Labyrinth, Med School RX, MBA Fundamental Accounting and Finance, Portable GMAT, NCLEX-RN, the PMBR Finals series, Kaplan’s MCAT subject review series and Kaplan AP guides.

Kaplan is also introducing a new series this school year. The 101 Practice Questions series is available exclusively as an eBook in the iBookstore.

Staples is going to start selling Amazon’s Kindle this fall. The office supply retailer will carry the new Kindle, the Kindle DX and the Kindle 3G. Staples will also carry Kindle accessories.

Jevin Eagle, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing at Staples sounded thrilled. He has this statement: “As part of our efforts to offer customers a wide range of top technology products and services at amazing values, the new Kindle is a natural fit.”

Kindle began selling in Target stores earlier this summer. The AP has more: “The announcement Tuesday follows the device’s debut at Target Corp. stores in June. While Amazon.com previously sold the Kindle only online, it has been expanding its retail presence to stay competitive with a growing array of other electronic book readers appear at retail stores.”

Via @mikecane.

Borders has begun selling the new Velocity Cruz eReaders.

The Cruz eReader has a full color 7-inch screen, 256 MB of RAM and weighs one pound. The Cruz Tablet comes with a 7-inch color screen and 512 MB of RAM and weighs one pound. It also supports a multimedia experience, so that users can also watch videos, listen to music and browse the internet.

The new eReader has a 7-inch color touchscreen and runs on an Android based interface. Like other tablets on the market, it also plays video, music, is web enabled and supports video games and e-mail.

The $199 Cruz eReader will be available on September 30th and the $299 Cruz tablet will be available October 15th.

The Oxford English Dictionary is dropping its print edition and going digital for the OED3.

The Telegraph UK reports: “Sales of the third edition of the vast tome have fallen due to the increasing popularity of online alternatives, according to its publisher.”

UPDATE: The Oxford Times is reporting that the OED is not going all digital. From the OT: “The OUP told the Oxford Mail last night that no decision had been taken. OUP spokesman Anna Baldwin said: ‘No decision has yet been made on the format of the third edition. It’s likely to be more than a decade before the full edition is published and a decision on format will be taken at that point. Lexicographers are currently preparing the third edition of the OED, which is 28 per cent complete. No final completion date is yet confirmed.’”

The OED 3 has been in production for 21 years and is still a decade away from its publish date, according to the Telegraph.

The OED has existed online for the last ten years. According to the OED website, the online edition will relaunch in December 2010. Subscribers pay $375 as an annual fee for access.