Wal-Mart has decided to stop selling Kindle e-readers and tablets in what is no doubt a bid to slow the juggernaut that is Amazon. Kindle devices are increasingly becoming the center of Amazon’s digital strategy, thanks to the deep integration with Kindle e-books, Audible audiobooks, Amazon Instant Video, Amazon MP3, Amazon Cloud Drive, the Amazon Appstore for Android, and much more.

This move follows a similar decision by Target last spring, and seems to imply that brick and mortar stores are becoming afraid of these devices that are, in a sense, merely a gateway to a competitor’s digital storefront. While Wal-Mart and Target will end up missing out on sales of the hugely popular Kindle tablets and e-readers, the companies hope to benefit in the long run. Of course, it’s unlikely that this move will actually hurt Amazon. If you’re going to buy a Kindle, why wouldn’t you go directly through Amazon? Even the “I need the device soon” argument doesn’t carry much weight when the retailer offers such fast shipping on the devices.

I certainly don’t know anyone who’s purchased a Kindle in a physical store. Do you?

[Reuters]

Amazon has finally given customers the ability to clear the furthest page read for Kindle ebooks. This change was made with little fanfare, but it’s a welcome and much needed improvement.

The Amazon Kindle is a great line of e-readers, made even better by the ability to sync your furthest page read using Whispersync. This allows you to seamlessly switch between devices–be it an e-ink Kindle, the Kindle Fire tablet, or a Kindle app on smartphones and computers–without missing a beat. Unfortunately, the very feature that makes this so great is also a massive hassle when trying to read something slightly less linear, like a textbook or a book with a lot of footnotes. Rather than helping you return to your last read position, the Kindle would attempt to force you to the back of the book. To make matters worse, there was no way to fix it aside from calling customer service and begging them to reset it. Thankfully, this is no longer the case.

To clear the furthest page read for a particular Kindle book, simply head on over to Manage Your Kindle on Amazon.com and find the book in question. The Actions menu for each item now has an option to “clear furthest page read.” Confirm the change, and you’re done! The next time you open up the book, Amazon will use that position as the new furthest page read.

It would be great if Amazon took things a step further and added the option to the Kindle OS too. In the meantime, we’re just thankful that we no longer have to call support to read a textbook.

[Amazon via Omar Shahine]