Barnes & Noble hinted at the fact that the Nook may have led to a major turnaround in its business. They certainly needed it. The company said that its “comparable store sales,” or those at large stores open for more than 1.25 years, were almost double what they had expected, at 9.7 percent. So what happened? Not surprisingly, they credited sales of Nook e-readers to the overall spike and to having its best-ever single day of sales on December 23. Seems like the Nook has saved the day.

The company said that more details will be made available on January 6. The company’s paper sales have been declining, especially at retail, so they have turned more toward digital devices and Apple-style displays that push the Nook.

This is hardly shocking news, but according to the Wall Street Journal, both Nintendo’s Wii and the Xbox 360 clobbered the PS3 in holiday sales. U.S. sales fell nine percent from this month last year. During the same period, sales doubled for the Wii and were up eight percent for the Xbox 360.

That’s what happens when you fail to cut prices on your system, and the lack of exclusive game titles didn’t help either. Not to mention a bunch of inexpensive Blu-ray players. The end result is that the PS3 was the least attractive option for buyers. Apparently, it’s not even fit to roast a decent weiner.

This Dalek Christmas tree is scary. Scary because it’s a Dalek and scary because it’s so silly and bizarre that my brain has no idea how to process it. It was created by Minnesotan Lindsey Testolin and features a lot of flashing lights, no sense of style or attitude, some bulb ornaments on the base, and I hope they have a spare laundry basket or he’s gonna lose his neck.

If Doctor Who was a DIY production, this would be an actual screen cap of the Christmas special. Regardless of it’s ragtag DIY look, it warms our cold geek hearts. Video below.

We’re used to shortages during the holiday season. The Wii comes to mind. And you are probably aware of Amazon’s kindle situation. The iPod may be next. Word is that Apple is having trouble keeping up with the demand for the iPod as more and more customers place purchases during this holiday season, they may run out. The information comes from a research note from Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu. The Amazon.com stock levels seem to confirm the notion as well, since it currently takes up to 5 weeks to get your 8GB second-gen iPod touch. It’ll take 3-5 weeks for the 16GB version.

It looks like the shortages may be model specific and color specific, as some are more popular. Wu concluded that Apple may very well sell 21 million iPods in the holiday quarter.

The poor economy is no longer a surprise to most Americans, but for many things look grim this holiday season. We have had reports that claim spending will be down significantly this holiday season in all areas but consumer electronics.

A new study from ABI Research claims that despite the economy many consumers plan to spend the same amount this holiday season or more. The survey polled 1600 households and found 47% of respondents planned to decrease spending.

Best Buy isn’t content to let Target get away with unique gift cards this holiday season. That’s why their gift cards for the holidays will double as speakers with a 3.5mm hookup. This way you can rock out while contemplating what to buy with your card.

Is it gimmicky? Sure. Will suckers fall for it? Enough will bite to make them happy they thought of it. And if it takes batteries like Target’s new gift card/camera, they might really make out great. The question is, how muc does it cost them to produce these cards? Bottom line, even though it’s gimmicky, it beats a wool shirt from grandma. Check out a cheesy video below.

We aren’t sure what to think about this one. Target is getting creative with their gift cards again. You can consider it either a gift card with a digital camera, or a digital camera with a gift card. Either way, it’s all good. This holiday season, Target will begin selling the combo gift card/digital camera, which is an interesting approach. It will give customers some added value to what is otherwise a pretty boring purchase.

The camera features a 1.2MP sensor with 50MB of storage. It comes bundled with a USB cord, driver disk, instruction manual and a voucher for 40 free prints at Target. It’s powered by two AAA batteries. So rest assured, Target’s battery sales will be way up this year. The digital camera gift certificates will be available at no additional charge, unless you order it online. They are available in values from $50 to $1000.

Over at Walyou they’ve compiled a list of 34 geek pumpkins. Some of them are pretty awesome works of art, while others make us realize that nerds have far too much time on their hands. I mean, who the hell thinks to themselves, “Today I’m going to carve Say Anything’s famous boombox scene into a Pumpkin”? Yeah I know. Not a thought I’m familiar with. Surely it’s the product of a demented mind. Anyway hit the link to check them all out.