The Kindle Wi-Fi and 3G e-readers were Amazon’s best-selling products this holiday season, and the third-generation Kindle also became the No. 1-selling product ever for the company, passing the final Harry Potter book, it said Monday. Apple’s 8-GB IPod Touch was also cited by Amazon as one of its best-selling CE products, in units, for the Nov. 14-Dec. 19 holiday season.

Further patent details are emerging about LG’s development work on active 3D TV displays that can be viewed with the type of inexpensive passive polarization glasses that RealD hands out in theaters (CED Dec 17 p1). Used instead of expensive active-shutter glasses, the displays deliver full 1080p HD to both eyes instead of the half-resolution HD available from existing LG polarizing sets which cover the display with passive filter strips.

The Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides should make clear that it’s deceptive to claim that a carbon offset “represents an emission reduction if the reduction is not additional,” the EPA said in comments. The FTC had sought comments on proposed revisions to its Green Guides that cover use of product certifications and seals of approval and claims about renewable energy, renewable material and carbon offsets. Carbon offset credits shouldn’t be claimed for “activities that would have happened anyway,” the EPA said, and suggested employing “rigorous tracking methods,” including the use of a registry for offsets.

Rovi’s proposed $720 million acquisition of Sonic Solutions caps a long-standing partnership between the companies that picked up speed when Sonic acquired DivX earlier this year, Corey Ferengul, Rovi executive vice president of product management and marketing, told us.

Rent-a-Center (RAC) bought TRS for $75.5 million as it moves to expand its customer-credit business with regional retailers and scales back offering financial services through its stores. The deal, which has closed, was primarily funded from cash on hand, RAC said Thursday. TRS has offered name-brand CE products through retail sales and lease-purchase programs since 1983.

Lexar Media parent Micron Technology expects Samsung to pay it $40 million in Q2 and $35 million in Q3 under a cross-license patent deal, after paying $200 million in Q1 ended Dec. 2, Micron Chief Financial Officer Ronald Foster said in an earnings call Thursday. Despite the Q1 gain from Samsung’s payment, Micron reported weaker profit than a year earlier.

Best Buy dropped most restocking fees, eliminating a sore point with customers. The action comes as the company increasingly uses service offerings to combat Wal-Mart’s and Target’s deep discounting, analysts said.

Although many state e-waste laws address online sales, there’s been little enforcement action against brands that sell into states without complying with recycling regulations, according to the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER) and state regulators. The problem is especially acute during the holiday season, when brands crop up online that offer deep discounts but don’t register with state authorities or pay for recycling, said NCER, which is trying to identify and list on its website offending brands through its Electronic Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse (ERCC). The effort’s focus is on educating consumers so they can let state regulators know about brands that are not listed on their state’s compliant brand list, said NCER Executive Director Jason Linnell.

Procrastinators hoping to get good deals on pre-Christmas sales are being rewarded this week at online electronics sites. Low-end digital cameras are especially hot Christmas gift bargains this week as retailers try to reduce inventories with last-minute blowout sales. At RadioShack, stocking stuffer cameras include a Vivitar V25 2.1-megapixel camera, reduced to $14.99 from $19.99, and a Crayola 5.1-megapixel model discounted $10, to $29. Other deals include a Polaroid i1237 camera, cut 25 percent to $59, and a Kodak 14-megapixel model slashed to $79 from $149. To sweeten the pot further, RadioShack is tossing in a 7-inch digital photo frame with cameras priced $69 and up.

Panasonic is converting its Panasonic Electric Works and Sanyo into “wholly-owned subsidiaries” as it “drastically shifts” management to six key business segments including networked AV products, the company said in an SEC filing. The other key business groups will be energy systems, heating/refrigeration/air conditioning, healthcare, security and LED. Networked AV, energy systems and heating/refrigeration/air conditioning will be “core” segments designed to drive revenue to support “next generation” key businesses including healthcare, security and LEDs, Panasonic said.