We have a lot to talk about. Tons of new and innovative products are making their way into consumer's hands over the first six months of 2013 and the second half looks just as enticing! Computers, cameras, cellphones have all popped with new capabilities and we can also expect more of that as well as the big video-gaming innovations due around the holidays from Microsoft and Sony.

Let's start with...

COMPUTERS
Okay, speaking of Microsoft...which did not set the world on fire with Windows 8. The new user interfaces complicated many peoples lives without providing enough of a value proposition to justify the pain. Windows 8 RT is Microsoft's tablet operating system which was paired with a Microsoft Surface tablet. With limited memory and a weak app library...this product went nowhere.


There is also the Surface Pro which is a tablet-like format (though a bit thicker and heavier than you would expect if you have seen or used an Apple iPad or Google-based tablet) but it runs the full version of Windows 8. While this version was also plagued with limited memory problems and weight issues...it does show promise. And Microsoft has not given up! They have a new version of Windows 8 coming down the pipe codenamed Blue (real imaginatively named Windows 8.1) which I will not make jokes about what a poor choice of naming this is considering the famous Window's "blue screens of death" when a PC computer crashes. There is a marketing theory about embracing your negatives and turning them into positives BUT I just can't give Microsoft that much credit. Windows Blue is suppose to address issues around allowing consumers to directly access the old windowing systems, having multiple windows open at the same time (two browser windows at the same time!) and more personalization and even boot up right to the desktop!

Because of all these misgivings and weak consumer sentiments around Windows 8, PC manufacturers have been suffering a fair bit. Not only are laptop sales are down 14%, they are being overtaken by tablets which will outsell them in 2013. While it is true that tablets are an underserved market and justifying the huge ramp-up in sales, I do not believe the laptop form-factor is dead. Far from it! Similarly to Windows Vista...Windows 8 is an immature operating system and consumers saw no value in flipping over or upgrading to the new OS. As a matter of fact, less that 5% of active PCs in the market have converted to this new OS. Many are staying with Windows 7 (44%) or Windows XP (38%) until there is a good enough reason to move.

As a result, while the PC manufactures attempt to produce novel and interesting new form-factors including Lenovo Yoga, Dell XPS-12 and the like. Until Windows matures to a point with more polish and value-added features...this category will suffer. Many believe this suffering is due to tablet innovations and a bit of that is true, BUT this form factor also needs the right innovations in user-interface and usability features to make it more personable again. Then we will see this category stabilize. So for right now, while PC makers continue to innovate at the hardware level, I would wait for a better OS before jumping back into the Windows market with a new PC purchase.

But if you are in need of a new laptop, I do like what Lenovo has been doing lately in the Ultrabook category including the sleek Yoga.

But while all this has been going on, Apple is holding their own with a very solid computer product offering with their Macintosh line. Apple has seen their last two quarters experience either a slight 1% drop or this past quarter they were flat year over year. But this year's product offerings already look to provide some additional reasons to purchase new Mac hardware.

The new iMac launched at the top of the year, was a nice, sleek update to their tradition all-in-one Macintosh desktop. We have also seen the introduction of new Macbook Air products that offer tablet-like battery lives (up to 12 hours), a new more powerful CPU and substantially enhanced graphics processing power as well as support for the new very fast 802.11ac wireless protocol. I did notice that Apple did not upgrade their Macbook Pro line with the new Haswell CPU...something they will surely do in the coming months. So if you are interested in the Air products, now is the time to buy but if you need more robust capabilities like support for a Retina (very high resolution display) or most likely the new Thunderbolt 2 (high speed peripheral interface)...I'd wait until the end of Summer or early Fall when we will also see the introduction of the latest Macintosh operating system called OS X Mavericks which introduces a slew of new features.

Apple also announced the Airport Extreme wireless router to support the new 3x faster wireless connectivity of the latest Macbook Airs. Expect all new Apple wireless devices to support this new standard.

But that is not all! We also got a peek last week at Apple's replacement for their aging large, professional desktop system used by photographers, videographers, advertising and animation firms...the Mac Pro. This new version is a little "over designed" but is build on some very powerful components that should be a very worthwhile boost for the aging older version. Below is the hero video introducing the new look.


Okay...it looks like a sleek black R2D2 or a Molla Space: Ideaco Tubelor trashcan!

With much fanfare, Sony just announced the not-too-shocking existence of the Playstation 4. And if you have followed any of the rumor coverage leading up to this over the past 6 months, the specifications are pretty much in-line with everyone's expectations.

With the first three incarnations of Sony's Playstation selling a combined 300 million units...this system has a lot of live up to. Unlike previous versions, at the heart of the PS4 is a more traditional (but very robust) PC-like architecture...making it easier to develop games and port content to/from other systems such as Microsoft's Xbox.

The system itself was not shown but we did get to see the updated PS controller which now includes a touchpad surface and some greater motion/depth control functionality.

The console market needs to evolve as they have been challenged with player's attention in other areas including the onslaught of mobile and social games available today...many offered in a "freemium" pricing model. Nintendo's recent introduction of their Wii U gaming console has started off slow. I would contribute some of this underwhelming start to the lack of original content. There was no "must have" titles at launch for Nintendo's console. Hopefully Sony has learned a lesson from Nintendo's snafu?

Now I am definitely not bought into the death of the console BUT the paradigms need to change...change drastically. And if executed well, some of these capabilities mentioned today for the PS4 could be the start of something new especially in the area of leveraging the Cloud (a host of internet services).

What would a new platform nowadays be without social integration and this one features some very nice new hooks including the ability for a player to broadcast his game and even let friends jump in to help. Other "cloud-type" capabilities include intelligent delivery of content, the ability to start playing a game while it is downloading and sharing your gaming experience with friends.

Sony did parade a line-up of developers and publishers on stage committed to the new console but what content will be at the launch is the big question. Today we saw preliminary demos from Capcom, Ubisoft, Activision, Guerrilla Games, Sucker Punch, Square Enix, etc.

I will say that the games were visually better from current generation console games with more focus on advanced particle systems, some richer detailed environments, more NPC's on screen and a smoother frame-rate which can add up to an overall better gaming experience. But the games shown did not have a level of "magical" that we experienced with the last generation when it comes to its overall presentation.

You should note that we are comparing highly-mature current generation games to first-gen on the PS4. I'm sure more advances will come about as the game tools and production pipeline matures. I will say that fire and smoke, lighting, camera filters and effects and other atmospheric visuals look amazing and added another level of realism.

Pricing and the actually release date (except to say holiday 2013) were not issued but I am sure we will get much more details at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this June.  We'll get much more information then.

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

The following is my annual Product Trends review from the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas each year. This show is a melting pot of all the latest and greatest product offerings in the Consumer Electronic space. Tons of televisions, computer, mobile, home appliance and automation gear.

My goal is to scrub this to help figure out what are the new or maturing trends and what products to watch out for over the coming year. So let's look at how this year breaks down...

Ultra HD
The biggest push at CES this year is clearly the television manufacturers efforts to obsolete your current flat-panel television. Did you know it needed to be obsoleted? Probably not. You would probably say your current set looks great! Well, the manufacturers over the past few years have tried to hype up 3D as a reason to replace your current TV but those efforts have failed to generate much excitement. As I've mentioned here before...3D has been too much of a gimmick to me. You have this nice, bright flat-panel plasma or LCD and you put on these sunglasses that dim the overall image to get a 3D effect. And don't get me started on the tricks movie studios have been pulling to post-convert movies into 3D so they can charge more for them even though they were original filmed in traditional 2D!

But this year is a bit of a different story, this year it is all about 4K displays. Televisions four times the pixels of your 1080p Full HD flat-panel. These displays feature a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels and have been universally branded "Ultra HD". Unlike 3D, a 4K television is discernibly different...better than your current TV.


Now there is a catch...actually three BIG catches that make this more of an introduction and not really a meaningful launch for a couple years to come.

1) Like any new technology this stuff is much more expensive than the current offerings.

2) The distribution mechanisms (disks, download, etc.) to deliver these very large, high-resolution files is not really there. You won't be "on-demand" at this resolution for quite a while.

3) There will be very limited amount of content produced at that much higher resolution. Sony was showing movies originally filmed in 4K but then downgraded to 1080p to feel "almost 4K" resolution to fit on a Blu-Ray disk or a bundled package with a 65-inch display, tablet and dedicated server to hold these big movie files for $20,000+. Just expect the library of available content to be slim for quite some time following the launch of these Ultra HD televisions over the next year or so.

But I like where this is going. Not only is this image crisper and clearer, it also scales to support larger display sizes (65+ inches) while still keeping the content looking great. Also at these higher resolutions that 3D offering gets closer to being worthwhile. One big issue with 3D is that the current 1080p displays support 3D actual end up reducing the clarity of the image to support two frames at the same time to create the 3D effect. But at this higher resolution that reduction in clarity doesn't feel so noticeable. That might be different once we are use to a 4K pictures but for now is looked really nice.

One last thing before I get into the specifics of what everyone was offering at the show. There is some new display technology on the horizon called OLED. I talked a bit about it last year but this year everyone was talking about it. Currently LCD is the popular high-definition display technology out there and it is getting better each year (brighter, less glare, deeper blacks, off-angle viewing, etc.). This new OLED technology is lighter, more flexible and easier to produce in large sizes. But the big advantage is that they don't require a special layer of glass  like LCD's do which absorb some of the light...meaning OLED can be very bright, more vibrant and consume less power. It is still a new technology as you will see below but it is a pretty exciting development of the past couple years.

More on this in a bit...let's talk about what the big TV manufacturers specifically showcased -

Panasonic had a slew of new LCD and Plasma offerings but their showcase piece was their 56-inch Ultra HD OLED TV which in my opinion had the best image quality of these 4K displays at the show. The television weighed around 27 pounds and was less than half an inch thick. This was a prototype and the Panasonic CEO was clear to point out that the cost of this tech is prohibitive but they are focused on how to bring the prices down. I really loved the combination of the OLED technology at this Ultra HD resolution. Very nice!

As I mentioned earlier, I've not been a fan of the 3D offerings to date but I was impressed by LG's 84-inch Ultra HD LCD that was the largest 4K display to support 3D. With 8 million pixels to support the 3D (two frames at the same time issue) and its shear size...you really get an immersive 3D effect. And you can take one home later this year for only $20,000! At what point are they going to offering automobile-type financing for these things? ;-) With regards to their OLED offering and to give you a sense of pricing for their larger OLED televisions, the first generation shipping this year is a 55-inch (4mm thick) TV offering1080p resolution at a price around $12,000!

LG also demonstrated a 55-inch'ish slightly curved OLED to provide in theory better, more intimate viewing angles. This was just a prototype, I can just imagine this thing on my wall and me hitting the edge that sticks out of the wall every time I walk by but it was kinda cool to see.

Samsung was also loaded with similar Ultra HD goodness. They showcased the most extreme 110-inch LCD also supporting the 3,840 x 2,160 resolution. But this product is a beast. Huge stand and quite thick profile to support the glass and lighting to present this resolution at that scale. Samsung also had a 55-inch OLED that they showed last year and looks to ship this year probably similarly priced to the LG.

Sony demonstrated their Ultra HD solutions including 55" and 65" LCD versions as well as a 56" prototype OLED which made it the largest OLED Ultra HD at the show...by one inch! While the image quality was stunning I was not impressed by the integrated side mounted, non-removable speakers. Yes they were pretty but don't tell me you are going to buy a $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000+ TV and use the integrated speakers!? And like other manufacturers, Sony had an OLED Ultra HD product...it was a prototype with no pricing...matter of fact it actually didn't even work at the press conference (PC driving it died) but the units in the booth seem to work fine.

Obviously this Ultra HD tech is early in its life cycle and will come down in price over the next couple years. Definitely a technology to watch but not to prevent you from buying a contemporary LCD from Samsung or plasma from Panasonic in the near-term. I probably am due for a new TV write-up soon.

While talking about TV's...the thing everyone is waiting and watching for is the long-rumored Apple iTelevision. Apple does not participate at CES and nothing has been announced but it does make sense that a "giant iPad/app-enabled" TV leveraging the 100's of thousands of iOS apps has to be in the works inside the land of Apple R&D.

These app-enabled TVs (SMART TV's) will become more and more of a thing over the next few years. Research today shows that people are limiting their app use to mostly streaming services like Netflix but as the TV manufacturers wizen up a bit and put the same level of computational power in their tablets into the TVs and evolve the user interfaces beyond basic TV remotes...people will get more and more comfortable with the improved services available. This trend is coming...we were definitely hearing more and more mention of multi-core processor power televisions...Samsung was even offering an upgrade for some of last year's TVs to an even more powerful processing unit you can add to the back of the older sets!

Mobile, Sharing and Personalized
Now that your data (books, photos, music, videos) is digital the next thing is being able to do stuff with your data. Many manufacturers were talking about wireless transfer solutions to move digital information quickly between devices. LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, etc. All offered solutions. Some are talking about standardizing that hopefully will come to fruition over the coming year or two. Sony's new flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z was great at demonstrating all the different Sony accessories you just tap to seamlessly interface with.

Mobile things are getting bigger. I really see this as a viable trend. With everyone in the family having personalize, unique content to consume...people will not necessarily all want to sit in front of one communal display when you can stream your own stuff to your own display. At the same time small phones, even tablets can potentially be too small to watch a movie on all the time. So here comes a trend of "bigger". Samsung and their Galaxy Note II (ie: huge smartphone), several manufacturers started showing/talking about larger tablets ranging upwards of 20 to 27-inches! Bigger portable displays to consume content while still small enough to move from room to room could be a hot new category.

Lenovo's Horizon is a great example of this "bigger" trend, a 27-inch tablet running Windows 8. Lenovo says they are targeting home use, families and schools. They see this size as ideal for 2 or 3 people to work together or experience custom games made for the larger screen real estate. EA and Ubisoft (two large game publishers) are already working on a couple games for this solution. Priced at $1,700 is a bit of an issue and a battery life when "unplugged" of only 3 hours limits its applications but  I can see how this type of solution will mature over the coming years as the power, price and weight issues get further addressed.

This year your access to content will continue to be more personalized with unique user logins and customization features. Tap your phone to a speaker and they are linked. Tap a picture on your tablet to the printer and it prints. Tap smart devices with a friend and transfer a movie clip. TVs that show a range of apps and video content based on who is viewing. Smart refrigerators...even the main console display in a new Chevy's can drag and drop apps to be configured to your personal preferences. Ford even introduced a developer program to enable 3rd parties to make apps for your car!

Speaking of mobile and taking everything with you, what about Kingston's 1 tera-byte USB drive! No price yet but a 512 giga-byte version sells for around $1,700.



Photography
In the realm of camera products at the show, I was definitely disappointed. 2012 was a spectacular year with tons of innovation, meaningful updates and new form-factors. But CES didn't offer much new stuff worth mentioning. Probably the only exception was the Fuji X100s which upgrades the retro-styled popular camera from last year to a 16.3 mega-pixel APS-C offering. The new camera also has an updated lens, faster processor and new solution that allows for even quicker focusing (something the original already did well). Expect this camera to come to market for around $1,300 in March. You can preorder the X100s at Amazon.

Sony is really on the cutting-edge of leveraging a Full-Frame (35mm equivalent) sensory is a whole range of products to provide a premium image quality over their peers. They had a compact Full-Frame called the Sony DSC-RX1 as well as a high-end camcorder that supported the Full-Frame sensor. The RX1 was probably the most agressive example of leveraging the large sensor versus a competitive set that typically holds the full-frame for their higher-end Digital SLR products. But this compact camera does come with a DSLR-price tag of $2,800!

Yes, there was an updated Nikon D5200, some new point-n-shoots from all the manufacturers, etc. I will do a more robust photography right up after the dust settles with some more real-world, hands-on details.

Gaming
I'm still looking for a "real" analog control solution for my iPhone and iPad. Apple has some "crazy" restrictions on what a peripheral can do with an App that limits the use of a real joystick controls across games on the iOS platform. I wish that restriction would go away because we could evolve games on these devices to have more advanced, serious gaming options. Even on Android there is no quality solution that is universal and easy to adopt.

So Nvidia (the maker of one of the more powerful tablet computing chips) has leveraged their next-generation CPU into a dedicated Android mobile gaming platform...Project Shield. I'm holding judgement but I am putting this on the freaky side for the time being. To fully take advantage of the product as presented at CES, you need a PC computer with a contemporary Nvidia graphics card in it. You then connect to your PC via wi-fi to stream the gameplay. Odd...huh? If I was them I would just focus on making their interfaces well understood for getting an Android game running well on their CPU and controller hardware. But they have their own plan. This is still just a prototype so we will have to wait and see where this goes.

So in conclusion...
1) Phones, tablets and TVs will grow in size, resolution and powered with more capable CPUs to make information and content more viewable/accessible.

2) Now that all your content (pictures, books, music and videos) is digital...it will become more and more important to make it easier to share and distribute these assets. This is a call to action for the manufacturers to ensure they are putting enough focus on the software and standards for connecting, pairing and sharing information.

3) The user interface needs to be evolved to make sure access to content is contextual and specific to the user(s) needs and preferences.

Yes there is a ton of other product categories but I really didn't see much "new and novel" to justify overly discussing these here in my trends section. I will be doing a couple odds and ends pieces to cover some of them in the coming week or so. This includes health and fitness, audio, photography, video, wireless storage and the like.

Wishing you a happy, prosperous and full of cool products 2013!

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

This is turning out to be a pretty exciting year for great holiday gift options! Movies, games, products as well as a slew of trusted "relatively new" tech to keep everyone happy.

I really would appreciate it if you would "share, like, tweet, pin, post or follow" me. Please spread the word so I know there are people out there that are listening :-)




I have endeavored to put together a series of posts over the past month that highlight tons of great gift ideas. I certainly hope you found something to elicit joy and excitement for the recipient! I know I would be happy if I was on the receiving end of one of these!

Be sure to check out these posts for any gift ideas for friends, family...or something for yourself.










I hope these help! Once again, please "share, like or follow" for more great product information especially with the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) coming up next month.

Please follow me @


Happy Holidays,
Larry

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

I've gotten pinged a few times with people looking for gift advice on some subtle alternatives from my 2012 Holiday Gifts for Cool Kids of All Ages write-up. Questions about options on how to leverage certain products within their current setup and the like. While talking through these scenarios, I hit upon some other great products, many of which I have recommended at one time or another over the past year. So here is my "Another Great Gift List for People that have Everything 2012"!

I mentioned the Big Jambox which is a Bluetooth wireless speaker system that allows you to bring "big sound" with you no matter where you go. But for those of you looking to bring wireless music enjoyment to the home...I would strongly recommend Sonos PLAY: 3 ($300). Sonos is such a quality outfit. Every product they make delivers great fidelity and are thoughtfully executed.

So what does the PLAY: 3 do? Well, it lets you stream your iTunes music library to speaker anywhere your WiFi reaches. All controlled by your iPhone or iPad. You can also access a host of internet music streaming services including Amazon, SiriusXM, Spotify, Pandora and Rhapsody. Definitely a great gift of the music lover in your life!

And while I am at it, the original, smaller Jambox by Jawbone ($130) is still a wonderful and quite portable solution for streaming your music from your iPhone, iPod Touch or Android...any Bluetooth device. It even has a stereo headphone type of jack.


One question I am regularly asked is "How do I get the music on my smart-device to play on my home stereo?" and I point them to the Belkin Music Receiver ($20'ish). This inexpensive little device receives the Bluetooth music from your Bluetooth player (iPod Touch / Smartphones) and outputs via a regular RCA or headphone jack to your audio system. This is a great, low-cost solution for hooking up your iPhone to your home stereo to stream music around the house!

Speaking of audio around the house. Sometimes you just don't want to bother other people and while I have mentioned other great headphones, these are probably the finest set for just around $100! The Audio Technica ATH-M50 professional monitor headphones are spectacular. Now I do need to caveat that these are not portable headphones per se. They have a rather long, coiled wire but for hooking up to your home stereo, PC or lounging around the house, these are amazing!

Even their ATH-M30 model for around $60 are an amazing performer!


If you are looking for some great ear-buds for your mobile device under $50...check out the great Klipsch IMAGE S4 In-Ear Enhanced Bass Noise Isolating headphones.

And now that your home stereo can play all that cool music, you will want to be able to control it, the TV, Blu-Ray player, stereo and the like. I recommend the Logitech Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote ($130'ish). Don't be fooled by the new Logitech Harmony Touch! That is the new version and the user experience is very awkward...still strongly recommend the Harmony One Advanced!

One thing that I really like to do for my holiday gift giving, is to give someone the gift of something they probably need but not consider getting for themselves. And one of the biggest areas of "neglect" is backing up your computers. And guess what...computers die, hard drives die, things get glitchy...and you loose valuable digital content.

A great solution is just pick up a small portable USB backup hard drive. I am partial to Western Digital and their My Passport ($90) line of drives. I have several that have proven to the highly reliable. For some reason my Seagate drives die within a year. So I stick with WD and have been happy. Just plug it into your computer and install the backup software and off you go. There is a My Passport for the Macintosh (less than $100) available as well that is compatible with Apple's wonderful Time Machine back-up solution. Note: You can reformat the PC version of the drive use on the Mac and vice versa but will loose the software along the way. Not really a lose except for the Windows backup software on the PC version of the drive.

While I am not a fan of the Android tablet offerings to date, I can see why someone would pick up an Android Smartphone. They are less costly, offer differentiated sizes, features and configurations...giving you more variety of options. And at the end of the day, you can make a phone call, browse the web, get your email and txt messages all at the price you are willing to pay.

This works as long as you do not have an iTunes music, apps or video library. If you do, stick with the iPhone! It is the best-in-class product in the category but if you don't, then an Android is an option for the techie or cost-savvy consumer.

While your carrier will offer different hardware, different pricing and different limitations, I would recommend you look at the Samsung Galaxy S3, Motorola Razr Maxx HD, Samsung Galaxy Note II (really like this one but it is rather big and not the easiest to tote around)...

...Okay, I tried to offer alternatives but you can get an iPhone 4S from many carriers for under $100! And there is not that much of a difference between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5. Yes, the iPhone 5 is the nicest smartphone with an amazing app library, very well integrated eco-system of music and video integration. And all of that comes with the $100 iPhone 4S...pretty amazing!

And be sure to check out my full 2012 Holiday Gifts for Cool Kids of All Ages posting for tons more great gift giving ideas!

Other holiday gift lists and advice:

Healthy Holiday Gift Ideas 2012

What NOT to Buy this Holiday Season 2012!

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

I can tell you that I look towards the holiday with trepidation. I have been slowly chipping away the pounds throughout the year and am now looking down the barrel of some great "eating" opportunities.

I have my favorite side dishes for Thanksgiving and know some great breakfast spots that I like to hit over that long weekend. And then we enter the end of the year celebrations with Christmas and New Years. Again, there is tons of great snacking opportunities and big dinners with friends and family!

Did I mention that I love food?

So I will need every tool I can muster to help fight these pounds from building up. Sure, I will try to eat in moderation but lets look at some great tools and potential gift ideas for friends and family to help encourage a healthy lifestyle.

Probably my favorite tool for keeping me focused is my trusty Fitbit. And the crew at Fitbit has introduced a new version called the Fitbit One ($99). This device is a little thing you clip onto your belt or pocket and it monitors your activity level throughout the day. It will measure the number of steps, calories burned, distance traveled and the number of flights of stairs you climb. If you wear it at night, it will tell you number of hours you slept and will even measure the quality of your sleep.

The original version required you to dock to your computer to charge and transfer your data to Fitbit.com's data tracking site. This new version accomplishes this wirelessly and can even talk directly to your Bluetooth 4.0 enable device like the latest iPhone and iPads.

I really find this device is a motivator that helps you keep yourself active. But if you need extra encouragement, you can share and compete with your friends on your progress.

The Fitbit One has just begun shipping as I write this. You can order it on Amazon.

While I am talking about FitBit, they have also introduced their new Aria Smart WiFi body weight scale that can track your weight, body mass index (BMI) and percent of body fat. The scale allows you to track trends, set weight goals, earn badges online or via your smarthphone.

The Aria automatically recognizes up to 8 users and interfaces with the above mentioned FitBit.com website. The site can also help you log food, workouts and set weight goals with daily calorie planning.

Fitbit has also released a lower-cost version called the Fitbit Zip that comes in five fun colors and relies on a replaceable coin-type battery for $59.

There are other products in the category that track your activity that you could checkout such as the Nike Fuel Band and Jawbone UP (2.0) but neither of these have knocked my socks off from the quality of execution between the hardware features and software.

Some other great fitness product recommendations:

Polar FT Fitness Watch

Fitness Videogames

Dance Videogames

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry