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

Every year there are product offers that seem too good to be true and as the adage goes...probably are. There are also gleaming new products entering the marketplace that from your first impression...these are awesome! But once you get it home you find out that the dream doesn't live up to reality.

My job around this time of year is to make sure you don't get caught up in the hype or end up getting something that will soon be obsoleted. Or at least you are informed enough to make the best decision for yourself.

So what don't you get over these Black Friday and holiday sales?
I would avoid gaming consoles EXCEPT for the Nintendo Wii U and perhaps the Nintendo 3DS (or 3DS XL). The Xbox 360 is at its end of life and is due for an update that should appear next year. The PlayStation 3 is pretty much in the same position. The Playstation Vita is just plain bad with a rather weak game library.

In the cameras I would avoid category, I was really excited about the prospect of a Canon mirrorless camera (Digital SLR cameras have a mirror so you can peek through a viewfinder and see what the camera's chip will see but this means they have to be pretty large) that takes advantage of the entire Canon library of lens. The Canon EOS-M had tons of promise...that at the end of the day just didn't deliver. It is a nice enough camera but it is missing a few physical dials to make sure functions easier to access and a rather slow focus...just ends up disappointing.

In a similar vein, I am not blown away by Nikon's offer in this category either. The Nikon 1 is a mirrorless camera but also exhibits slow focus speeds as well.

On the computer front, I would avoid the new Microsoft Surface tablet. Sure it looks cools with an all-new interface but try to use it! Unlike the Apple iPads, you have to micro-manage your memory on the Surface. If you have a few apps open...it starts to slow down and not run smoothly. I even had apps that wouldn't load! And don't be fooled, this is not a real computer running Windows 8. It is a version called RT that requires you to purchase new apps. For more information on why to avoid the Surface, check out my more in-depth Don't Buy a Microsoft Surface...not ready for prime-time piece.
Another Windows 8 device I was looking forward to but it ultimately let me down was the Lenovo Yoga 13. Okay, let me say that if you are looking for strictly a sleek Windows 8 ultrabook...then the Yoga might actually be a great choice. But as a tablet...it just doesn't deliver. Too bulky and cumbersome.

Televisions and digital cameras tend to see major updates in the early months of next year causing this years models to go on sale. It is then up to you to decide if the new version warrants the extra money or if you can save a good chunk on last years model. Even clothing and jewelry will see major discounts after the holidays as well!


And now you might be asking what do I get? Well be sure to check out my "2012 Holiday Gifts for your Cool Kids of All Ages" article.

And did I miss anything? Something else that should have been on this list of what to avoid? Add it in the comments below!

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

We are coming up on the holiday season and I don't know about you but for me it is always challenging to keep abreast of the latest trends and great holiday gift ideas. The following is a list of products I know I would love for a holiday gift. As usual, my stuff leans toward the techie or young at heart variety but I hope you can find something here to meet your precipitants wish list!

Like previous years, let's start with the youngest (age or maturity) on your list. So how about getting ourselves into the holiday spirit with an advent calendar...and not just any calendar but the Star Wars Lego (roughly $40) which is a tradition at our household! Please ignore the upper end of the age range mentioned on the front of the box...this one is great for anyone into the Star Wars universe. Highly recommend!

And while we are in the Lego frontier...I do need to mention another perfect union. Legos and Minecraft. If you have anyone in your life that is carving up their own virtual landscape...they will really enjoy this non-interactive alternative. Here is your chance to get their nose out of the computer for a bit. Check out the Lego Minecraft 21102. These are a bit hard to find at retail ($35) but I have run across sets at your usual ToysRUs stores and there are resellers online offering the set with a pretty decent mark-up...over $60 currently! I will keep my eye out for this sets availability online but Lego execs let me know they are not holding their breath for much availability during the holidays!


How could I make one of these lists without an Angry Bird "thing" and this year the combination of Angry Birds and Star Wars seems to be a hot marriage...and through in a Jenga gameplay? So be sure to check out the Angry Birds Star Wars Fighter Pods Jenga Game ($25). Or the AT AT Attack version ($39).

Okay, if you haven't already noticed...this is the year of "Super Heroes". This halloween was jam-packed with both boys and girls dressed up as their favorite hero. And this is also reflected in the most wanted Blu-Ray and DVD's. Now the world of streaming and on-demand has really started penetrating the mainstream (more ideas about this later) but there are still a very large contingent of people that still get their latest movies at home via a disk. So here is my action-packed recommendations...

The culmination of one of the finest reboots in movie storytelling, The Dark Knight Rises ($25 for both Blu-Ray and DVD). Christopher Nolan's darker and more brooding take on the story which began with Batman Begins staring Christian Bale. Follow-up with the haunting performance by Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. If your gift receiptent hasn't seen the trilogy in its entirety...you can get all three in The Dark Knight Trilogy on Blu-Ray for $30.

Speaking of reboots...there was also The Amazing Spider-Man ($20 Blu-Ray/DVD) but at the end of the day it really didn't introduce anything new versus the Sam Raimi trilogy. BUT if you didn't see that trilogy...then this is a great place to get into the "amazing" Spider-Man universe.

And how could this holiday list miss the monumental blockbuster...Marvel's - The Avengers ($25 for both Blu-Ray and DVD)! With its group of decidedly super humans, mutants, and demigods. This is the melting pot of the Marvel Comics universe that is the culmination of a series of stand-alone movies including the first two Iron Man's, Thor, The Hulk, and Captain America. And not only is The Avengers full of powerful action scenes where everything gets destroyed but its also about the powerfully acted times when the heroes interact with one another. A "must see", a great gift and no you don't have to be a comic book fan to enjoy this movie!

Prometheus ($25 for Blu-Ray and DVD) by Ridley Scott of Aliens fame takes us on another Sci-Fi journey to a completely alien world and this roller-coaster of a story will keep you on edge throughout. While some people might find the classic Ridley style of breathtaking panoramas mixed within the movie a bit slow...others will be blown away with the scope of the vision.

And for those on your gift list that have a bit of flair and are "calm, cool and collected"...then you should be getting them the Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection on Blu-Ray ($225). This set features all six Bond's including Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. For those that love the intrique and adventure that Bond brings to each movie...this is a must have.

And no holiday video list would be complete without a Disney pictures and this year the must see movie is Pixar's Brave ($28). The story of an impulsive young woman with impressive archery skills and a no-nonsense attitude, Merida throws her realm into chaos when she disregards the customary procedure for finding a suitor and then disappears into the forest in defiance of her mother's unbending ways. This is arguably one of the most beautifully rendered movie Pixar has produced and the lead character is quite endearing.

While this next topic probably warrants its own piece, I am going to take a quick stab here on the Best Kids Tablet options! Before I leap (no pun intended) into the iPad, Kindle Fire, etc. discussion and how these are really viable options for most kids (if the price point is something you can deal with) but first I do have to give the tablets truly designed for kids a shot. And the two most popular are LeapFrog's LeapPad 2 and the VTech InnoTab 2. I can really see this turning into a "LeapPad 2 VS InnoTab 2" competition! Both offer a pretty beefy platform that is truly designed for young-ones and a good library of edutainment titles.

At the end of the day after playing with both LeapPad 2 and InnoTab 2 systems for a bit of time, I walked away feeling that the LeapFrog LeapPad 2 was the superior system. It is noticeably quicker, has a substantial amount of on-board storage (4 gigabytes), is compatible with over 325 games and downloadable apps. I do wish that LeapFrog had offered an SD memory card option like VTech did but the faster processor in the LeapPad 2 won me over. This is a very sturdy device for children 3-9 years of age and you can get the LeapFrog LeapPad 2 for under $100. This is a great edutainment device for you kids.

Videogaming console manufacturers and consumers will have a difficult holiday season. Sure there will be some great games to buy for your existing systems but this holiday season I really won't recommend purchasing a new gaming device...except maybe a Nintendo Wii U (more on that in a bit). Both the XBox 360 and PS3 are long in the tooth and due an upgrade and the newer Playstation Vita portable game system has been a huge letdown.

Nintendo looks to be the only one with any energy this holiday season. The Wii is getting a substantial upgrade this year with the launch of the Nintendo Wii U. This new gaming console features an all-new tablet-like controller called the GamePad and has a host of new capabilities but the launch titles are not necessarily knocking my socks off. The initial pre-orders online have already sold out but I'm sure their will be glimmers of opportunities to pick one up if you want to frantically hunt around both online or get in line for the launch morning of November 18th.

And Nintendo's 3DS has a new extra large variant imaginatively called the Nintendo 3DS XL ($220'ish). I'd say there are some nice little tweaks under the hood also that makes this a very nice portable gaming system, if you are not already absorbed with all the 99c apps on your mobile device or tablet. Nintendo has delivered a great portable gaming system here and a wonderfully rich library of 1st and 3rd party games. Sure it is another device to haul around but for some serious gaming...this platform is great.

While talking about portable entertainment devices...I do need to cover the other solutions that make a great gift including the latest version of the iPod Touch. This season's version feature more power, a beautiful 4" display, nice camera and for someone without a smartphone already...a great solution for consumer mobile media and games! The new version supports all the latest iOS 6 features including Siri, Facebook and Twitter integration. The Apple iPod Touch is available in 5 funky colors and two memory configurations: 32 gigabyte for $299 and 64 gigabyte for $399.

Just a couple weeks ago Apple introduced a new and exciting category within their iPad line-up. You'd have to have been living under a rock to not have heard about the new iPad Mini. I am excited about this product for Apple and the consumers this product addresses. I don't know if you remember but Steve Jobs famously said that they found the 9.6" display in the iPad as the perfect form-factor to partner between a smartphone side devices and laptop computers. So why did Apple add this product to the mix? Well, there are two reasons as I see it... 1) Price! They needed a device to compete with less expensive/smaller display 7" variants namely Amazon's moderately successful Kindle Fire and Fire HD tablets as well as the geeky Android products like the Samsung offerings and Google Nexus 7. 2) The single-handed category of consumers that are choosing even smaller, simpler devices to read ebooks and the like.

All that said, I really like the new, sleek iPad Mini ($329+). Tech pundits will point out the lower resolution of the display (still equal to most peoples 20" monitors on their desk!) versus other competitive offerings in the category but Apple did that to maintain software compatibility with the HUGE library (over 275,000 tablet specific) apps. I can't express just slim, light and comfortable to carry this device is. You also have a slew of configuration offerings starting at $329 for the 16 gigabyte version. I would recommend spending the extra $100 for the 32gb version to accomodate movies, TV shows, apps and the like.

And yes, the new 4th generation iPad with Retina display is still a wonderful gift! I figured I don't need to cover that if you are comfortable ponying up the $599 for this great product minimum. Don't get the 16gb version! And I would highly recommend getting the 4G version...it makes for a wonderful portable connected experience.

Okay, while I am ranting about the Apple stuff...I would still recommend the $99 AppleTV solution. This is a small puck-sized computing device that links to your TV and the home network and provides a host of high-definition, streaming content. You can leverage all your iTunes media if you have songs or videos on your computer or iOS device. You also can access content from Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube and live sporting events.

If you are not into the Apple eco-system of iTunes, iOS devices, etc. I would also recommend the Roku 2 XS ($98) which adds support for other services including Amazon Prime instead of the  iTunes marketplace.

After reading about all those fancy media consuming devices...are looking for a simpler and more to the point eReader solution. If your focus is on digital ebooks and periodicals and all these "apps" and "media" capabilities are not what you are interested in. I still highly recommend the traditional Kindle especially the new Kindle Paperwhite versions that offer a beautiful and easy to read contrast between the text and white background with 62% more pixels for greater clarity. This new version features an intuitive touch screen interface and even offers a backlight to allow for reading in the dark...all while still providing 8 weeks of battery life! There is a Wi-Fi version available for as little as $119. And a free 3G cellular version of the Kindle Paperwhite 3G for $179. The main reason these eReaders are still a viable option is that are great for reading in the sunlight, on the beach and poolside. Color tablets still have challenges in a sunny environment. The Kindle library of books is over a 1,000,000 titles with 180,000 of them exclusive to Amazon and the Kindle!

And if you gift recipient in need of some help keeping themselves organized. Perhaps the latest Livescribe Sky WiFi Smartpen ($170) can help. I have regularly mentioned the Livescribe and its ability to jot down notes and the ability to save a copy on your computer or sync with online note solutions like Evernote. The new Sky version introduces Wi-Fi connectivity to your smartpen. This way your notes can make the leap to Evernote without having to plug into your computer first! I love my Livescribe and moving it to Wi-Fi is a nice addition.

In the realm of mobile audio, I have regularly mentioned the Jambox by Jawbone. Well their new version called BIG Jambox ($299) is just that...a bigger version. This Bluetooth speaker is portable, runs on rechargeable batteries that provides 15 hours of music but delivers quality sound that will fill a room. In comparing the BIG Jambox version some of the other options available in this category, I liked the overall fidelity of the sound for a portable and completely wireless solution and the overall quality of the product. With an integrated microphone, you can also use it as a portable speakerphone! Love it.

For those on your list that love music but are not good at sharing...I previously recommended the original LG Electronic Bluetooth headset. There is now a substantially improved version called the LG Tone+ HBS-730 ($50'ish) that introduces substantial improvement in the low-end of the audio range providing a richer bass. While audiophiles still need to avoid any of the Bluetooth headphone offerings. I find that being untethered from my iPod by a cable is quite liberating. These headphones do well during anything but the most rigorous workouts.

And for those audiophiles, we are definitely back to having a cord but I would recommend either the Bowers & Wilkens C5 In-Ear ($179) or the Bowers & Wilkens P5 Mobile HiFi ($349). The C5 In-Ear has an Apple compatible cable, in-line microphone and controls for your Apple product. You will have a range of fitted ear pieces to help with the noise-isolation benefits of an in-ear product. So far I haven't found another in-ear product I would recommend over these. Taking it up a notch, the P5's over-the-ear style of headphone affords an even finer audio experience. The best for the money I could find.  You can really appreciate the difference when you put these on.


While cameras warrant their own guide for the holidays, I will highlight some that are definitely worth  you checking out.

Best point-n-shoot for under $200: Canon Powershot ELPH 110 HS ($179) is a snazzy little camera that shots attractive 16.1 megapixel photos and 1080p high-definition video. The camera has a good sized 3-inch LCD display and features a solid 24mm wide-angle to 5x zoom lens. A lot of camera in this price range and available in 6 colors.

Best point-n-shoot for "a little bit more money": The Canon PowerShot SX260 HS ($245'ish) brings your subject up really close in a very small/compact package. This camera magically includes a powerful 20x zoom len, 1080p full-HD video capability and a host of photo features in a small...still pocketable format. I love this zoom!

Best point-n-shoot when "money doesn't matter" or "you are looking to surprise me with a gift": Sony DSC-RX100 ($650) does what seems to achieve the impossible. In introduces a very large 1-inch photo sensor into a pocket camera. We are talking about a sensor that is several multiples in size over these other cameras but the camera itself can still squeeze its way into your pocket or purse. Not only does this camera offer a great 20 megapixel sensor, it also features a very fast and bright lens (f1.8) and a 3.6x zoom. Great low-light capabilities. It is definitely a very sold backup camera even for someone that regularly shoots a high quality Digital SLR camera. Very nice!

Best camera to trust with the kids: I really like the Panasonic ruggedized Lumix TS20 ($130) that provides a robust and reliable camera which is waterproof up to 16 feet. While the camera is pretty tough, it also shoots a great picture with its 16 mega-pixels, HD video, cool colors and is a joy to take to the pool, beach or while trekking through some rough terrain.

And if you have a really adventuresome person on your list. What about the GoPro Hero2 ($199) with its wearable, mountable, waterproof to 197 feet, 170 degree wide angle lens, 30 frames per second 1080p or 60 frames per second 720p video and 11 mega-pixel photos to capture all their action. What a compact package with a range on configuration peripherals to anchor this camera to your bike, board, helmet or just about anywhere you want!

And if you got a golfer in your life and they are looking for some new gear, I am digging the TaylorMade RocketBallz Driver ($229-249), Fairway Wood ($179'ish) and Rescue Hybrids ($159'ish). These clubs are impressive and good for starter to semi-pros. I really love the Rescue Hybrids that provide the greater impact/control of a Fairway Wood with the loft of irons.

So all in all I hope you found something here to kickstart your holiday shopping or fuel to start compiling your own wish list! :-) And I will be putting together my Holiday Videogame highlights in the coming weeks.

Did I miss any hot new products? Mention them below...

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