Hot electronics

Phillips 3D TV, Asus Netbook, Apple IPod, Sony E-Reader, Creative Labs MP3 Player, HTC F3188

Consumer electronics are again at the top of many shoppers' gift and wish lists. But this year, it's the small stuff that's creating must of the excitement.

Smartphones, tablet computers, netbooks and e-readers are muscling out last year's hot laptops and high-definition televisions as this season's top electronics gifts.

Many of hot gifts this year, such as Apple's iPad tablet computer, the Motorola Droid X smartphone and Kinetic for Microsoft's Xbox 360, weren't available last Christmas.

Other electronic products that were new last year, such as the Amazon Kindle, cost substantially less this year and are in high demand.

In order to give consumers a chance to get their arms around a "robust pipeline of new products," electronics-retailer Best Buy started its holiday promotions almost two weeks earlier this year than last.

As a result, consumers can expect to see steep discounts on laptops and LCD high-definition televisions as retailers seek to close out slower-moving products.

Some of the hottest electronic products this year include:

Tablet computers

These hand-held devices allow users to surf the Internet, watch videos, read newspapers and books, manage photographs and more.

- Apple's iPad tablet computer, which came out in April, is one of the hottest electronic gifts this season and starts at $499.

- Samsung Galaxy Tab, iPad's biggest challenger, is the first tablet computer with Google's Android operating system and is now available in the U.S. for about $650.

E-readers

The devices allow users to download books from the sellers' proprietary online bookstores.

- Amazon Kindle is the market leader and lets users read anything anywhere for about $100 less than last Christmas. $139 for Wi-Fi; $189 for 3G.

- Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader is Kindle's biggest competitor and is a Best Buy doorbuster on Black Friday this year for $100, or $50 off.

MP3 players

These fit in your pocket, play music, videos and games, and have come along way since Apple introduced the iPod Mini.

- Apple's latest version of the 32-GB iPod Touch holds 7,000 songs, 40 hours of video and can play up to 30 hours of music or six hours of video. $299.

Video cameras

Clunky camcorders have evolved into pocket-size video cameras that can hold hours of video.

- Flip Ultra HD is a pocket-size high-definition camera that holds up to two hours of video on its built-in memory. From $99.

Smartphones

These phones allow users to surf the Internet, take pictures, listen to music, check e-mail, send text messages and make phone calls.

- iPhone 4, the fourth generation of Apple's game-changing wireless phone, has an improved 5-megapixel camera and a front-facing video camera for video calls. $199 for 16 GB with a two-year service contract.

- Motorola's Droid X is a top iPhone competitor, with 4.3-inch display and an 8-megapixel camera. About $200, also with a two-year contract.

Video-game sensors

These sensors allow users to integrate their body movements into the games they are playing. Microsoft and Sony challenge the dominance of Nintendo's Wii this season.

- Kinect for Microsoft Xbox 360 brings video games to life without a controller. $150.

- PlayStation Move for PlayStation 3 video consoles is like Kinect and Wii, only with a handheld wand. $100.

Internet TV devices

These set-top boxes allow users to bypass cable and access television programs and movies on their high-definition televisions via the Internet.

- Apple TV brings TV shows, movies, videos photos from your computer to your television. $99.

- Logitech Review with Google TV streams video and music to your television and interfaces with regular cable TV. $300.

- Roku allows users to stream movies from Netflix to their televisions. $60.

Netbooks

These small, portable, relatively inexpensive computers can be used for e-mail, surfing the Internet and word processing.

- Lenovo IdeaPad S10, has a 10.1-inch screen, 512 MB of memory and battery life of 2.7 hours. About $400.

- Asus Eee PC 904HA has an 8.9-inch screen and battery life of 5.5 hours. Also about $400.

GPS devices

Navigators help users find their way on foot or in their cars.

- Garmin Nüvi portable GPS navigator features an auto navigator, calculator, currency converter, voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, world travel clock and more. From about $90.

Blu-ray disc players

These players accommodate next-generation Blu-ray format high-definition CDs and DVDs that hold significantly more content.

- Sony BDP-S550 1080 is Sony's newest Blu-ray disc player and offers excellent image quality and a solid feature set. About $500.

3-D televisions

Separate glasses are required and are sometimes included in the price of the TV.

- Panasonic plasma models exhibited the best 3-D picture quality and the least amount of ghosting, according to Consumer Reports. From $2,000 for a 50-inch screen.

- Sony Bravia is an LED-LCD 3-D model that is about $2,000 for a 55-inch screen.

by Max Jarman The Arizona Republic Nov. 24, 2010 12:00 AM





Hot electronics

HOW TO: Create Free Music Playlists Online

Amy-Mae Elliott Mashable April 11, 2010

Sharing music can be as much fun as listening to it. There are a large number of legal services online that allow you to share songs with friends, but some require paid accounts and software downloads, while others suffer from restricted geographic availability.

So, in the spirit of mixtapes from years gone by here we’ve hand-picked and tested three personalized streaming music services that will let you easily create a playlist online and, better still, share it with friends, wherever in the world they might be.

Try out the services we’ve listed below and let us know which you like the most. Oh, and be sure to link to the playlists you create in the comments so we can have a listen.

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1. Mixtape.me

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Creating a Playlist

Mixtape.me is really easy both to get started with and get using. Signing up requires creating a username, entering an email address and password and once you’ve deciphered a Captcha, you’re good to go.

Finding content for your list is likewise just as easy. Simply enter a term — song name or artist — in the search box. MixTape.me’s songs are added by users, as well as generated from the millions of songs indexed by MP3 search engine SeeqPod and SkreemR.

When the list of results comes up you can either hit up the song to start it playing, or drag and drop into a playlist which you can create by clicking the “+” sign next to playlists on the left hand side of the screen. To add more songs you just need to carry out more searches.

While your list is auto-saved as you go along, it can just as easily be edited. Once you’ve created your list you get the option to add a picture as well as the ability to add a description, should you feel it needs it.

Sharing Options

There are a few options for you here. You can share with “Friends” on Mixtape.me, you can auto-generate an email with a link to the list, you can get a shortened URL (for example in this instance “http://mixtape.me/p/14398″) and you can tweet the list which creates the following message on Twitter: “Have a listen to my mashlist playlist on MixTape.me: http://mixtape.me/p/14398.”

In addition, you can embed the playlist using HTML. Here’s one we made earlier:

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2. 8tracks ()

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Creating a Playlist

Like the now closed down (and due to reopen as a band resource) Muxtape service, 8tracks lets you upload your own music to the site, which you can then save as a streaming playlist to share with others.

Signing up is simple, and allows you to chose your own personalized URL. To create your playlist, simply select at least eight tracks, no more than two of which are from the same artist or album, making sure you meet the conditions of 8track’s licensing agreement.

Getting MPS and AAC tracks on the site works on a simple browse to upload basis (which took a little time, but certainly not off-putting) after which you can name your playlist, enhance the auto generated description and add up to five tags, as well as illustrate it nicely with a pic.

Sharing Options

While the playlist’s URL can be directly shared (http://8tracks.com/amymaeelliott/amymaeelliott-s-april-2010-mix), a simple “share” button offers a short cut to tweet the list with a shortened URL (http://8tracks.com/mixes/105018) as well as post it to Facebook and StumbleUpon ().

Finally, there’s also the option to embed the playlist by copy and pasting some HTML code. Here’s our effort:

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3. Grooveshark ()

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Creating a Playlist

To use Grooveshark you have to sign up for an account which is another simple username, password, etc, type affair, after which you can start makin’ music.

Search works via a keyword basis via a search box. If you click to play a song, Grooveshark brings up a neat row of thumbnails showing the song’s title, the artist and album art at the bottom of the screen and, although you can drag and drop to create a playlist the more usual way, you can also turn your little selection of recently listened to thumbnail songs into a playlist too, which is quite a nice touch.

While we were seriously impressed with the music we found to be available through Grooveshark, if you can’t find a track you want, or want to add your own home-made music, you can upload music files from your computer to your account on the site, although this can take up to 24 hours.

Sharing Options

Grooveshark generates a direct URL for your list, which appears as follows for our creation: http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/playlist/Mashlist/27397447 and also offers the option to email it out from within the site.

More advanced options include the ability to export the playlist to a Grooveshark widget, with the choice to mirror the changes in the online playlist. Rather than being stuck with whatever design the site offers for its widget, there are vast customization options.

As well as scroll through a list of designs to chose from, you can change the color scheme, the size (great option, Grooveshark guys!) all of which is previewed live so you can see your changes. Here’s our customized widget:

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HOW TO: Create Free Music Playlists Online