Top 5 Gadget Buying Trends For Holiday Season

Holiday season is nearby and all the holiday shoppers are gearing up for a buying spree. In the modern days of gadget prone life, almost all the holiday shoppers have almost one or two gadget nerd friends or relatives on their list. But the problem with buying gadgets as a holiday gift is that not only they are a bit heavy on the pocket but the trends in the gadget industry change ever so quickly. For example, you buy an iPhone 3GS for your beloved thinking it a perfect gift and you find just after that he loves iPhone 4 with Retina Display. There is no denying of the fact that selecting a gadget is a daunting task these days.

So before going out for a gadget buying extravaganza do look for a consolidated gadget trends guide that can make you aware of the hottest trends currently prevailing in the gadget's market. Some of the current hot trends prevailing in the Holiday Season gadget buying domain are as follows:

E-book Readers

Many of the analysts in the tech industry are speculating that this holiday season will be all about e-readers and these readers will be amongst the hottest selling items of this season. Within this year, almost a dozen companies introduced their version of e-reader as compared to the last season where only minimal number of companies had jumped the e-reader's bandwagon. But there are certain queries one should be clear on before buying an e-reader as a holiday gift for someone.
First off, you should know if the person for whom you are buying an e-book reader reads frequently or not? And if the answer is No, then skip this option altogether. Because, normally e-readers are criticized as something that is very limited, and it is understandable for a gadget that is primarily designed for reading newspaper and magazines. So here is a suggestion for all the buyers, don't buy a dedicated e-book reader for your tech savvy friend just because it is a hot selling item these days. Sometimes users want more than just book reading!
Now the second question that you must ask yourself is: whether the geeky e-book reader goes to the beach often because in that scenario you may have to think about buying e-book readers that have E-Ink Displays like Amazon Kindle costing about $139. They somewhat mimic a paper version of the reading material and don't emit light at all making them good for the people who want to read outdoors. At present, the LCD screen e-readers have some glare problems but some of the latest variants like Nook Color are indeed a good buy if you are opting e-book readers as your holiday season gadget gift.

Tablet Devices

 

So for all those who want to do multitude of tasks on their multi-hundred dollar price-tagged e-book reader is not at all the viable option, instead folks are welcomed to the land of Tablet computers. So what are Tablet Devices? Tablet Computers that are also named as "Slate Computers" are basically miniature laptops that have their keyboards detached and replaced by a virtual one. So instead of using a track pad or a traditional keyboard, you just have to tap on the screen and there pop-ups a full sized keyboard where your fingers act as a mouse. The undisputed king of Tablet computer world is Cupertino based Tech giant Apple's hottest selling gadget of the year, iPad. Since its launch in January, it has sparked a race in this category of gadgets. Costing about $500, it's a sleek and a trendy gadget to have in your possession and analysts explained a lot many reasons which make iPad a must buy item. After iPad, Samsung jumped on the tablet bandwagon with their Tablet computer called as Galaxy Tab. With a screen size of almost 7-inch, it's an excellent buy for the people on-the-go and those having large pockets in their coats. Although Samsung's Tablet is pricier than iPad, costing around $600 but it has some added options like a Front and a back camera. So time for suggestion now: if you are planning to buy a Tablet for your nerd friend or relative, think again because Tablet computer is all about multimedia as it allows you to browse internet, play games and watch movies. If your gadget nerd is a developer or have an inclination towards creating stuff then this ain't a good buy at all.

Internet TVs

Internet TVs also called as Connected TVs are hottest topic of discussion in almost all of the blogosphere on the internet. They are very much like computers with huge screens that allow you to stream YouTube videos alongside watching your favorite TV shows. Some of their versions like Google powered TV from Sony with a price tag of almost $800 have sleek remote controls with them alongwith the full size QWERTY keyboards giving an added dimension of control to users. Using these kinds of accessories users can search for channels and TV shows while using the computer as well. If you are a nerd yourself then you possibly be in awe, what is the fun of buying a connected TV if you can hook up your laptop with the TV via HDMI cable and do the same. But things are a bit different in the Internet TVs, because they allow you to watch contents alongwith finding programs on the web using services like Hulu and YouTube. Moreover, if you want a definite nod from the geek to whom you are giving the holiday gift, then do search on for Boxee Box($200) that allows you to have connected TV on your latest TV sets.

Smartphones

Well, it is by no doubt the best category which one should explore for buying someone a Holiday gift, especially for a gadget nerd. Smartphones these days are everywhere and they are increasingly becoming popular. With their loads of features and connectivity options they have become the darling and must to have gadget for the tech savvy people. They are becoming an obsessive entity in the present digital age and they are also becoming a show of identity as well. Style-minded people go for Apple's trendy iPhones, and the feature and compatibility hungry users opt for the increasingly popular Android phones. Tech giant Microsoft has also jumped on the Smartphone bandwagon with their Windows Phone 7 hitting the market. Well, for all the holiday season shoppers, the two most vital things that you must clarify are: what carrier is associated with the phone you are buying, is it AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. After that, you need to see the operating system that is powering the phone; whether it is an Android powered Phone, a Windows Phone 7 or Apple's iOS powered Phone. According to a tech guru, people before buying a Smartphone for someone should first know about some facts like: what network does the person prefer and is that person comfortable with the network he is using currently. Because, it is not at all smart to know and good to force your loved one to switchover from one network to another if he is already happy with the current carrier.

3D Televisions

Time has changed and all those 3D images that you fancied to watch in a cinema are very much available in your living rooms with the onset of 3D TV sets. 3D TVs debuted early this year and for some tech savvy users it is a definite thing to have. Now few things that one ought to have in mind while buying a 3D TV as a holiday season gift are: whether the person for whom you are buying the 3D TV likes the 3D version of movies or not. It may be possible that the person gets motion sickness or some sort of headache because of this 3D TV. Plus, you must work out that for how many people you are buying this 3D TV, because you have to buy as much 3D glasses then.

Well, this is a helpful guide for all the early Holiday shoppers who are frantically trying to make out the gift for their tech and gadget adoring loved ones.

 Article by Joserodrig

About the Author

Jose is a writer and is interested in topics related to technology. He is a part-time author at TechWench.com.