Electronic Gifts the Holidays

Come Holiday season, electronics manufacturers scramble to the market with their best products looking to beat each other to the Seasonal dollar. Holiday season is an exciting time in the industry for engineers, who finally finish those years-long projects, and consumers, who bear the fruits of that labor and often at competitive pricing. Of course, in the release rush some products are inevitably released just a tad too early, which leads to another common Holiday electronics phenomenon: malfunctioning gear (think overheating XBox360s ). However, manufacturers are generally more than willing to replace your busted stuff in exchange for the frenzy of press that a hot new product can generate. This guide will let you know what to look for this season.

MP3 Players

Portable MP3 and media players have been on the top of holiday shopping lists for the past few years and all the big manufacturers, from Apple (iPod touch will likely be a big hit this season) to Creative to Archos, have taken notice, with new releases ready to ship to shoppers across the U.S. There's also a powerful new competitor in the clogged market: Microsoft. Microsoft's Portable Media Player will certainly be the item to watch this season, but don't expect Apple's upgraded iPods to be left on the shelves. Smart shoppers will want to look to third party manufacturers for the real deals.

Microsoft Zune Microsoft's new Zune  is the PMP that everyone is talking about this season. With a hype trail leading back to the early summer, the Zune is sure to send lines out the door. The Zune's best feature is its wireless capability and ability content to Microsoft's new online music store.	Updated 5G iPods Perhaps in anticipation of the coming battle with Microsoft or maybe to clear things out for the rumored iPhone, Apple has upgraded their iPods,  Nanos  and Shuffles  in time for the Holidays and dropped the price on each model. In fact, the Shuffle was given a complete redeux.	Archos 604 and Archos 404 Archos' two latest media players are the sleeper hits of the season. Both PMPs are less expensive than comparable competing models, more durable and just as feature-packed. The Archos 604  features video recording capability and an on-board PDF reader. The 404  is smaller.	Creative Media Players Creative  has built up a reputation in the PMP market at a stable and consistent provider of quality devices, keeping up with Apple every step of the way. Rumors are swirling about Creative upgrades. Hot off the presses, a rumor that the company's Zen V Plus  will be moved up to 8 GB.

Innovative Products

Certain manufacturers, without fail, put out innovative and forward thinking products just in time for the holidays. This season is no exception. This section will let you know about interesting new products and the manufacturers engineering their release.

Sony

Sony always tries to push the envelope come Christmas time. This year, in addition to the much-anticipated (and equally maligned) Playstation 3, there are two big products slated for release in time for the New Year. Sony Mylo Sony's Mylo,  which stands for "My Life Online," is intended for consumers with quick and easy access to a wireless connection and a serious love of e-mail and media playback. Mylo is immediately compatible with a whole host of communication systems, including Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo IM and traditional e-mail. Sony Reader The Sony Reader  is a pocket-sized storage device specifically for print media. The Sony Reader lets users read their favorites without the usual bulky binding. A single battery charge will last an impressive 7,500 pages.

Slingbox

The Slingbox has already made waves in the electronics industry as an easy, one-step way to integrate one's computer and television into a home entertainment system. Now, the company behind the Slingbox have some interesting upgrades in store for new models. Slingbox AV The Slingbox AV  takes a big step to solving some of the Slingbox's limited connection capabilities by including composite and s-video inputs. The AV model also adds support for Mac OSX and Symbian. Two other models, the Slingbox Pro and the Slingbox Tuner should be available by mid-October, too.

Computers

While most manufacturers don't plan their computer releases especially for Christmas, a few of the bigger sellers do. Since Apple generally has more targetted marketing than its competitors, its not usually for the company to hurry a computer to the market in time for the Holiday. Many PC manufacturers will offer special Holiday deals and a handful will indeed release new computer models.

Apple iMacs Apple's iMacs  have been updated to included powerful Intel Core 2 Duo Processors, making them a strong choice for gamers, videographers, workstations or any Mac fan in need of more power. Thew new iMacs also come with a larger screen of up to 24-inches.  The twin cores range in speeds from 1.8  to 2.3GHz  and have more L2 cache between them. The screen is also 40% brighter than on older models.

Sony Vaio TXN10 Sony's Vaio series has provided some of the best power-to-price computers on the PC market. The Vaio TXN10  is their latest model. Sony has partnered with Sprint to make the TXN10 the first EV-DO rev A compatible computer available. It will also have a core solo processor, WiFi, Bluetooth and an 11-hour battery. The laptop isn't available yet, but should be released in time for Christmas.