Christmas has just past, and a look at many wish lists, recommended gifts lists, and Twitter revealed which were the hottest Christmas gifts in 2011. Our list is paired down to consumer gadgets and electronics.

Amazon Kindle Fire

Unsurprisingly, the Amazon Kindle Fire was one of the hottest Christmas gifts this year, proving a massive hit in North America. While Amazon has yet to – and may never actually – reveal sales numbers, it’s thought that the company may have sold 3-5 million Kindle Fire tablet PCs in the fourth quarter, with sales spike around Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s suspected that the Kindle e-readers are also selling very well, too.

iPhone and iPad

Apple’s mobile devices have sold incredibly well, and, at various points throughout Christmas, the iPhone was a trending topic. The iPhone 4S is on course to be the highest selling smartphone (if not mobile phone) of all time, and the iPad is still leading the pace for tablet devices, even though the Kindle has made it slightly less comfortable. Not to be outdone, though, sales of Android smartphones were also incredibly strong throughout the holiday season, with Android chief Andy Rubin reporting that activations of Android devices had crossed 700,000 units daily.

Video games

Video game consoles are traditionally strong sellers over this period, but it’s been a mixed bag in Christmas 2011. In Japan, the Playstation Vita got off to a so-so start, selling 321,000 units, with the device being marred by usage problems, too.

The Nintendo 3DS, on the other hand, also did well in Japan and other parts of the world, with the console crossing the 4 million units sold mark, off the back of a record high of 510,629 units in a week. While the sales are still not at a level Nintendo would want they are indicative that handheld consoles have life in them still. It appears reports of smartphones killing handhelds are exaggerated, but it is undeniable that they have eaten into their market share.

In addition to strong sales of handheld consoles over Christmas 2011, it would be unsurprising to see consoles post strong sales figures, too, for this period when the NPD Group reports sales figures for the period.

What’s that? You have the money but you still haven’t bought a smartphone? You think they’re overhyped, overpriced, and that you don’t actually need or want one? As bizarre as those questions sound to frequent readers of this blog, there are many people who love technology and have the means to buy smartphones but are still sitting on the fence about getting one. For those wondering why buy a smartphone, below are a few reasons.

The internet keeps no location

Mobile internet on contemporary smartphones is light years ahead of what the desktop browsers were just a few years ago, and even further ahead than the capability of feature phone’s browsers. Are you still wondering why buy a smartphone?

Those applications sure are useful

Smartphones, especially the iPhone, changed our expectations of what applications should be capable of and what they should cost. For as little as $0.99, you can purchase an application that changes what your handset does. Want an inexpensive GPS device that can also browse the internet and receive calls? Yep, a modern mobile with the right app can do just that. Do you need more reasons to buy a smartphone?

It sure helps to be motivated to get fit

We, too, were fence sitters about the true value of compelling smartphone apps. Sure, the games are nice and the productivity apps are cool, but are they worth dropping big bucks for? Then RunKeeper Pro, Nike+ GPS and iFitness came along, putting the fun back into the boredom of working out. Why buy a smartphone? Oh, because you want to look good, that’s why.

They will replace many PC functions

Probably the biggest reason to purchase a smartphone is the inevitable fact that they will fundamentally change how we use our PCs. More specifically, smartphones will augment our PC experience, while replacing many functions previously reserved for the PC. In many ways we first saw signs of this years ago when  the BlackBerry first arrived on the scene and fundamentally altered the way people read email. With modern smartphones, this will only further expand to other parts of the PC.

There are a bunch of reasons to buy a smartphone, but these are some of the most obvious and most easily understood. Once you have your own, it’s likely you’ll find a host more reasons you can’t do without one.

Assuming your mum is tech savvy – or shows an interest in tech – getting a gadget for her this Christmas might make for a welcome change from whatever you usually give (everybody has a ‘usual’). Below are our three favourite holiday gadget gifts for mums.

Amazon Kindle 3

Our parents, thankfully, come from a generation where a high volume of reading was commonplace and celebrated. While books no longer hold the significance in popular culture they once did, some people still enjoy reading, and any technology to help indulge in reading will be celebrated. One of the gift ideas I’m endorsing wholeheartedly is the Amazon Kindle 3 for various members of the family, and pre-purchasing about £100 of Amazon credits.

The benefits to this approach to reading are manifold, and the Kindle, with its technological sophistication yet almost analogue simplicity is an amazing gateway device into the wonders of technology in general. If we had to pick only one gift idea, this would be the must-have holiday gadget for mums.

A tablet computer

Tablet computers are celebrated for being wonders of technology. Few can doubt this is absolutely true and blatantly obvious. One area of touchscreen computing that is under celebrated is how incredibly intuitive it is, when compared to traditional computing.

Photo: Keegan Jones / Flickr

Contrary to popular belief, there are many people, even today, who do not know how to use computers or are intimidated by them, and it’s possible your mother may be such a person. With a touchscreen computer – where the interface is streamlined, through the removal of a pointing device, to the usage of the most natural pointing device in the world, the finger – even children as young as four have an immediate sense of how to use these devices. The same will likely apply for your parents and grandparents, and this could be a fantastic Christmas gift to help your mum become more comfortable with computers.

Digital frames

While a tablet computer can fully replace any digital frame, on price and dedicated use alone, we think mums will love these. If you can afford to buy more than one, and place them around the home with different themes, mothers, who are the most sentimental people on the planet, will be enamoured with these moment capturing holiday gadgets.

Remember, when shopping for gifts for mums, don’t default to the obvious. You’ll be surprised at how they might take a liking to the things you love.

Today’s computers are more personal than ever – they’re used to store many, if not all, important documents and data. Though today’s computing technology is extremely advanced, it is still susceptible to unforeseen damage, accidents, theft, and failure. A reliable backup strategy is essential to ensure that one’s information remains secure and intact.

What to keep

From photos and music to documents and financial records, there are literally thousands of essential files stored on one’s computer at any given time. Experts advise that anything that users create themselves should be backed up – emails, calendars, documents, photos, music, videos, financial documents, and more. Additionally, it’s helpful to create secure copies of the applications used to create such documents and the settings and registration information for each. If and when something happens to one’s primary computer system, crucial files will remain safe with an adequate backup system.

How to keep it

Users should create a backup system that’s easy to use and requires little to no intervention. When considering external storage options, consumers are often bombarded by the sheer number of possibilities. While online backup systems are becoming more popular everyday, these are often not the most reliable due to varying Internet connectivity, and they don’t often provide enough storage capacity to justify the cost. Some may suggest using portable flash drives or optical media (CDs and DVDs), but these are easily susceptible to damage and typically won’t last more than a few years. Additionally, due to their limited capacity, these require that data be spread out over numerous media.

External hard drives provide the best possible option for backing up data. In contrast to onboard hard drives, which undergo changes and stresses almost continuously, external hard drives used for backup are only used during prescribed instances and therefore will last considerably longer than onboard drives.

Big and fast

Photo: Toshiba

Since hard drives sold with most of today’s systems increase in capacity fairly often, it’s wise to purchase an external hard drive that will grow with both your system and your data. A 1.5TB external hard drive will provide more than enough capacity to store all of the average user’s files, and are especially ideal for homes or small offices with multiple systems.

Another factor to consider is hard drive speed. Hard drive speed is rated in revolutions per minute (RPM). A speed of at least 5,400 RPM is more than adequate for the average user, and this is standard on most external hard drives. If necessary, faster RPM speeds of 7,200 which enable faster copying transfer of data between devices are available.

Easy does it

Fortunately, backing up is no longer the arduous task it once was, and a majority of external hard drives offer some sort of automatic backup software. This allows users to simply set up a drive once and forget about it, knowing that all important data will be securely saved. Not only unobtrusive in their use, external hard drives are also designed to blend into one’s existing computer setup, with designs that complement the appearance of almost all computers on the market today. Quiet and reliable, external hard drives stand as the perfect backup solution.

When choosing an external hard drive, users should ensure that it will be compatible with their system. Many external drives are compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems, but there are a select few that are intended for particular platforms.

Though the world would appreciate it if we rushed our efforts toward a paper-free world, the truth is many of us cannot afford to do this. Whether it be a home office or a small business, documents still frequently change hands, so there’s still a place for the modern day printer. Below we’ve selected the top three all-in-one printers based on our experience with them, as well as sales popularity and user sentiment.

Canon Pixma MP560

The Canon Pixma MP560 is one of the best all-in-one printers on the market for its clever mix of high quality features with a very attractive price tag. It’s worth more than you’re getting, with its gorgeous 2-inch LCD display making viewing jobs and progress easy. It has WLAN functionality built in, which is a plus, but the disappointing print speed makes this all-in-one printer a take-two if you need to print high volumes frequently.

HP Photosmart Premium C309g

Photo: HP

The HP Photosmart Premium C309g is the perfect combination of high quality, a good price and being very popular. The HP Photosmart Premium C309g is easily one of the best-selling printers in its product category and with good reason – it looks gorgeous, has great print speeds, and an elegant touchscreen interface. The replacement black cartridges are pricey, however, and the omission of a fax may be a deal-breaker for some, although HP has a solution for that problem. This is easily one of the more impressive HP all-in-one printer devices on the market.

HP Deskjet F4580

Photo: HP

The HP Deskjet F4580 makes it on to the list for one reason and one reason only – it is the el cheapo solution to all-in-one printing. Its tray isn’t very deep, holding only fifteen pages. Print quality is passable, but not great, and it looks respectable, if not remarkable. But what makes up for all these omissions is this – it costs less than £35, which, for a device with solid build quality is a great price. The truth is sometimes all one wants from an HP all-in-one printer is one that works and this is it.

Whether it be an HP all-in-one printer, one from Canon or any other manufacturer, there is a glut of printer options on the market and it is quite possible we’ve overlooked some. Sound off in the comments about which all-in-one printers for the home user or small business you think we’ve overlooked.

In continuing with our series of posts of must-have gear for knowledge economy freelancers, we’ve arrived at freelance graphic designers and freelance illustrators. Below is the essential gear you need if you plan on breaking out on your own and plying your trade as a mobile freelancer who can work from anywhere in the world.

Essential 1: A computer

We assume you have one of these already. If you do not, and you can afford to splash out a little, Apple’s 15-inch Macbook Pro is a favourite among creatives the world over. If that is too rich for your budget (or liking), any laptop that has an Intel Core i5 with preferably 4GB RAM should do you fine.

Essential 2: Software

Photo: Stock.Xchng

If the whole Adobe CS5 package is too much software for you, we would highly recommend you get Adobe CS5 Design Premium. Illustrator has come of age in the last few iterations, with Photoshop CS5 being the biggest leap since arguably the best Photoshop release of all time – Photoshop 7. These two packages on their own cost almost the price of the Adobe CS5 Design Premium, making InDesign CS5 an all but free bonus.

Fortunately that’s all the equipment most freelance graphic designers need, particularly if you do no photography. If you do have to do your own photography for your designs, this handy list of some of the top DSLR cameras available on the market is a great place to start.

Bonus luxury item: A graphics tablet

Photo: Wacom

This is very much a luxury item most freelance graphic designers go without, but the difference a dedicated graphics tablet makes, especially if you have a bias toward actually ‘drawing’ your designs, is immeasurable. The Wacom Intuos4 Medium graphics tablet is heads and shoulders ahead of the competition and certainly warrants the premium in price. Many will argue against them and for them, but it is well worth weighing up the pros and cons before taking the plunge.

Is there anything glaring we’ve missed out, or are there any other additions, whether they be little widgets, accessories or software packages, you would make to this list? Sound off in the comments.

Solid State Drives will eventually become the standard. The challenge, of course, is in having them widely adopted. The barrier to adoption is the price tag, but the price tag will only begin to fall once the technology is adopted en masse. The solution? Getting the drives into major electronic chains, which has begun happening, with Best Buy carrying a pair of Intel SSD Drives.

800 stores across the US

Over 800 Best Buy stores across the United States will begin carrying the award winning Intel X25-M, as well as the more ‘affordable’ Intel X25-V, with the X25-M available in 80GB in stores and the X25-V available in a 40GB variation.

The reason these Intel SSD variations retailing in Best Buy is such a big deal is because this represents the very first time Best Buy has ever allocated shelf space to solid state drives by selling them in stores. This is an important step in the adoption of solid state drives, since a massive portion of computer components and hardware is still sold over the counter, and the mainstream presence Best Buy has may just be what this market segment needs to give it a boost.

What are SSDs?

Photo: Intel

These Intel SSD variations are a subset of a bigger market category – solid state drives. As their name suggests, these drives do not have moving parts, unlike classic hard drives, protecting them from wear and tear. SSDs have a number of other advantages to moving parts drives, but they do have one major disadvantage – price. While the Intel SSD – the X25-V – can be had for about £93 for 40GB of storage, an equivalently priced moving parts drive holds 2TB (yes, 2,000 GB) of data. That’s fifty times the difference in capacity for the same price.

These Intel SSD variations as well as other solid state drives have some way to go before they become truly mainstream, but at least you can by them in regular shops now.

Do any of you own an SSD and, if yes, has it improved the performance of your PC in a significant way?

In our ongoing series where we talk about the right tools for the right knowledge economy professionals, we’ve covered general basics for all freelancers, a guide for freelance writers and a guide for freelance editors. Now we move from moving images to stills with our gadget guide for the freelance photographer.

Step one: a camera

If your budget is tight and you need to cut corners wherever possible, your camera is one area where you do not want to cut corners. Fortunately, with the wide range of DSLR cameras on the market, there are gems to find at pocket-friendly prices. The Nikon D5000, which costs under £450 if you search carefully, is a 12.3 megapixel DSLR, capable of shooting 4 frames per second with face detect technology if you need any additional assistance.

Step two: a computer

Photo: Stock.Xchng

If, as a freelance photographer, you’ll be doing light post-production, most contemporary laptops running an Intel i5 and upwards processor will have the juice necessary to process what you need and run the software you require. Make sure you also have enough RAM. Naturally, as the price increases, so does the power, and the trick when choosing a laptop is to balance out your needs carefully.

Step three: software

Image manipulation and image touching up is part and parcel of contemporary photography, so embrace it. The best general composition and photo editing software is without doubt Adobe Photoshop CS5. New editions make it a fantastic piece of hardware for all creatives. If Photoshop isn’t your thing, perhaps Aperture or Photoshop Light Room are your thing. Do some research to find out which solution works best for you, but if you’re unsure, Photoshop is without doubt the default piece of software for you.

Step four: an external hard drive

Photo: LaCie

The long-time freelance photographer will tell you that they shoot thousands of shots over a brief period and, even after disregarding average images for brilliant images, it’s still very easy to end up with too little disk space for all your pics, so invest in an external hard drive with ideally 500GB of capacity. The Lacie rugged hard drive range is a good option.

Once you’ve got these items sorted, you’ll be able to add as you need, from tripods to lighting kits and so on.

Happy shooting.

We’ve been running a series of posts detailing the must-have tools for freelancers working in the contemporary knowledge economy, having written a general guide and a more specific guide for freelance writers. Now we shine the spotlight on freelance editors, looking at the right video camera, computer and software combination for your needs.

Gadget: a camera

Photo: Sony

The video camera (and digital camera) landscape now runs the gamut from very cheap but rather impressive to exceptionally expensive. As a pro freelance editor, you want to have a very good camera to work with right off the bat. If you’re a bit shy on budget and high definition is not a need, the classic Sony PD-170, which is no longer being produced but can be found in various second-hand markets, is a mainstay for good reason: it works very well. If you are looking for pro camera which records HD content, the Sony DSR-PD177P gives great bang for your buck.

Must-have: a computer, of course

Editing suites have come many strides from the once raw cut-and-paste editing techniques of years gone by, to contemporary systems built entirely on computers. The thing is, though, you still need a powerful computer to do it all on. We’re against being tethered to one location, so we would recommend a laptop over a desktop any day.

If you prefer a desktop, spend your money on a solid workstation. Fortunately, there are myriad options available, and, as long as your machine has over 4GB of RAM, a solid graphics card and a contemporary Intel processor – Intel Core i5 and upwards – then you should be fine.

If you’re inclined to going mobile, Apple’s Macbook Pro range was built, in part, with your needs in mind. They’re not cheap laptops, but they’re very capable when put through their paces and the one-two mobile combination of a Macbook Pro and Final Cut Studio 3 works very well.

Finally: that software

Photo: Apple

Which brings us to the software. If you do opt for a Mac, then Final Cut Studio 3 would be your primary choice for serious editing. Virtualising Windows software will bring your machine to a crawl, so if you’re biased towards Windows software, than purchase a Windows computer.

For the Windows community of editors, your options are Adobe Premiere Pro (which is also available for Mac), the rather pricey Avid Media Composer and Sony’s Vegas Pro.

The takeaway

The trick for a freelance editor is to mix and match. If you can, download trial versions of all the software and put them all through their paces. Then choose the one that sits best with you. As for a camera, see if you cannot take a few models on a test run and see which give the optimum results for your pocket. But the trick is to get the balance right – you want to come across as a professional and therefore you need pro-quality equipment at agreeable prices.

It wasn’t too long ago that any LCD monitors were rare and priced to oblivion. Now the CRT monitor has all but given way to LCD monitors and, as the technology gets entrenched, so do prices plummet. Manufacturers have staved off this price drop by introducing larger and larger monitors at the previous price of smaller equivalents. Those of us who are wise to this know that, for most of us 19” is the sweet spot between price, size and function and there are many decent 19” LCD monitors that meet this criteria.

Very good monitors

Samsung is the leading LCD TV maker in the world and for good reason. The company has managed to balance the circus act of having fantastic displays at agreeable prices and coupled that with aggressive marketing campaings. Their 19” monitors range from so-so yet very cheap to rather impressive and agreeably priced. The Samsung SyncMaster 933HD is widescreen (which is a must) with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.. It has a myriad of connection points, including 2x HDMI ports, 1 DVI-D port, and the usual VGA port, meaning you can plug a host of devices into it. At £150 it isn’t cheap for its relatively diminutive size, but its shiny black bezeled finish couple with gorgeous display makes up for that somewhat.

Photo: LG

LG’s recently released LG E1940S is also a stellar 19” monitor at a more agreeably price than the Samsung SyncMaster 933HD. It is priced in and around £100 if you shop around carefully, with comparable features to the Samsung SyncMaster 933HD.

For those on a super tight budget

As hinted earlier, some 19” monitors can be had dirt cheap, but you have to keep in mind that you get what you pay for. The first thing you will not get for budget monitors is widescreen. The classic 1280 x 1024 resolution still reigns high in the budget monitor game. Also, your connection slot is usually limited to just VGA, meaning outside of your tower you’re unlikely to connect much else. If this does not phase you, careful scouring of sites like eBay reveals deals like this Acer AL1916 for a measly £18. That’s about the price of dinner for two at an inexpensive restaurants, meaning you’d do best to not expect too much.