It might be tempting to get the hot new gadget right now, but truthfully, it’s an awkward time to pick up a little techie something-something. If you’re smart, you’ll hold off on buying these electronics. We’ll tell you which ones, and why.

Televisions and Home Theatre Systems:
It’s best to wait until mid-2012 to pick up the very latest for your home theatre, May at the earliest. The 2012 TV lineups will be reviewed around then, and you’ll be able to see what cool new things Samsung will have to offer on their new line of plasma television sets. For now, the Panasonic ST50 is still at the top of the list on the top of the line range, better than last year’s bests, at the price of last year’s mid-range sets. The same goes for blu-ray players and receivers, which haven’t been reviewed this year.

The iPhone:
It’s very, very enticing, we know, but good things come to those who wait. The new one is mere months away from being released, and you don’t want to be stuck with a 4 model when everyone’s getting the follow-up to the series. If you really think about it, the 4S is just a variation on a design that’s about 2 years old at this point. A few months more won’t really hurt, will it?

Laptops:
Wait until the release of Windows 8 and the Ivy Bridge, coming in Fall and Late Spring of this year, respectively. Ivy Bridge is the name of Intel’s new chipset and it’s slated to be faster, more efficient, and have better onboard graphics capabilities. Laptops equipped with these new goodies should hit the market as soon as next month or the one after that, so hold off for a significantly better return on your investment, technology-wise, and more bang for your buck. The new laptops will also be equipped with USB 3.0 instead of USB 2.0, a significant change that will spell all the difference now that everyone’s upgrading to HD and multi megapixel files. The new chipset will also be better equipped to handle the heavier load of Windows 8 once it releases.

High-End Mirrorless Cameras:
DSLRs are all the rage right now, and they sure are fantastic, but not really worth it for people who only want something a little better than a simple point and shoot. Mirrorless cameras are a great new alternative for this market: they come with interchangeable lenses like DSLRs but in a body that’s light and convenient for carrying around. The best in this line has to be the Sony NEX-5N, which has a much better sensor quality than others from Olympus or Panasonic that use the Micro 4/3 format. While it’s far from perfect (lacking in solid manual controls and the lens selection still isn’t stellar), it’s still packing the equivalent image quality of a $1500 DSLR in a $700 gadget. It’s a phenomenal deal.

There you have it, the top 5 techie things it might be good to hold off on for a few more months. Cling to your wallet with both hands and don’t shell out the cash until the new releases have been unleashed onto the market. You’ll thank yourself later.

==== About the Author ====
George Shaw is a gadget freak and and a design consultant for Cardprinting.us, a provider of plastic cards and key tag printing services.

Microsoft .NET Gadgeteer is an open-source toolkit for building small electronic devices using the .NET Micro Framework and Visual Studio or Visual C# Express. This allows embedded and handheld devices to be built and programmed quickly and easily. .NET Gadgeteer was devised by the Sensors and Devices group at Microsoft Research Cambridge. Now, the open-source project is maintained by Microsoft and is intended to enable hardware designers to build and release .NET Gadgeteer-compatible products.

A .NET Gadgeteer system is composed of a mainboard containing an embedded processor and an array of modules which connect to the mainboard through a simple plug-and-play interface. There are lots of .NET Gadgeteer modules available today: display, camera, networking, storage, input controls, and more. A variety of hardware vendors are building components for .NET Gadgeteer. The first .NET Gadgeteer hardware – Fez Spider kit by GHI Electronics is also available now.

.NET Gadgeteer devices are programmed in C# using the .NET Micro Framework. .NET Micro Framework is an open source platform that expands the power and versatility of .NET to the world of small embedded applications. This allows developers to use their existing knowledge of .NET programming on the desktop, Web or phone to embedded devices.

With a modular hardware architecture and powerful software, .NET Gadgeteer allows even someone with little or no electronics background to build devices made up of components like sensors, lights, switches, displays, communications, motor controllers, and much more. It is a great tool for hobbyists as well as for educators and researchers to quickly develop prototypes.

Amazon’s Kindle wireless reading device is a huge hit. The E-reader is not only the best-selling gadget on Amazon.com, but Kindle books now outsell their paper counterparts. The device’s low price, convenient form factor and huge library of titles make it a no-brainer purchase for many, but it’s often hard to differentiate hype from reality. Anyone considering a Kindle reader should know about both its hidden drawbacks and lesser-known benefits.

1. Don’t Overlook Kindle with Special Offers

Amazon recently launched its Kindle with Special Offers, a less expensive version of the Kindle Wi-Fi- that sells for $114 instead of $139. In return for a lower price the device displays advertisements as screensavers. Users also have to contend with a small ad bar on the Home screen. Your initial reaction might be to overlook this advertisement-subsidized gadget, but Kindle with Special Offers owners report receiving some pretty sweet deals. These include $10 for a $20 Amazon gift card promotions, one dollar books and HDTV discounts. This is one instance where being a cheap stake pays off.

2. Check Wi-Fi Compatibility

According to Amazon, the Kindle does not support WPA and WPA2 secured networks that use 802.1X authentication or ad-hoc (peer-to-peer) networks. In layman’s terms this means the Kindle won’t work on many corporate and university wireless networks. Smart phone tethering isn’t compatible, either. It might not be a bad idea to upgrade to the Kindle Wi-Fi+3G version if you’re in college or plan on taking the eBook reader to the loo on company time.

3. Using a Kindle Could Help You Sleep Better

Devices with backlit screens such as laptop computers and the iPad emit interfere with the production of sleep-inducing melatonin and make it harder fall asleep, according to sleep researchers. E-readers such as the Kindle and Nook don’t have a backlit screen, making them an ideal gadget to bring to bed. The Kindle also has a built-in Web browser, so late night Web addicts don’t need to worry about disrupting circadian rhythms any more.

4. Don’t Buy the Amazon Kindle Cover

Amazon’s Kindle Cover is a solid choice for protecting your E-reader, but everyone on the block already has one. Personalize your Kindle with something more unique instead. A variety of designers craft affordable handmade cases. Third-party manufacturers also mass-produce a number of innovative alternatives. Web blog PC Fastlane provides a good summary of the wide variety of Kindle covers available, but you should search around on your own as well.

5. Library Lending Is Coming Soon

Amazon announced the development of library lending in April. The new feature will allow libraries to lend books wirelessly to Kindle patrons. Notes added to eBooks won’t show up for other patrons, but anything you add will remain intact should you borrow the book again or purchase it. The service should be in place at nearly 11,000 libraries later this year.

6. It’s not just for Reading

Besides a Web browser, Amazon’s Kindle has a number of other hidden features. You can use the E-reader to play books aloud (some publishers disable this feature) and even play music. The Kindle also supports Word files and several other document types, so it’s a great alternative to printing long training manuals or notes for class. Technophiles have devised all sorts of alternate uses for the device, too. One owner reports loading his flight itinerary and boarding passes on to a Kindle. To his surprise, the boarding agent scanned tickets from the Kindle’s screen and allowed him to board the plane.

7. Subscriptions Aren’t Always the Best Deal

Magazine and newspaper subscriptions are more convenient and often slightly cheaper than the standard print price, but are sometimes lacking in features. Publishers don’t give Kindle subscribers the same perks as print members, including access to archives and Internet content. Promotions such as academic pricing are not available to on the Kindle, and some people still find print copies more pleasurable to read. Let’s face it— you can still flip through magazine pages faster than the Kindle loads pages.

==== About the Author ====

Daniel Foster is a published photographer and freelance technology writer living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

As the motor car advances, so does its ability to show off and possess some of the most exciting gadgets available. Here’s a list of the top 5 must-have gadgets for your car whether you drive a Ford KA or a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Apple iPad

Gadget fans and Apple go hand-in-hand. They’re a team like Tango and Cash, the A-Team and Arnie and his wife oops. With the modern world’s obsession for needing to know if Justin Bieber is alive or not, it then becomes necessary to have an iPad in your car for those celebrity-fuelled moments.

With thousands of apps, games and that ridiculously clear screen, the iPad will keep your attention for the inevitable hours of traffic jams that lie ahead.

HTC Desire

For the family-man who loves his kids but would rather not hear them talk while on the road, there’s the HTC Desire. Sure, it may not be as celebrated as Apple’s iPhone, but it does come with one feature that is so gadgety and handy that you’ll thank HTC and Google forever.

It’s called WiFi Hotspot’ and it effectively allows your kids to connect to your phone’s mobile internet connection via their laptop. So what does that actually mean? Well, it means the kids can browse the internet on their computers while you drive without having to listen to Daaaaaad….

Parrot Bluetooth

Since many governments introduced new laws that ban us from using our mobiles while driving, the need to own a Bluetooth device has become paramount. With that being said, which is best? You can’t go wrong with a Parrot system; it’s trusted, well-loved and, above all, works fantastically well.

It may not be cool, but it could just save you a lot of money in fines and points.

TV headrests

So, you’ve served your biological purpose, you’ve spread your seed and it’s flourished and you’ve reproduced congratulations. Give it a few years, though, and you’ll wish you’d have never of bothered. Why? Because kids and cars don’t mix, no matter how expensive it is.

Kids, typically, become easily bored and irritated, so the best gadget you can buy to keep them amused is TV headrests. Sure, they aren’t cheap, but they will keep the kids entertained for hours and best of all, they come with headphones. Praise the Lord!

Manettino

Ok, this one is a bit of a pipedream because you can only get this gadget on a Ferrari, but it’s that good, and had to be included. The famous Manettino switch on almost all modern Ferraris has become the ultimate car gadget thanks to its design, looks and, above all, what it delivers.

The Manettino allows the driver to choose how the Ferrari performs; whether they want a smooth country drive or a raw, unplugged, pedal-to-the-metal sprint on a race track. Ok, so it’s going to cost you over £100,000 to get one, but if you truly love gadgets and cars, you’ll find the money.

==== About the Author ====

This is a guest post from Louis Rix who is Marketing Director at Netcars.com Louis has a passion for Cars, Football & SEO.

If you look up the word geek’ on Wikipedia you will find the following listed as one of the definitions:

A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream

Although in days gone by, you might have described anyone who had an unhealthy obsession with gadgets as geeky’, it would be highly inaccurate to describe gadgets to be outside the mainstream’ in this day and age. Despite an economic downturn in recent years, people are still buying gadgets like never before. In fact you might say we are living in the age of the gadget.

So how have gadgets gone from being geeky to mainstream? Here are 3 very good reasons:

1) The iPod

When Apple, then a down on its luck computer company, launched a quirky new portable music playing device in 2001 the reaction from industry analysts was one of general bemusement. The consensus at the time was that Apple had come too late to market and that the new gadget had little commercial potential, especially as the first generation was only compatible with less than 5% of the computers in the USA. At the official launch Apple CEO Steve Jobs told the assembled journalists that Apple was going to be the market leader. Few of them took any notice.

As a result of the success of the iPod, and later on the iPhone and iPad, Apple is now one of the world’s largest companies with an estimated worth of over $100 billion and a market share of around three quarters of the portable music player market. So how and why did this happen?

Essentially what Apple did was to simplify two processes. Firstly, they simplified the process of using the device itself with its easy-to-use dial system. Secondly they simplified the process of purchasing and getting music onto the device using the revolutionary iTunes software. In short, they made a music player that non-geeks could use.

A brilliant marketing campaign which the music business to promote Apple’s brand personality worked like a charm. This was a device that was easy to use. This was a device that was cool. This was a device that everybody wanted. With one product, Apple had changed the entire gadget market.

2) Celebrity Endorsements

When Oprah Winfrey gave a glowing review of The Kindle on her TV show, Amazon sold out of their ebook reader due to unanticipated demand from an army of Oprah fans. A-list celebrities from Miley Cyrus to Justin Timberlake have been photographed out and about carrying their iPads. Paris Hilton and Barack Obama never go anywhere without their Blackberries. Celebrity endorsements, especially ones where no money has changed hands, are very powerful indeed. Gadget endorsements by celebrities, both intentional and unintentional, are now commonplace.

Not only are endorsements such as these a signal of quality for potential gadget consumers, but they also appeal to a part of our brain which seeks a connection with our heroes. They have also done a great deal to spread the view that gadgets aren’t just for geeks.

3) Social Networking

The statistics regarding the number of Facebook and Twitter users are astonishing with Twitter approaching 200 million users and Facebook accumulating a mind blowing 500 million users. The enormous growth of social networking has affected the gadget market in two ways.

Firstly, as the use of such social networking sites grew, so did the demand for accessing these sites on the move. Social media addicts want the ability to let people know where they are and what they are doing at any given time. They want to live tweet events. They also want to know what their friends are up to. The integration of social media with gadgets such as mobile phones, tablet pc’s and even video cameras is now a huge selling point.

The second way social media has affected the gadget market is through the power of word of mouth’ endorsements from friends and followers. You see your friend has bought something on a social network your natural reaction is to want to buy it too. Companies have cottoned onto this and are now actively using social media in an attempt to start the conversation’ about their gadgets. Expect to see a lot more of this in the near future.

=== About the Author ===

MSM Software, is an award winning UK software development company that provides custom application design and management.

The jury is still out on the electronic cigarette, or e-cig. While many users swear by them, the electronic gadgets are getting a wary eye from the FDA as an untested new drug. It’s easy enough to see both sides of the equation, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t fascinated with the e-cigs based purely on their technological standpoint. We, as a society, are officially gadget addicts, but hey that’s better than smoking addicts, right?

E-Cigs and Legal Limbo

The electronic cigarette is a much simpler version of a real cigarette, helped along with a bit of battery. The e-cig looks just like a traditional cigarette with a slender, white body and brown filter. Inside the body of the e-cig, however, you’ll find a container of liquid nicotine and a battery. When you puff on the e-cig, the battery heats up the liquid nicotine which makes a bit of theatrical smoke, along with a small amount of propylene glycol.

The e-cigs deliver nicotine to the body without tar or cancer causing agents, or at least these are the claims of the companies selling the e-cigs in the United States. The FDA tried to stop the importation of the e-cigs and did for awhile calling them an untested drug, but then the federal courts ruled that the e-cigarettes aren’t sold for therapeutic uses, which leaves them out of the jurisdiction of the FDA. It’s a rather strong case of legal limbo, but meanwhile the American people can’t seem to get enough of the electronic cigarettes. Move over iPad, the e-cig may be our new gadget of choice.

The Gadget Appeal of E-Cigs

It’s such a simple gadget compared to the more complex computer-chip driven devices of the day, but as small gadgets go, this one is catching on with lightning speed. Suddenly you’re allowed to smokewhere you weren’t before. The e-cig doesn’t produce real smoke and you may even be allowed to smokeit on a plane. Imagine the joy of delivering pure nicotine to your system while playing Angry Birds at 20,000 feet. Heavenly.

Since it’s considered healthier than traditional cigarettes, many who might otherwise try cigarettes are giving the e-cig a try. It provides the oral fixation many smokers or would-be smokers crave while also delivering nicotine in a simple, if theatrical way. The smoke from the e-cig is cool in the same way it’s cool to put water on dry ice. We, as a collective society, obviously dig the fake vapor.

E-Cigs: Effective or Worthless?

There are some who might call the e-cigs a clever new toy for the masses to play with. They are marketed as recreational items in a sense, much like tobacco normally would be. While others might call the e-cigs are great new gadget for helping smokers stop, they would meet resistance from the government who claims the e-cig isn’t therapeutic, and if it were deemed to be therapeutic, the FDA would jump all over the shipments of e-cigs again in a heartbeat. As it is they are waiting on the perimeter looking for a chance to edge back into the fight.

As a somewhat confusing gadget used for purely recreationalpurposes, but that might also help you stop smoking as purely a byproduct, it is reasonably safe to say that e-cigarettes are an effective gizmo on many levels. And the fake smoke is cool, too.

=== About the Author ===

Guest post by Rebecca Garland of internetauthor.net

Image of smoker from Reason.com

There are days when you wish you didn’t know what was happening in the world of technology, not because you’re a technophobe, but because the sheer volume of gadgets and gizmos being introduced is just too much to take. Your brain is caught in a tug of war between your desires and your common sense; the temptation to buy every new gadget in sight is overwhelming, but then, you know your wallet is not as deep as your desires.

How on earth does it make sense to introduce a gadget that purports to be the latestin technology when its predecessor is hardly a few months old? Why not wait a few months and introduce the latestinto the predecessor? The answer for those who ask these questions in frustration is that if one company waits, the competition is going to come out with this technology. It’s a rat race, one where tech companies are battling with each other to sell their products and customers are fighting temptation to be satisfied with the gadgets they already own.

Contrary to popular belief, technology is not popularized by the innovation it offers or the features it comes with. Rather, the buying trends in technology depend on how each person is going to use the gadget or gizmo and what utility value they see in it. People invest in technology because:

• It is useful cellphones allow them to stay in touch wherever they are, and computers allow them to connect to the Internet, play games and get a host of other tasks done. This category is generally not interested in accessories and in updating their devices or turning them in for newer models, unless they’re faulty and must be replaced.
• It serves a purpose I invested in a BlackBerry because it allowed me to keep in touch with my boyfriend, who was overseas, by using its instant messenger service in a cost-effective manner. So no matter how good Android OS phones are, I’m not going to switch loyalties, even though my friends swear by them. Similarly, I don’t want to trade my old Toshiba for a brand new notebook, because I have Windows 7 Pro installed on it, and it runs perfectly well for me, and I certainly don’t want to shell out extra money to have the same OS installed on a new machine. As long as my technology serves my purpose, I’m not trading it in or switching to the latest innovations, no matter how good they are.
• They are loyal to a brand The Mac fans are typical examples. While I personally cannot understand the fascination with Apple, many of my friends swear by Steve Jobs’ products. They can’t stop going into raptures about all the iProducts and the Mac notebook series. No matter how good a product other tech companies come out with, they’re not going to budge from their stand.
• They want status symbols I have a friend whose 7-year-old son has an iPhone. My friend didn’t buy it for him, rather, it was a gift from the boy’s godfather who did not know what to do with the gadget once he had purchased the latest model of the iPhone, with OS4. It was almost brand new because it had been bought just a few months earlier, and for the godfather, technology is all about status and the latest rather than about utility.

At the end of the day, all the gadgets and gizmos are almost equal on features and performance. Technology will sell more for the above reasons, and less for the innovation that it offers.

====
This guest post is contributed by Bailey Digger, she writes on the topic of web design degree programs . She welcomes your comments at her email id: baileydigger189(@)gmail(.)com.

We’re actually in a growing world of Google Gadgets, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re building a Gadget while reading this. But, if you’re looking to make your Google Gadget and don’t know where and how to start? Just read through this tutorial, I’m sure it comes in handy!

Google Gadgets? What are they really? I hear of them a lot now a days. In simple terms, Google Gadgets are mini-web applications or widgets you can easily embed into Google products, like iGoogle, Google Desktop and Blogger.

A Google gadget can range from simple HTML to a complex app. It can be a Calendar, a Clock gadget, a Weather Globe, a Media Player, a Diagram Viewer or just about anything you’d like to have on your web page. There are so many Google Gadgets out there, but I’ve picked the best 10 which I thought are fun, interesting and useful to be working with. So here you go!

1) TwitterGadget

This is a functional gadget that can be added on your iGoogle page. TwitterGaget lets you update your status and also fetches the New Tweet Alerts, Trending Topics and Twitter Lists. It’s quite handy, since you can now manage your Twitter account from the iGoogle page.

2) Official YouTube Gadget

Embedding this gadget helps you browse, search and watch You Tube videos from your iGoogle, your blog or your website. With this gadget, you can link to You Tube videos and let your website visitors check them out.

3) Creately Diagram Viewer

Creately is an Easy Online Diagram and Collaboration application, which helps you draw flowcharts, UML, Mindmaps, Sitemaps, UI Mockups and more. Now, you can add an always-updated Creately diagram with zooming and panning to your page. Whenever anyone updates the diagram, the latest version will be shown inside the gadget. No more manual image uploads!

4) Digg

Add this gadget to your iGoogle or your website and discover the best news, images and videos as voted on by the Digg community. You can also now customize your Digg gadget by topic, Select the topic you are interested in and get the latest diggs relevant to that topic!

Looks like the Internet Tablet wars is heating up and iPad will have a lot of competition in the coming months. Just within a week of RIM announcing the Blackberry Tablet PlayBook, WSJ is reporting that Dell might also launch their own 7" Tablet shortly.

According to WSJ, Dell CEO Michael Dell had flashed a 7" tablet at the Oracle conference a week ago, however, there was no release date specified for the tablet.

Dell China President Amit Midha confirmed to WSJ that the tablet would be running Android, which is becoming a norm for most of the tablets which are going to be released in the holiday season. However, a Dell tablet might be unlikely this holiday season and may be released within the next 6-12 months.

A few weeks ago, bookies were betting that HTC would be the first to release a tablet in 2010, however, announcements like these might boot that odds at risk. Other than that, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is also making quite a few waves in the industry, and it would be interesting to see who wins in this new and open market of Internet tablets.

Apple does have a strong foothold right now because iPad is the only device selling right now, but with introduction of more devices, iPad might lose that initial glory. Also most of the tablet devices that are announced pack in more features than iPad has and might also be lower priced than it.

Back in January I had predicted several internet tablets, though none of them except for iPad are out yet, I am definitely waiting to see which one I get my hands on.

Image Credit: Reuters