Most Wanted Gifts for 2011

Rebecca Broomstein

Buyers are bringing in the new year with trending gifts of the 2011 holiday season.

iPod Nano:  6th Generation

Back in November, Apple came out with the sixth generation iPod nano model, which features a touch-screen body that stands at only two inches tall. Consumers may find this new size an annoyance, but the price drop makes up for the inches lost.  This nano runs for $20.00 to $30.00 less than last year’s model, priced at $129.00–$149.00, depending on the number of gigabytes held.  Also, the icons on the screen are larger than one would expect, so navigation is made easy.  The resolution is lower, but the sixth generation has a higher pixel density of 220 pixels per square inch, so images and icons appear more clear.

Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet

E-readers made a major break out within the past year, especially for Amazon and Barnes and Noble markets.  The two prominent e-readers everyone has been raving over are Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet.  Both are evolved forms of their original e-reader models.  Amazon began with the Kindle–which lacked the touch-screen feature–and continued with the Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, and finally, the Kindle Fire.  Similarly, Barnes and Noble began with their first make, the Nook Simple Touch, and released the Nook Color soon after.  November held the release of it’s final model, the Nook Tablet.  Competition continues between the two e-reader brands, for their pros and cons weigh on different scales.  The Kindle Fire is fifty dollars cheaper, yet the Nook Tablet holds two times the storage and has a longer battery life by about three hours.

Toms

Surprisingly enough, Toms footwear has made it to the top of many people’s wish lists this holiday season.  Despite the cold December weather, consumers still want to open their dainty canvas Toms on Christmas morning.  The cause provided by Toms surely makes up for the lack of foot-coverage and support on these shoes. The charity-driven shoe company donates one pair of shoes to a child in need per every pair purchased.   It all began in 2008 when creator, Blake Mycoskie, visited under-privelidged children in Argentina, who lacked proper footwear.  He started his One for One campaign, where every pair of Toms purchased, another was made for a child in need.  He returned to Argentina later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made in courtesy of the customers.  Although consumers might have to wait a few months to get any use out of them, Toms are selling quick this season.

iPad 2

Another product released this year by Apple is the iPad 2.  It was released back in March, and is still in high demand.  The new model has the same resolution, screen size and storage options as the first, but the new model has a bit more to offer.  It has two cameras, as opposed to none.  Also, the iPad 2 features the application, Face Time, that many consumers fell in love with when the iPhone 4S came out.

Xbox 360 Kinect vs. Playstation 3 Move

Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have come out with two new interactive variations of a controller within the past two years.  The Xbox 360 released the Kinect in 2010; a motion-sensored camera that sits atop the television set whilst the gamer games on.  Instead of holding any sort of controller, the player’s body does all of the controlling.  The system picks up on motion caught in the camera and voice commands, so the player is litterally acting out every movement their character makes on screen.  Much like the Nintendo Wii, the Move is controlled by a handheld wand.  The wand has a glowing sphere at one end of it (then end pointed to the console) that is sensored to pick up on the motions made by the player and wirelessly send them to the Eye camera.  Both gaming systems are equally effective, depending on the consumer’s taste in controlling devices.  Also, two new, much-anticipated games recently launched, Activision’s Call Of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 and Bethesda Softworks Skyrim.