Incredible Shrinking Technology

You can call it the ‘incredible shrinking technology’-- a complete home theater system in a box and a cell phone that takes digital pictures. Here is the latest on these new devices and more.

This holiday season is shaping up to be the year of the flat panel screen. Manufacturers are using LCD flat panels and other technologies in a variety of products.

Audiovox Home Theater System with Flat Screen
Audiovox has a new home theater in a box that has a flat 15-inch LCD screen that doubles as TV, as a DVD display, and also as a computer monitor. You can actually hook your computer up to the Audiovox system and use it as a 15-inch computer monitor with very high resolution. The Audiovox system not only plays DVD's, it plays audio CD's as well as CDR's that you burn mp3 files on for music. The Audiovox system comes with 4 speakers for surround sound and it lists for $1450. www.audiovox.com

Samsung v205 Cell Phone/Camera
Samsung’s new model v205 cell phone has the most amazing color screen we’ve seen on a cell phone to date. 65,000 colors, and when you scrunch it down to a screen this small it looks almost like an HDTV set-- it really is incredible. The reason for the screen is the Samsung phone has a built in digital camera. This is a trend we're starting to see on cell phones now, consumers like the idea of a cell phone with a built in digital camera because they can take a picture wherever they are and email it to anyone in the world right from their cell phone. So far the Samsung phone is available only on the T-Mobile service. The v205 is a GSM cell phone which means it can be used anywhere in the world. www.samsungusa.com

eBay Electronics
Whether you're looking at flat screens or cell phones or anything hi-tech, eBay is a great place to buy holiday gifts. One of the nice things about eBay now is that they've consolidated all of their consumer electronics into one part of the site. So if you want to browse consumer electronics, go to eBay.com/electronics, and a lot of venders selling new products are offering free shipping for the holidays. eBay recently acquired Half.com which is a great site where you can find music, movies, and books sometimes 50% off the retail price.