High-tech Christmas gifts for teenagers

Unlike primary school children, teenagers pose certain challenges when it comes to Christmas presents. Seeing as they have ''everything'' it becomes increasingly difficult to know what to buy them for Christmas. Young children, are easy, top sellers for them this year are the GO GO Pet Hamsters and the Transformers Movie 2 Voyagers Figurines, but for teenagers traditional toys are a little out of the question.

It''s the electronic, multi-media market, i.e. CDs, DVDs, mp3 players and mobile phones, that are top of the Christmas list for teenagers, and although you might know every detail about them, you have no idea which one they''d actually want.

Should you still buy CDs now that everything is going digital? What are these new Blu-ray discs all about? Have they replaced DVDs? Do they want an iPod or a Sony Walkman? And did you hear them say Samsung or Ericsson when they were talking about mobile phones with their friends in the back seat of the car?

The mobile phone market for teenagers can be like walking into a minefield blindfolded. Competition over who has the coolest handset can be fierce. However, they don''t want to and can''t feasibly afford to pay the monthly bills for a contract phone. That means you have to fork out on an expensive phone so they can have it on pay as you go.

The latest iPhone is definitely out of the question as it is currently marketed at almost ?350 without contract. Many of the latest touch screen smart phones aren''t even available without a contract, so what is a loving but not millionaire parent to do?

The answer may well be the Samsung Genio. It might be more basic than other smart phone competitors, but it does the basics well. It is ideal for teenagers: it''s stylish, has three interchangeable coloured backs, a two megapixel camera, an mp3 player, email and internet meaning Facebook is just a touch away.

What is even better, is that this phone is available on pay as you go tariffs for around ?80 and as its Christmas, loads of extras are being thrown in like free calls, browsing minutes and texts from the heavy-hitter mobile networks.

Another bonus is that it has an mp3 player, so you don''t need to fork out more cash on a separate one of those then. Bonny Kominek is an expert in communications technology, specializing in iphone applications. This article was inspired by Vodafone UK who have some new mobile phone deals available.