February is the best time for families and friends to gather around the electronic hearth, and it's not just because it's cold outside. This is the month that the four big networks broadcast their top crowd pleasers starting with the Super Bowl and culminating with the Academy Awards. Viewers can enhance these spectacles with certain types of audio/video gear. So here, in chronological order, is our list of not-to-be-missed programs matched to the appropriate hardware that exploits each showstopper for all it's worth.

LAS VEGAS—The best place to scope out the next nine months in home electronics and entertainment is the annual CES tradeshow. The January, 2009, show revealed among other things that flat panel TV sets will become even more anorexic; LCD TVs will adopt LED-backlighting and still faster refresh rates; sound bars that project discrete audio channels will proliferate; Blu-ray Disc players will be available in a variety of styles; anything larger than an iPod will likely sprout an iPod dock; and TV sets will increasingly connect directly to the Internet so viewers have the option to receive real-time information or stream movies whenever they like. Camera and camcorder enthusiasts on the hunt for the latest features weren’t disappointed either.

The digital revolution answers our need for instant gratification in almost every pursuit except photography. It takes more time now to capture, transfer, and print an image using a digital camera than it did 25 years ago to snap and pass around a Polaroid.

So, while introducing a film camera these days may seem like a throwback to the eighties banter of James Garner and Mariette Hartley, there's still something compelling about owning an instant film camera.

So you've made the rounds holiday gift shopping for your loved ones and friends, and now it's time to treat yourself to some useful toys for your home recording studio. Whether you've got a small songwriter demo setup or an elaborate multi-track facility, you're still a studio owner, and by definition that means you're always looking for a good deal on recording gear. What we've done is scour our inventory for a selection of products available at B&H for our customers, and we've compiled an equipment list below representing that elusive combination of quality, value, and functionality that you'll be using on a daily basis for as long as you're using your studio.

Yes, it sure would be nice to have that custom-configured $20,000 Mac Pro system, with more RAM and processing cores that you can shake a stick at, a couple of 30" Cinema Displays, and a few terabytes of storage. Photoshop would run like the wind, and you'd not have to worry about upgrading any time soon.

This is the last chapter in the "best of 2008" trilogy, unofficially titled, The Pocket Camera Strikes Again. Jokes aside, manufacturers have become quite serious in making their cameras increasingly more specialized and unique. A few years ago, when walking up to a wall of point and shoot cameras on display, you might have had a hard time discerning the subtle differences in the sea of silver plastic bodies. Nowadays, not only are color choices available, there are also plenty of specialty tools such as RAW file formats, wide-aperture and wide-angle optics, built-in GPS receivers, high definition videos, and HD video. So let's take a look at some of the brightest cadets of the class of 2008.

Sliding a new printer out of its box, hooking it up, and knocking out that very first print juices the souls of pro and amateur shooters alike. The following are a selection of printers, scanners, and 'all-in-one's that are guaranteed to impress those you love. And chances are you'll get a hearty 'Thank you' in return as well as a handful of photos to cherish.