Holiday iPhone orders start

NEW YORK - Makers of consumer electronics have been refreshing their products for the holiday shopping season. Advance orders for Apple's new iPhone began on Friday.

Apple announced the iPhone 5 and other products Wednesday, while Amazon, Nokia and Motorola unveiled new mobile devices last week. Nintendo also offered price and availability details for the Wii U, the first major game console in years.

These are some of the gadgets to expect in the coming months:

¦ New iPhone

On Friday, advance orders for the iPhone 5 started. They are bigger, but thinner than previous models and they work with faster cellular networks known as 4G.

¦ Smaller iPad

There's speculation Apple will come out with a mini iPad - possibly with a 7.85-inch screen - to maintain its dominance. Although Apple said nothing about it Wednesday when it revealed the iPhone 5, the belief is it will come this fall.

¦ Rekindling the Fire

Amazon.com Inc.'s 7-inch Kindle Fire is one of the smaller tablets with decent sales. On Friday, it started shipping an updated version with a faster processor, more memory and longer battery life. It also cut the price to $159, from $199. Amazon is also releasing higher-end models under the Kindle Fire HD line.

Barnes and Noble Inc., which makes the 7-inch Nook Tablet, may have an update this fall as well.

Toys R Us, meanwhile, said Monday it is making a 7-inch tablet aimed at children. The Tabeo will go on sale Oct. 21 for $149.99.

¦ Motorola's return

Motorola has announced three new smartphones bearing the Razr name. The $99 Droid Razr M is now on sale. Two high-end models, the Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD, are coming this year.

¦ Calling on Windows

Microsoft Corp. will release a new version of the Windows operating system Oct. 26, one that's designed to work on both traditional computers and tablet devices. A new version of the Windows Phone system is coming out, too.

¦ Playing games

Nintendo's new Wii U game machine will go on sale in the U.S. on Nov. 18. A basic, white model will cost $300. A deluxe version, which comes in black and sports extra features, will cost $50 more. The GamePad touch-screen controller for it will offer new ways to play.

In "New Super Mario Bros. U.," for example, players holding the old Wii controllers control Mario, Luigi and other characters. The person with the GamePad can help them along by using a stylus to create stepping stones for the characters or stun enemies.

Players can also turn off the TV entirely and play on the GamePad.

Nintendo Co. has been trying to drum up excitement for the Wii U, the first major gaming console to launch since 2006.

The company also announced new entertainment features for the console. Called Nintendo TVii, the service collects all the ways users have to watch movies, TV shows and sports. This includes pay-TV accounts along with services such as Hulu and Netflix. The GamePad works as a fancy remote controller and will let viewers comment on what they are watching.

TVii will be available Nov. 18 as well, at no extra cost.