Tech Gifts For Gadget Lovers
Americans will spend more than $22 billion on tech gifts this holiday season, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.
If you're looking for a tech gift that truly sets itself apart from all of the other gadgets on the market, BehindTheBuy.com Senior Editor David Gregg is your go-to person.
In an Early Show Holiday Gift Guide entry Monday, Gregg spotlighted some truly unique, next-generation items capable of exciting even the non-techie among us!
These descriptions were prepared with information provided by the manufacturers.
NEW TYPES OF DIGITAL FRAME TECHNOLOGY
Men's Leather Digital Photo Wallet
This leather wallet features a removable digital photo viewer. Don't carry a wrinkled paper photo of your kids in your wallet. Our new handsome leather wallet includes a removable digital photo viewer that stores 55 color images. Easy USB photo transfer from your PC to the 1.4" screen. Better still, the viewer is rechargeable-no batteries to buy! Classic men's and woman's bi-fold wallet is made of soft black Nappa leather.
$50 www.brookstone.com
Brookstone's Digital Photo Ornament
This digital photo Christmas ornament stores over 50 of your favorite family pictures-and it even plays slide shows! The ornament has a 1 ½" (diagonal), bright, color LCD screen. Easily download photos from your PC to the ornament and enjoy each one individually, or as part of a slideshow. Features include photo rotate and crop and auto power off. Uses 2 AAA batteries (not included). Available in Red or Green.
$50 www.brookstone.com
HP Photosmart R937 Camera
The HP Photosmart R937 Digital Camera takes photos with a large 3.6-inch interactive Touchscreen and superior 8-Megapixel resolution. Ideal for those on the go, this stylish, remarkably thin camera easily slips into a pocket or purse. You can apply creative touches, easily organize photos with Microsoft Vista-compatible tags, add e-mail addresses for easy sharing and create slide shows all in the camera. The HP Photosmart R937 Digital Camera includes the latest HP Design Gallery features such as industry-leading in-camera red-eye removal, pet-eye fix, slimming, HP steady photo anti-shake and HP touch-up to ensure subjects look their best. Easily add e-mail addresses or tags to the camera simply by tapping the virtual keyboard Get the photo intended with HP Design Gallery's industry-leading in-camera red-eye removal and pet-eye fix. Slim subjects and remove blemishes in camera with a unique slimming feature and HP touch-up. Add on-camera personal touches to photos using borders, colors and effects Get more detailed photos with new automatic HP steady photo anti-shake mode and HP adaptive lighting technology. Stitch panoramic photos and save them for viewing and easy printing with no PC necessary. Catch gripping action shots with minimal delay with the easy-to-use burst mode. Capture spontaneous memories in high-quality video with audio. Snap a photo and mark it for e-mail right on the display.
$249.99 www.hp.com
HP Photosmart A826 Printer
This personal printing station delivers fast, lab quality prints coupled with lots of fun features (such as clip art and captions). The per-print costs are in line with other snapshot printers. The touch screen is easy to use and great for displaying slide shows. Owning an HP A826 is similar to having your own professional style photo kiosk in your home.
$250, $229 after rebate on www.hpshopping.com www.hp.com
NEW PHONE CHARGER
WildCharger by WildCharge
Once you enable your cell phone with WildCharge, you will be able to charge the phone by placing it on any WildCharger pad that is connected to a power source; this regardless of where the pad is - at home, work, or abroad. The charging pad is, in fact, universal in this regards; any cell phone, music or video player or other mobile device we enable can be charged on any pad, and any pad can charge any enabled mobile device.
Initially, WildCharge is introducing adapters for the very popular Motorola RAZR cell phones. During Fall 2007, they will introduce adapters for iPod Nano music players, and soon thereafter adapters for RIM Blackberry smart phones and multiple other devices. The WildCharge solution is built safe for consumers, equipment, and electronic data. It does not interfere with the operation of electronic equipment, has no impact on reception or transmission quality, and emits no harmful radiation. It is also efficient - power is delivered as if the devices were plugged directly into the wall!
$90 www.wildcharge.com
NEW KIND OF PHONE SERVICE
Ooma Hub Device Delivers Free Domestic Phone Service
Your one-time purchase of a ooma hub device gives you: unlimited calling throughout the United States with NO monthly fees or contracts using a standard landline phone; two lines on one number, with the Instant Second Line feature; message screening and send-to-voicemail with the Broadband Answering Machine feature; online access to voicemail and calling preferences; premium features, such as enhanced call-waiting, three-way calling, caller-ID, one touch do not disturb, at no extra charge; total compatibility with your existing landline phone. Hollywood Stargazers may like to know that Ashton Kutcher is a principle in this company and has been very active playing the role of Creative Director at ooma (not to be confused with Uma - as in Thurman!
$400 www.ooma.com
AMAZON'S WIRELESS READING DEVICE
Kindle: Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing. Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle, whether you're in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed. Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute. More than 90,000 books available, including 100 of 112 current New York Times Best Sellers. New York Times Best Sellers and all new releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise. Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy. Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes-all auto-delivered wirelessly. Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times-all auto-delivered wirelessly. More than 250 top blogs from the worlds of business, technology, sports, entertainment, and politics, including BoingBoing, Slashdot, TechCrunch, ESPN's Bill Simmons, The Onion, Michelle Malkin, and The Huffington Post-all updated wirelessly throughout the day. Lighter and thinner than a typical paperback; weighs only 10.3 ounces. Holds over 200 titles. Long battery life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Fully recharges in 2 hours. Unlike WiFi, Kindle utilizes the same high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones-so you never have to locate a hotspot. No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments-we take care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read. Includes free wireless access to the planet's most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia-Wikipedia.org. E-mail your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing.
$400 (Includes Free Two-Day Shipping) www.amazon.com
NEW Apple iPod Touch
With the Apple iPod touch, Apple has married the iPhone's revolutionary multi-touch interface to their popular digital media player. So instead of a Click Wheel, you just use your fingers to flick through your music, photos, and video. Two fingers can be used in a pinching or spreading motion as well, which zooms in and out of photos and web pages. That's right, the iPod touch is the first iPod to offer web access. It does this via built-in Wi-Fi support. There's even a special iTunes Wi-Fi Store, so you can browse and purchase new music and video while you're on the road. Connects to a PC or Mac through USB (using the dock connector) 802.11b/g Wi-Fi Charge Time - about 3 hours (1.5 hours fast charge to 80% capacity). Available in a 8gig (1,750 songs/10 hours of video) and 16gig (3,500 songs/20 hours of video) versions.
$299/$399 www.apple.com
GIBSON ELECTRIC GUITAR -- $2500
The World's First Guitar with Robotic Technology Available December 7, 2007 in Limited Quantities and at Select Global Locations. The world's first--run run limited edition version of Gibson Les Paul Robot Guitars went on sale Dec. 7, 2007 at 400 dealers throughout the world. Each store will only have 10 instruments. This highly collectible piece of history will be available in an exclusive Blue Silverburst Les Paul model. When they're all gone, they are gone for good.
To find the list of exclusive Robot Guitar dealers go to www.gibson.com/robotguitar. All photos of the guitar can be found at www.gibson.com/press.
Gibson Guitar, the world's premier musical instrument manufacturer and leader in music technology announced today the limited availability of the world's first guitar with robotic technology, the Gibson Robot Guitar. True to the spirit of innovation that inspired Gibson to invent the legendary Tune-o-matic bridge, the powerful humbucker and the revolutionary HD.6X Pro digital Les Paul guitar, the Gibson Robot Guitar is set to make music industry history.
1. The Gibson Robot Guitar eliminates tuning problems for guitarists. It automatically tunes to standard A440 tuning.
2. It also enables players to access six commonly used altered tuning presets at the push of a button. These tunings were used on many well known hit songs, giving players easy access for the very first time.
3. The Gibson Robot Guitar allows the guitar to be intonated in seconds after string changes, truss rod adjustments or change in weather conditions.
4. Finally, with the locking tuner, single string changes or changing the entire set of strings are an automated breeze.
The system consists of five high technology components which are extremely light and do not change the instrument in any way. A control knob (which also serves at the volume know) enables the tuning with a simple push or pull. Each tuner is equipped with specialized servo motors. As the motorized tuners adjust the pitch of the strings they are monitored by means of a Tune-Control Bridge.