Buyer’s Guide: Technology Gift Ideas

Christmas is right around the corner, but there is still time to find that perfect gift. It seems more and more these days, technology gifts are the ones most craved by just about everyone on our lists. There are still lots of people who want more traditional items, but gadgets seem to be the hottest and sometimes the most difficult to decide on. Keeping pace with the changes in the technology world is nearly impossible these days as new devices and gadgets hit the market with such staggering regularity it makes even a veteran tech watcher’s head spin. With that in mind, The Bloomsburg Daily has set out to create a guide to some of the hottest and most lusted after gadgets the tech world has to offer. Below are five of the hottest ideas out there across a spectrum of prices so you can decide just how naughty or nice your gadget lover has been this year!

Apple TV

One of the more misunderstood devices Apple currently has on its shelves, the Apple TV is really quite the marvel of technology. The Apple TV doesn’t actually store any of your music, TV shows, or Movies on it, instead it streams all of that wirelessly from an existing computer running iTunes. You do need a wireless network in your home along with a TV with an HDMI connection, but if you have those things you can use one cable to make all of your digital content available in a simple and elegant package. The Apple TV retails for $99.00 but it provides quite a bit of bang for your buck. Rent movies, buy episodes of popular TV shows, and even access content from Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, and more from the simplest remote out there. If you are looking for something that transforms your ability to tap into your existing digital media on your TV, this might be the device you want to see under the Christmas tree this year.

The Kindle Fire

The Kindle line of eBook readers have been around for quite some time. If you’ve never used a Kindle I can honestly say it is a real pleasure to read on. Amazon has a huge selection of media to keep you more than satisfied. The new Kindle Fire is a step away from the original Kindles in a staggeringly big way. While it maintains all of the great eBook features it adds a whole host of new features that are more familiar to an iPad than the old school eBook readers. It is a killer device for watching movies, TV shows, and web videos. It has an App marketplace so playing great games is a click away and the integrated web browser built on the Amazon Silk technology is best in bread. The amazingly bright screen serves as the primary interface through touch and if you have an Amazon Prime account, you get unlimited instant streaming of over 10,000 movies and TV shows. The best part is at $199.00 it is hundreds of dollars less than the iPad.

The iPod Nano

The iPod Nano from Apple is a really interesting little piece of technology that does a whole host of things. The first thing you notice is that it is super small and can clip onto any of your clothes and you barely know it is there. With its touch screen it brings some of the features that iPod Touch and iPhone users love, but in a package that is truly amazingly small. The battery is rated to play for 24 straight hours on a charge so you can be sure that you have plenty of play time. The Nano adds an FM radio with live pause so if you are listening to a favorite song or program on the radio and you need to talk to someone, just hit the pause button and resume later. It has a built in Nike+ app and sensor that gives you real-time feedback on your workout, and you can upload data to the Nike+ website without the need to buy a sensor or special shoes. But, the coolest feature are the various watch faces that allow you to turn your Nano into a very smart and functional time piece. Just buy a watch band, like the iWatchz to turn your iPod Nano into the coolest watch on the planet.

iPad Kitchen Accessories

If you are one of the millions of people who already own an iPad there are some really cool new accessories hitting the market to make it even more functional to support all the things we want to do with it in the kitchen. The Belkin Under Cabinet Mount is a really cool little product that lets you attach your iPad to your cabinets in the kitchen while you cook. What we like about this mount is that it doesn’t require you to install it in any way. Another item for the kitchen is the Belkin Fridge Mount. This ingenious little mount lets you easily attach your iPad 2 to the fridge and with the wide array of Apps to support cooking, lists, and other daily tasks, this little accessory could be quite handy. The last iPad kitchen accessory also works with the Kindle Fire, it is the Belkin Kitchen Stand. What makes it a great idea for a cook is at $35.00 it holds your table in the perfect position and also comes with a no-mess stylus to keep your tablet clean when you have greasy or messy hands.

Belkin Mini Surge Protector & Dual USB Charger

This is a $12.00 gadget that I personally use every single day at home and when I travel. This compact surge protector not only gives you three outlets for your laptop and other items, but adds two built in USB ports fit for charging all sorts of other devices. I use it to charge my MacBook Air, my iPhone, and my iPad on a single outlet. Especially when traveling this little thing lets me leave two charger at home and still keep my devices powered.

Disclosure: Buying any of the items above by using our links will provide The Bloomsburg Daily a small percentage of the purchase price through the Amazon Affiliates program. Photo obtained via Flickr.