I
am sure all of the readers of this column have a family member who is lucky
enough to be technically obsessed – and this time of year is always difficult.
What to buy the person who thinks a piece of sporting equipment would be a
great device to gather spider webs on; clothes are something that should be
bought once and then kept forever and jewellery is good for the Gold within
that could be melted and used in electronic devices.
I
am here to solve your gift problems this Christmas with a snapshot of presents
that would have any geek drooling with excitement.
To
start with the future, I want to go back in time. Nintendo is one of the
largest video game companies and was founded way back in 1889. Obviously they
didn’t have video games in 1889 (Edison only invented the light bulb in 1879)
but they originally produced handmade playing cards. In 1985 they released the
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) which became the best-selling gaming
console of its time. Nintendo have now released the NES Classic Edition where
you can enjoy 30 classic games including Super Mario Bros.; Donkey Kong; Legend
of Zelda and one of my arcade favourites, Pac-Man. Parents might even have a
chance of beating their kids on games they grew up on!
Snapchat
ten-second videos are perfect for the short attention spans of our modern
society. The problem is that it takes longer to take your phone out of your
pocket and get it ready to video than the actual video. Not anymore. Snap’s
spectacles capture a ten-second circular video that you can easily share on
Snapchat. To take out the creepy factor, a light on the glasses shows when you
are currently recording.
Virtual
Reality has been discussed ad infinitum but the headsets are not starting to
become reasonably priced at good quality. After extensive research, my son
splurged on the Sony Playstation VR headset and I can vouch for the sometimes
too realistic feel of the headset. With this you can be Spiderman or ride a
roller coaster or pilot a spaceship. Head movements can be used to control your
direction and the Playstation Move motion controllers put your hands into the
action. The minor issue is that you also need a PlayStation console.
With
cameras galore on our phones, printing photos seems so yesterday – but maybe
the concept is coming back. There is nothing like that little photo wall in
your bedroom or a great photo stuck on the fridge. HP have just released a
portable photo printer that will allow a Bluetooth connection from your phone
to print direct to the printer. Quick, easy and simple and the quality of the
photos is impressive for a small portable printer.
Noise-cancelling
headphones are not exactly brand new. I have been using a couple of different
versions from the inventor of the category, Bose, for a few years now. Bose
have just released their latest version though. The Bose QuietComforst 3.5. All
the great features of the previous Bose noise-cancelling headphones with the
added benefit of Bluetooth. And let’s face it. Everything is better with
Bluetooth. If you know someone who spends too much time on an aircraft, this is
the gift that keeps giving.
I
explored Bluetooth standards in a previous article but one of the great
advances of Bluetooth since the invention of the concept has been the low power
consumption of the technology. You can now use a Tile – a small device about
the size of a 50-cent piece – to track any device you want to keep tabs on.
Keys, wallet, children (not sure on the legality of attaching one to your
child) or even, in the case of my daughter, teddy bears. You can track the
location with your smartphone or make the device emit a tone to track it down
precisely when you are nearby.
If
you are buying presents for techies that like to spend time in the kitchen, the
Death Star Waffle Maker is for them. You can make waffles for dessert (or
breakfast!) and have them imprinted with the image of the Star Wars Death Star.
Seriously, who comes up with this stuff?
If
you want your techie family member to remember you every day (or in the case of
some techies, every week), the Bluetooth Showerhead Speaker is the one for you.
The waterproof speaker lets you stream music or podcasts from a phone nearby
and simply clips out of its magnetic holder to recharge or use in another room.
It takes singing in the shower to an entirely new level.
For
the last suggestion, I am going to go with traditional jewellery. Well, not exactly
traditional. This cocktail ring syncs with a phone to function as an alert for
texts; calls; calendar alerts and more. Vibrations and coloured lights let you
know to check your phone. There are four vibration patterns and five colour
options to distinguish the different options on your phone. And to keep the
price down, it has been made with cubic zirconia rather than the normal Carbon
allotrope.
That
should be enough to get the gift juices flowing but, as I am sure you know,
there are tens of thousands of Web sites just waiting to take your money for
geeky and gimmicky gadgets. Enjoy the creativity of the people who create these
items.
Mathew Dickerson