2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Star Wars Chop Sabers

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Smart Home, Techies, Under $100, Under $25, Under $250, Under $50, Under $500,

How's this for a unique 2011 Holiday Gift Guide entry? They're lightsabers, they're chopsticks, and they'll change the way you experience your favorite Asian foods. Grab these Japanese imports from ThinkGeek and deftly maneuver your food with the power of the Force. We're not sure if you know this, but Yoda has been known to carve his Thanksgiving turkey using his lightsaber.

Go forth, brave Jedi warriors, and use your chop sabers to mix just a little extra wasabi into your soy sauce. You can handle it. It is a known fact that eating sushi with chop sabers vastly strengthens your ability to ingest horseradish products. (By the way, did you know that researchers are trying to make a smoke alarm for the deaf using wasabi vapors? We're debating whether it would be more annoying to wake up to the sound of a fire alarm or the punch in the nose that only wasabi brings. What do you think?) Either way, wield your weapons and ready the way for a truly epic eating experience. You can get a pair of Chop Sabers for $9.99 (a 23% discount!)

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Amazon Kindle Fire

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Women, Men, Techies, Teens, Under $250, Under $500,

We continue our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide with the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet. This is the Amazon tablet we've been waiting on for months, and it's has finally shipping. Amazon's looking to disrupt the tablet landscape with the Fire, and is pricing it aggressively at $199. The Kindle Fire weighs 14.6 ounces and packs a 7-inch IPS display, dual-core processor, 512 MB RAM, and 8 GB of on-board storage. It runs a forked version of Android that Amazon has prettied up in a major way. You also get Wi-Fi built-in as well.

Purchasers of the Kindle Fire also get a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, which'll let you get a nice sampling of what the company's Video on Demand service offers. Other services you can access from the Fire include Amazon's Android Appstore, Kindle books, a host of magazines, Cloud Drive, Cloud Player, and the Amazon MP3 service.

You can pick up a Kindle Fire now for $199 on Amazon.

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Crayola ColorStudio HD

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Kids, Under $100, Under $25, Under $250, Under $50, Under $500,

The next featured gadget in our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide is the Crayola ColorStudio HD. It includes iMarker, which looks and feels like a standard Crayola marker, but is safe to use on the iPad display. Paired with the ColorStudio HD app, you've got a marker, pen, crayon, and paintbrush all in one device. The app has interactive and animated coloring book pages that combine sound, touch, interaction, and special effects. You can print out the works of art, email them, and post to Facebook, all from within the app. You can get the ColorStudio HD on Amazon for $24.99.

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Twelve South PlugBug

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, USB, Apple, PC / Laptop, Techies, Under $100, Under $250, Under $50, Under $500,

The next featured gadget in our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide is the Twelve South PlugBug. It's a device that's so simple that it's hard to believe no one has come up with this until now. The PlugBug snaps onto your MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air wall charger, giving you a powered USB port in the process. The results? You can then charge both your Apple notebook, and a USB device (like an iPhone or iPad) at the same time, using just one outlet. Genuis! This means that when you're on the go, you can carry one less charger, and you'll have one less outlet to try and find. You can get the PlugBug on Amazon for $34.

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: LeapFrog LeapPad

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Toys, Kids, Under $100, Under $250, Under $500,

I know I'm not the only parent out there that has to give up the iPad to the children on a regular basis, and that's why we're putting the LeapFrog LeapPad in our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide. It's a personalized learning tablet optimized for kids ages 4 through 9. It's got a 5-inch touch display, built-in camera that can record video, and ships with four apps. More apps are available for download, and they focus on various educational topics like reading, math, science, geography, art, music, and more. You can pick up the LeapPad on Amazon now for $99.

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: iPod touch 4th generation

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Techies, Teens, Under $250, Under $500,

Apple's focused on the iPod touch as being the "funnest iPod ever" for a while now, but the introduction of the fourth generation model put it over the top. You've got the Retina display, FaceTime video chat, high definition video capture, and built-in gyroscope all packed into the thinnest iPod touch ever--and now it's available in white. Of course, you need great software running on hardware like this, and the App Store fits the bill with over 200,000 apps available. A great gift for teens who don't need an iPhone, or anyone who wants a mobile iOS device that isn't a phone. Prices start at $199 (or $189 on Amazon, a 5% savings):

• 8GB iPod touch - $220
• 32GB iPod touch - $288
• 64GB iPod touch - $382

Be sure to check out the rest of the stuff in our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide, we're adding new suggestions every day!

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Life is Beautiful

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Movies, Family, Women, Men, Under $100, Under $25, Under $250, Under $50, Under $500,

While it's definitely not the newest Blu-ray release out there, it's certainly one of the best. Life is Beautiful is a cinematic work of art, and you can get this one for the film buffs in your life for $6.99 on Amazon. Seriously, if you or someone you know is a fan of great films, this is definitely one to consider as a gift!

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Zeo Mobile Sleep Manager

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Smart Home, Science, Techies, Under $100, Under $250, Under $500,

The Zeo Mobile Sleep Manager safely and easily measures your sleep patterns right from home, resulting in a more restful and restorative sleep. It's a cool way to educate yourself about how well you sleep, and teaches you new ways that may help you get a better night's rest, so we're including it in our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide. It uses three main components--a comfortable wireless headband, your iOS or ANdroid device running the Zeo app, and the MyZeo.com companion website. They all work together to show you which habits and behaviors may help or hinder your sleep, and create personalized strategies just for you. A cool and unique item for anyone, and hey, who doesn't wanna feel rested in the morning? For those without an iOS or Android device, you can pick up the Zeo Personal Sleep Manager, which does all the same stuff without the need for a smartphone, and provides an alarm clock with sleep pattern display that captures your data onto DS card. You can get the Zeo Mobile Sleep Manager for $99 on Amazon.

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 digital camera

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cameras, Features, Family, Women, Men, Under $500,

If you've got someone on your gift list that needs a new point-and-shoot camera that also takes great video, we'd like to recommend checking out the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8. This is the point-and-shoot that we've been using for the past 8 months or so, and the quality is great. Video recordings look superb in high definition, recorded in AVCHD Lite. You've got a 25mm ultra wide-angle lens with 16x wide-angle optical zoom, facial recognition, and other bells and whistles. What we love about this camera, though, is that it has GPS built-in to geotag your photos and videos automatically, on the fly, as you take them. The ZS8 retails for $279.99, but Amazon is currently selling them for just $194.99 - a savings of $85!

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Zomm Bluetooth smartphone leash

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Smartphones, Features, Wireless / WiFi, Family, Women, Men, Techies, Teens, Under $100, Under $250, Under $500,

We've spent some time with the Zomm "wireless leash" and have come away impressed by the simplicity of the device, as it's one of those things that make you wonder why a product like it hasn't been available until now. With that, we thought it would be a good inclusion in our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide. The Zomm can be attached to your keychain, and connects to your smartphone over Bluetooth. Once paired, it becomes your wireless alarm system for your phone. For example, if you walk away from your phone, Zomm will sound a notification alarm and start vibrating, letting you know that you've left your device more than 30 feet away. This way, you don't leave a restaurant without your phone, or spend forever looking for it because you left it in the car (or, that you are in your car driving and left your phone at home!) Cool enough, but it does more.

Zomm also has an integrated speaker and microphone, so it also acts as a hands-free calling device. If your phone rings, Zomm will ring as well, and you just press the Z button to take the call without having to fish around for your phone while driving. Zomm also has a built-in panic alarm. Hold down the Z button and the alarm will go off. Continue holding it, and the Zomm will use the Bluetooth connection to your phone to dial 911, and it will let you speak with the authorities right from the Zomm device. This is seriously a cool piece of technology that is a must-have for those people who constantly leave their smartphones behind in cabs and restaurants, or just anyone who wants an extra layer of security with them at all times. You can get a Zomm from Amazon for $76.

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