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2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Zomm wireless 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 2010 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 Newegg for $79.99.
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| Zomm Bluetooth Smartphone Leash
Gallery: 2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Zomm wireless smartphone leash
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2010 Holiday Gift Guide: 11-inch MacBook Air
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, PC / Laptop, Women, Men, Techies,
Apple's smallest notebook is the MacBook Air, and all signs are pointing to this being the best-selling Mac this holiday season, so we had to include it in our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide. The 11-inch MacBook Air packs in speedy flash memory that is soldered directly onto the motherboard, resulting is lightning-fast performance. It also means no moving parts, so you get five hours of battery life from the tiny little wonder, and it even sports a full-sized keyboard, which we feel is a must (and is one of our main complaints with other netbooks.) The price starts at $999 from Apple, but hey, if you go with Amazon then its $994 with free shipping, and MacMall has them starting at $969--not bad for the most portable Mac out there.
Gallery: 2010 Holiday Gift Guide: 11-inch MacBook Air
2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Amazon Kindle
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Handhelds, Women, Men, Techies, Under $250,
The latest release of the Amazon Kindle, the company's ebook reader, seriously changed the game in the ereader world. It's thinner and lighter than any previous model, it packs in Wi-Fi for the first time, and it is much cheaper despite being the best Kindle they've made to date, and that's why we're adding it to our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide. You can get the Wi-Fi model for just $139, or if you need the Wi-Fi + 3G model, that one goes for $189. Thing is, we'd bet that most anyone would do just fine with the Wi-Fi only model, and for $139, you get a cool gadget that book lovers will...uh...love! They're available in white and graphite colors, and we'd recommend picking on up sooner rather than later, because these are gonna be a hot one this year.
Read More | Amazon Kindle
Gallery: 2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Amazon Kindle
2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 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-ZS7. 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 12x 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 ZS7 retails for $349.95, but Amazon is currently selling them for just $257.82 - a savings of $92.13!
Read More | Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7
Gallery: 2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 digital camera
2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Powermat Rechargeable Travel Mat
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, USB, Smartphones, Misc. Tech, Women, Men, Techies, Under $100,
We're big fans of what Powermat has to offer here at Gear Live HQ, and that's why we think it's appropriate to feature them in our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide. What you've got here is a little panel with a built-in battery pack that lets you wirelessly charge your mobile devices. It folds up and is small enough to throw in a bag, and won't take up much space at all on a desk. On a full charge, you can charge an iPhone five times. The Powermat Travel Mat comes with adapters that allow you to charge any USB device, Nintendo DS, a few proprietary phone connectors, and iOS devices. The cool part here is that you just set your device on the mat, and it starts charging.
They typically sell for $130, but Amazon's got 'em for $69 right now.
Read More | Powermat Travel Mat
Gallery: 2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Powermat Rechargeable Travel Mat
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z280
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cameras, Features, Family, Women, Men, Under $250,
Casio rocks it this year with the Exilim Zoom EX-Z280 digital camera, and we like it enough that we are recommending it in this years gift guide. It sports a dedicated Easy Mode, making it easy enough for pretty much anyone who enjoys pressing buttons to operate, while still maintaining the advanced features for more experienced pros, including ones that you don’t typically find on budget-priced digital cameras. One such feature is mechanical (instead of digital) image stabilization, giving you nice clear shots while you stumble around during a holiday party after one-too-many eggnogs, as well as a 4x optical zoom lens. In addition, it shoots video in 720p, so it can even take the place of your Flip-style camcorder. You can grab one now for $173 on Amazon.
Read More | Casio Exilim
Gallery: 2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z280
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Kodak Zi8
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cameras, Handhelds, HDTV, Women, Men, Techies, Under $250,
We love how inexpensive it’s gotten for people to attain the ability to record high definition video, and we think this category is set to explode this holiday season. Based on this, and you know how much we love video, we’ve got to recommend the Kodak Zi8 handheld camera. Why? Well, the Kodak Zi8 records full 1080p HD video at 30 fps, and can also take 5 megapixel still images. It incorporates image stabilization as well, which helps avoid that whole Blair Witch shaky cam effect that none of us enjoy, and in a rare move, it even has a microphone jack so you can connect a nice, high quality audio device, if you so choose.
It’s definitely a great value for such a small device that packs a nice punch. The Kodak Zi8 typically sells for $179, but you can find it on Amazon for a little less than that.
Honorable Mention:
Flip Mino: It isn’t HD, but it’s about $60 cheaper than the Kodak Zi8.
Read More | Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera
Gallery: 2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Kodak Zi8
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Scene It! The Simpsons Deluxe Edition
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Movies, Toys, Video Games, Family, Women, Teens, Under $50,
It’s no secret that Scene It? is one of the most popular game series around, and this holiday we are recommending Scene It? The Simpsons Deluxe Edition. It’s been getting rave reviews as one of the best Scene It? titles to be released, and hey, it’s The Simpsons. The show has been around for 20 years, which means parents can play this with kids and have a good time. The game features material from the show’s first 19 seasons on the air, has hundreds of questions, and has four collectable tokens. You can pick up Scene It? The Simpsons Deluxe Edition for $29.99. Best. Scene It. Ever.
Honorable Mentions:
Scene It? Twilight Edition: Yeah, we know a lot of the ladies out there are on a vampire kick thanks to Twilight. Guys, you may want to consider this one.
Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen!: Would you rather play scene it on the Xbox 360 rather than using a DVD player? This is the one you’ll want.
Gallery: 2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Scene It! The Simpsons Deluxe Edition
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: HP DreamScreen 100
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Displays, Smart Home, Wireless / WiFi, Family, Women, Men, Techies, Under $250,
Ever since the HP DreamScreen arrived on the scene, generic digital photo frames have seemed so passe. I mean, the DreamScreen is a digital photo frame on crack, essentially. It’s available in 10- and 13-inch sizes, and aside from simply displaying your digital photos, it can stream Pandora (or up to 10,000 Internet radio stations,) set alarms, display your calendar, show you a five-day weather forecast, and even give you a look at your Facebook account so you can see what’s up with your peeps. Plus, it incorporates touch into the bezel, and we like touch.
The HP DreamScreen typicalls sells for $250, but Amazon currently has it for $205, a full 18% off.
Read More | HP DreamScreen 100 on Amazon
Gallery: 2009 Holiday Gift Guide: HP DreamScreen 100
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Roku HD-XR Player
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet, Women, Techies, Under $100, Under $250,
We are kicking off our 2009 Holiday Gift Guide with the Roku HD-XR player. Why? Well, we think that it’s the perfect time to introduce someone to the new hotness that is TV, delivered over the web, and right into the living room. Sure, Netflix has come to the Xbox 360, but if you want streaming access to the Netflix service and don’t own a game console, this is your cheapest barrier to entry. The HD-XR model also gives you access to the Amazon Unbox catalogue, as well as the entire MLB game service as well, if you are subscribed.
Definitely a great gift for movie buffs, the Roku HD-XR player is able to stream over 12,000 movies and television shows from the Netflix Watch Instantly catalogue, and over 45,000 from Amazon Video on Demand. It connects to your home network through an ethernet port, or over Wi-Fi, connecting at up to 802.11n if you have it. There’s also a USB port on back, which Roku says is for future use. Our guess is that they’ll be allowing the device to read from an external USB drive, which would be stellar.
The actual device is tiny, so it takes up barely any space, and setup takes just a couple of minutes - very simple. Of course, a Netflix subscription is required, but once you have that, everything else is a piece of cake.
Honorable Mention: If you want all the features of the Roku HD-XR, but don’t need the USB port or 802.11n wireless speeds, you can grab the Roku HD Player for $99!
Read More | Roku HD-XR
Gallery: 2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Roku HD-XR Player
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