As I’ve done for the past couple of years, I am sharing my picks for some gifts for the geeks in your family this holiday season.
This week begins the frenzy of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and mailboxes (both physical/virtual) being filled with catalogs and special offers. In that spirit I am sharing a few of my favorite picks – a balance of things I have purchased this year that I love as well as a few things on the list I am giving my family. Ok, here goes…Enjoy!
- I have a new driver in the family and that usually prompts geek parents like me to invest in some related tech. After reading a ton about it I finally purchased the new Automatic Pro. ($130 Amazon). This handy little device plugs into the diagnostic terminal under the dash of most late model cars (you can check to see if your car is supported here) and tracks all kinds of interesting data points including (location, speed, diagnostics, crash detection, fuel efficiency, etc). This latest version now has 3G and no monthly/annual monitoring fees which is super cool. It also integrates with all kinds of services like Amazon Echo to allow things like “Alexa, where is Anna’s car now?” and automatically cooling/heating of your house as you are within 5 miles via your Nest thermostat. We’ve only had it for about a month, so I’ll let you know how valuable it really is, but it looks promising. Chris got me thinking about adding a dash-cam to the equation. I just wish those were a bit more elegant in their plug and play and integration – that space is ripe for an Automatic-type player who shows up and makes this something every car owner wants. At this point, it’s still a bit of a ultra-geek that has the interest/time/skill to do wiring, etc.
- If you haven’t already figured it out, I am a home AV and home automation geek. I have been a long-time fan and user of Logitech Harmony remotes, but it wasn’t until their latest edition, the Harmony Companion Remote, ($142 Amazon) that I have felt that they fully nailed the blend of simple/elegant design and awesome home automation integration. A few minutes after setup (which is how long it took) I was loving this device and so was the toughest judge in our home, my wife, Jennifer. Finding and adding my various devices was seamless and integration with my the Amazon Echo and Philips Hue was as simple as could be and the performance/accuracy of this remote makes it a winner for me and anyone wanting to simplify their home automation needs. The Harmony Companion website provides a much deeper description about all the magic that this thing delivers – check it out here.
- If you’re like me, you lose your keys, bag, wallet, remote, glasses, well pretty much everything, all the time. There are a bunch of these on the market, but I was recently turned onto the Chipolo bluetooth tracking device ($26 Amazon) and I’ve now got 5 of them. These are super cool, cheap and work extremely well. I also picked up a couple of their new Chipolo Card (2 for $60 Chipolo website) which I have slid into my wallet and camera bag. The Chipolo classic and plus come in all kinds of fun colors. These are great for anyone that loses things and has a smart phone – which make them perfect for most everyone.
- I use the Waze navigation app every time I drive and never had a good place to perch my phone to my dash that didn’t add some unsightly bracket to my car or my phone. I saw a friend of mine with a tiny little round sticker on the back of his un-cased iPhone (which is the way I roll as well, it’s too beautiful of a device to encase it with something that ruins the form factor!) and asked what it was. He showed me this tiny and STRONG magnetic bracket that attaches to your air vent that he brings along on his travels to mount his phone in his rental cars. I was sold and bought one immediately. It’s called the WizGear Universal Mount ($6.99 Amazon) and I love it.
Ok, now’s the time I get into the more expensive, totally unnecessary gear, but sometimes you have to splurge, right?! I must also mention that unlike the items above, I am not currently an owner of any of these items (but hope to change that soon).
- I really can’t justify adding this to my household that already has 3 Xbox consoles (I know, it’s a problem), but this one is hard to pass up. The Xbox One X ($499 Amazon), the latest in Microsoft’s line of high-end gaming and entertainment consoles has just been released and it’s a whopper! It’s now the world’s most powerful gaming console and the first with true 4K and UHD support. Besides 6 teraflops of processing power, this thing is a beast in every way. I am not sure I need to explain to you folks why a geek needs the latest and most powerful gaming device currently sold – this is a geek’s dream device in every way.
- I have always dreamed of having the completely impractical original Segway scooter, but could never justify the cost ($ ), but their latest Mini-Pro scooter is pretty impressive and much less expensive ($550 Amazon). The thing that attracts me to this newest model is the fact that its much more light-weight and portable. And, of course, it’s bluetooth enabled and tethered to your mobile phone. You can even have it wake up and find you to pick you up for your ride. Yes, I should be more concerned with getting the steps in, but sometimes you just need to quickly jump on a scooter, skateboard, bike to get you somewhere quickly and smoothly and I believe this just might do the trick.
- In a similar category of step/fitness-sacrificing personal transportation tech is the super-cool Boosted Board 2 ($1,500 Amazon). Made super famous by YouTuber Casey Neistat, this originally crowd-funded electric skateboard, has set the standard in what is a growing area. I imagine it would take me years to get as adept to riding this on the streets at high speed as Casey, but I would love to give it a try. I have watched Casey for a long time and have admired this board that he features on most every episode – he was an early investor. If you see me case on my arm or leg you’ll know I skipped a payment to my daughter’s college tuition fund and bought one of these.
- I have always been a bit intrigued with personal labeling systems and this one showed up on an Amazon geeky gift guide and so, I had to have it. This is super cool. It’s called the Dymo MobileLabler ($58 Amazon) that connects easily via Bluetooth. I am sure my wife will love all the labels I will be printing/placing around the house. Here is the promotional video that gives you a quick run-down of all the features. I was also impressed with this video showing a new use-case for the kitchen pantry, which is to print expiration dates for various food that you might put in reusable containers.
- Oura Ring ($299-499 Oura) enters a field that is filling up fast – wearable jewelry. The thing that intrigues me about this category, and this smart-ring in particular is how I could imagine wearing this all the time (maybe if it were a tad bit smaller) including while sleeping to get accurate sleep tracking without the bulk of a watch/wrist-based wearable. Here is their full site to learn more and see other colors/shapes. This is a category I am going to watch, but likely not jump in right away. I had one of these in last year’s list, but didn’t end up getting one for my girls – I am curious if anyone out there has tried these.
Jason Warnke 
Leave a comment