Top 12 Tech Gifts for 2010

Top 12 Tech Gifts of 2010In a recent US Airways Magazine, “the magazine that connects you”, according to the front cover, there was an article that discussed the top twelve technology gifts of this holiday season. The gifts are listed below.

12. Canon Selphy

11. Garmin Nuvi

10. Bluetooth

9. Apple TV

8. Livescribe Echo Smartpen

7. Xbox Kinect

6. HP Envy 17 3D

5. Logitech Z305 Laptop Speakers

4. Samsung Galaxy Tab

3. Fujitsu Scansnap

2. Sony Bloggie Touch

1. Panasonic 3D Camcorder

I don’t know about you, but that list is pretty weak if you ask me. Out of all those items, I have heard of only a couple. And is Bluetooth really a gift idea? Isn’t that more of a technology itself? And hasn’t that been around for a long time? Anyway, I wanted to take some time to introduce you to these twelve gifts, give you a short overview on what they are, and talk about their price points.

Canon Selphy – $100

This is being called the 21st century’s answer to the Polaroid camera. This is a tiny battery powered photo printer that produces images on the spot. It works with most, if not all, digital camera and is competitively priced among other digital photo printers on the market today.You can click here for more information on the Canon Selphy.

Garmin Nuvi – $450

How many of you have smart phones? While I raise my hand, I will look right past this device. This is nothing more than an advanced piece of GPS technology. It is light, thin, and is totally portable. Did I mention it looks exactly like an iPhone? Plus, you can buy a brand new iPhone for half as much that has the same technologies built in. Sure, it might not have the same interface, but unless you are dropped in the middle of nowhere (and even then) the iPhone will be just fine. You can click here for more information on the Garmin Nuvi.

Bluetooth – Price Points Vary

You can’t really put a price on a technology like this. Bluetooth is not new either, having been around for years. Anyway, according to April White from US Airways Magazine, this is one of the top twelve gift ideas this holiday season. One thing that the latest version of Bluetooth does offer is a much lower energy rating taking less power to provide you with more seamless streaming. Regardless, it’s not new and not something that should have made the list in my opinion. You can click here for more information on Bluetooth.

Apple TV – $100

This is a concept Apple started a while back but failed with out of the gate. They are back with a new brand and some new technologies to help sell Apple TV this time around. With Apple TV you can stream pretty much anything on your TV including iTunes, Netflix (you must subscribe to Netflix first), YouTube and more. There are several free software packages out there that do the same thing, this is just packaged a bit differently and has an Apple on the outside of the box. You can click here for more information on Apple TV.

Livescribe Echo Smartpen – $170

This is cool, kind of. The pen itself is actually a computer that records what you write and what you say (or sound in the general vicinity of where you are sitting) and then will later turn that into rich text. It is cool, but if you are going to write why not type? I see little to no value in one of these, of course if you are James Bond it comes operation standard. You can click here for more information on the Livescribe Echo Smartpen.

Xbox Kinect – $150

The reason why I hate playing the Nintendo Wii is because I have to work. I don’t want to play video games to work. I play to relax and lay on the couch all weekend. But with the popularity (and the extremely low price points of the Nintendo Wii) Microsoft knew they had to answer with something. So introducing the Kinect. This is taking the Wii idea to a whole new level making the controller obsolete. I have used it, and its cool, but again, why? I want to put as little effort into gaming as possible. You can click here for more information on Xbox Kinect.

HP Envy 17 3D – Price is TBD

I am so sick and tired of this 3D crap. You go to the movies, and nearly every new release is in 3D. Sure, its cool, but who wants to sit through a movie and wear 3D glasses? Then comes 3D TV. Now, 3D computers. When will it stop? I mean, who wants to watch Oprah in 3D? Not me, that’s for sure. Again, you have to wear glasses to use this. Not something I want to do. You can click here for more information on the HP Envy 17 3D.

Logitech Z305 Laptop Speakers – $60

This is the lowest-priced gift on the list. But it looks dumb. One, its not wireless. With all the advances in technology don’t you think they could make these wireless speakers? Plus, it hooks to the back of your laptop directing the sound down and out. Sure, they are small, but they are not attractive. They are produced by Logitech, who have been known to make great peripherals, but for someone who has headphones on all day long, not for the average user. You can click here for more information on the Logitech Z305 laptop speakers.

Samsung Galaxy Tab

I’m sorry, but I thought Apple already made one of these. Wait, they did. The iPad is the exact same thing as the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Just how every company on the market tried to reproduce the iPhone, Samsung is the first to take a swing at the iPad. Guess what, it’s not the iPad. Sorry, but the iPad is a killer experience. The Galaxy Tab won’t be able to touch it (no pun intended). Oh, but wait… it’s lighter than the iPad. This will sell because when they release the price point I am sure it will be much cheaper than iPad, but guess what… it’s still not iPad. I rest my case. You can click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Fujitsu Scansnap – $295

I have seen devices like this before, but this one is a little bit more versatile than the others. This little device will scan in business cards, important documents, receipts, and more and store them on your machine. This is good for people like me who save every receipt. (I never balance my credit card bill either, so I have no idea why I save my receipts.) This is being called a “must have for the business traveler”. I’ll let you be the judge of that. You can click here for more information on the Fujitsu Scansnap.

Sony Bloggie Touch – $200

If you couldn’t tell, I am a blogger. I consider myself a professional writer, and have never seen value in a device like this. But they are calling this “the ultimate blogger’s tool”. Sorry, I disagree. This will take still images (camera), video (video camera) and can be connected through USB (camera and video camera) to your machine. Or, I could use my cell phone; it takes images and video. But this can easily transfer content to Facebook. Guess what, so can my phone! You can click here for more information on the Sony Bloggie Touch.

Panasonic 3D Camcorder – $1,400

One, this is out of my budget. Two, it’s playing off that 3D crap again. Like I said before, I am sick of all the 3D talk. Regardless, now you can record video in three dimensions. So the next time you have a birthday party or the kids are doing something funny… catch it all in 3D! Yeah, guess what, you will still have to wear glasses to see the footage. But Panasonic calls the product “sexy”. You can click here for more information on the Panasonic 3D camcorder.

As you can see I don’t agree with all of these gifts. There are several things that should have made this list, including iPad, the Kindle (it has free 3G built in to the device), portable Blu-ray players, or even the iPhone. The iPhone is still the single most important piece of technology on the market today, if you ask me. So when you are out there shopping for the geek in your family this holiday season, keep this list and mine in mind. Happy holidays and good luck finding the perfect gift for your geek!