A
smorgasbord of timely tech gift suggestions by
Alan Zisman (c) 2008 First published in Business
in VancouverDecember 9-15, 2008; issue 998
High Tech Office column
Economic
meltdown or not, Christmas gift-giving season is in progress. Here are
some of the gifts the High Tech Office is considering giving or hoping
to get.
Many laptop users never quite get comfortable using
their portable’s trackpad. While they may prefer a computer mouse, up
until now they’ve had to choose between a standard-sized mouse, which
is bulky to pack around, or a laptop mouse, which is more portable, but
too small for optimal mousing. Microsoft’s
wireless Arc Mouse
($70) combines the best of portable and full-sized models. Its
full-sized crescent-shaped design can be folded in half to provide
notebook mouse portability and can simultaneously shut down to save
battery life. Unfolded, it offers full-sized mouse comfort and
performance.
Motorola’s MOTO Z6w
is among the latest of that company’s slim and stylish mobile phones,
featuring a slide-down keypad, two-megapixel camera, media player and
all the standard bells and whistles. Crystal Talk noise reduction
technology reduces that “cellphone” sound on your calls. In the crowded
mobile phone market its built-in Wi-Fi lets it stand out. It’s useful
for web browsing and for Fido’s optional UNO service, allowing for
unlimited Internet phone calls across a wireless router. You can buy a
voice-enabled Wi-Fi router from Fido or use one you already own and
make free calls connected to public wireless hotspots. $60 with a Fido
contract.
BlackBerry’s
Curve
is one my favourite smartphones. It combines a usable QWERTY
mini-keyboard with web browsing and webmail, camera and media player.
Now Virgin Mobile is offering
the Curve 8330 along with a $15/month rate on unlimited e-mail and
instant messaging. An additional $15/month adds unlimited web browsing;
$49 on a three-year plan.
Even though you might think everyone
already has one, music players like Apple’s iPod remain popular. If
you’re considering buying an iPod online at apple.ca, you have the
option of personalizing it with a couple of lines of engraving. Trying
hard to compete with the iPod, Microsoft’s
attractive and capable Zune
music players ($99 to $179 for four- to 16-gigabyte models) take that
idea a couple of steps further. At www.ZuneOriginals.ca, the company
offers customers a $15 option to customize and personalize their player
by adding not just a couple of lines of text (as with the better-known
brand) but also one of a growing set of original designs laser-etched
onto the back, including Western and Chinese astrology symbols and lots
more. There are over 50 designs, in three series: artist, tattoo and
Zodiac.
If you’ve got – or are planning to give – an iPhone or
Apple’s latest-generation iPod Touch, Nano four-gigabyte or Classic
120-gigabyte models, you may not realize that these models support
audio input for speech or music recording, but don’t necessarily
include any simple way to get sound into them. Griffin Technology
has released two products to provide external microphones for
compatible iPhone/iPods. Their TuneBuds
Mobile
($40) combines a set of comfortable ear buds with a high-sensitivity,
noise-cancelling microphone and control button with play, pause and
skip forward controls. The company’s SmartTalk
($20) offers the same microphone and controls, while letting you plug
in the headphones you already own.
Sling Media’s
popular SlingBox series lets users view cable and other TV content on
computers across home networks (and the Internet). The company’s new SlingCatcher
($329) does the opposite. It uses the network to make Internet video
and computer-stored video and other media content viewable on
television sets.
No network? No problem: users can connect a USB
hard drive or flash drive, playing any media-stored media content.
Combining a SlingBox and SlingConnect module lets users watch home TV
content on a different set.
Geographic positioning systems (GPS) are increasing popular, whether
built into newer cars or as add-on units. TomTom’s flagship model Go 920
($450) is easily mounted on most cars and comes pre-loaded with
updatable maps of Canada, the U.S. and most European countries. And it
supports speech – both in and out. You tell it where you want to go and
it tells you how to get there, though if you’re uncomfortable talking
to your gadgets, you can input your destination using its 4.3-inch
touch screen or included BlueTooth remote control.
Also
built-in: an FM transmitter, so it can use your car’s sound system to
speak to you. Enhanced positioning technology estimates your position,
keeping you on-track even in the depths of big-city canyons, where
satellite signals might be intermittent.
Notebook computers have
traditionally been both too large and too expensive to be considered
stocking stuffers. This year, however, has seen explosive sales of
so-called netbooks, small in size and small in price. Early models have
tended to be from less well-known manufacturers. More recently
companies like Dell and HP have entered the market. New is Toshiba’s Netbook NB100
($479): nine-inch screen, small but responsive keyboard and touchpad,
efficient 1.5 Ghz Intel Atom processor, 160-gigabyte hard drive,
one-gigabyte of memory and Windows XP Home. Like other netbooks, it
won’t replace a full-powered desktop system, but it makes an affordable
ultra-portable second system. And it will fit in a stocking.
A few issues ago, I looked at Storage
Appliance Corporation’s Clickfree
hard drive. It provides the easiest way I’ve seen to back up home or
small business systems: just plug the portable drive (models range from
120-gigabyte to 500-gigabyte at prices from $129 to $199) into a
Windows computer’s USB port and the backup software pops up, no
installation needed. Storage Appliance has gotten into the holiday
gift-giving spirit by offering a free 160-gigabyte HD801 to each of the
first three readers of this column to e-mail julie.coghlan@porternovelli.com.
Be sure to put “Clickfree contest” in your e-mail’s subject line. •
Alan
Zisman is a Vancouver educator,
writer, and computer specialist. He
can be reached at E-mail
Alan