Hot holiday gadget gifts
Posted Dec 6, 2011 7:37 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
“Televisions are always an awesome gift,” says CityTV Tech Guy Mike Yawney.
Yawney says one of the biggest holiday head-turners is an 80 inch TV from Sharp, perfect, he adds, for someone who may not be able to accommodate the home theatre of their dreams.
LG has new technology for those into 3-D TV. Passive 3-D technology that works similar to the glasses you would find in the movie theatre.
Tablet computers are also huge this holiday season.
Many Christmas shoppers will be flocking to the Ipad 2, with it’s large variety of apps and Facetime application.
Besides Apple, one of Yawney’s favourites is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, with its Android operating system, dual core processor, apps and its flash capability.
Another tablet that making waves right now is Sony’s.
Playstation video game junkies can play their older games on the unit and use it as a remote for items in the living room thanks to infrared technology.
Yawney says it’s important to note that you don’t have to be tech-savvy to use a tablet.
“They are so easy to use, and with all of the apps you can download now, it’s amazing what you can do and they’re not that scary to pick up,” he suggests.
There are cheaper tablets right now, for anyone who may be flipping back and forth between one and an e-reader, Yawney suggests the Kobo Vox.
“Essentially it’s an E-reader with a colour screen but it doubles as a basic tablet,” he says. “So it has access to thousands of different Android applications but acts as an e-reader as well, you can surf the Internet, get your email.”
E-readers, he explains, are getting better every Christmas, another name shoppers may want to look for is the Amazon Kindle.
Gaming has also really taken off, all of the systems are popular although Nintendo is in last place.
One of the newer items kids may want under their tree is Playstation’s new 3-D display.
“It’s a 24 inch LCD display, that is unique because two players can play this at the same time but they only see their own screen, not the other players,” he says.
When it comes to smart phones, he suggests don’t dawdle.
The closer shoppers get to Christmas, the harder the Iphone 4s will be to find.
“It’s got an 8 megapixel camera built in, the camera in the 4’s rivals many point and shoot cameras on the market right now….it’s just that good,” he says. “And that’s just one of the features that is making it so popular this holiday season.”
But if you’re not picky when it comes to your cell phone, he’s suggesting the newly resurrected, splash and scratch proof Motorola Razr.
“You can actually access files from your home computer on your Motorola Razr smart phone,” he explains. “So you can access word documents but you can also stream movie and music files.”
Another phone that is expected to be a must is the Google Nexus.
“Watching videos on this phone will blow your mind, it’s amazing,” says Yawney.
It’s unique feature is near field communication, an internal chip which will allow you to pay for purchases in stores.
