Posts Tagged ‘geeks’

Our top 10 gifts for geeks

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

Firebox: Tux droid

All the geeks you know are probably off somewhere sulking and pretending they don’t want anything to do with Christmas. But we know better.

As an opportunity to acquire sexy new toys it can’t be bettered. So, if you want to make sure you’re buying the right thing (or making sure your loved ones are buying you the right thing) then look no further.

Here’s 10 things that we’ve spotted guaranteed to appeal. Or maybe you just want an excuse to spend money on yourself…

Whatever the case, we hope you enjoy the list.

  • New Apple iPod Touch, 16GB, Black from John Lewis - £269. Because you can’t really argue with this (as reflected by its price tag). Sleek and black, only 8mm thick with a 3.5in widescreen suitable for watching movies. Touch-screen navigation allows you to browse items by cover art then flip it to view track listings. The 16GB hard drive stores up to 3,500 songs, 20,000 photos or 20 hours of video. Enjoy five hours of video or 22 hours of audio playback from a single recharge. Also includes wi-fi capability for internet use or iTunes store connection.
  • Bounty Bay MMORPG subscription from Yusho - approximately £16.94 depending on the exchange rate, as it’s priced in euros. Massive multi-player online roleplaying games are currently among the coolest things in geekdom. As pirates always have been, for some reason (we think it dates back to Monkey Island). Think World of Warcraft or Second Life, except every day can be Speak Like A Pirate Day! And with this one you have the chance to be in from the beginning. We faithfully assure you that this has the potential to be the geek gift of the season.
  • USB Podcast Kit from IWantOneOfThose.com - £89. Everything you need to podcast to the planet. Behringer have bundled a studio-grade USB audio interface with comprehensive DAW and podcasting software, and also thrown in a professional 5-input mixer with 2-band “British” EQ, high-quality headphones and a dynamic broadcast-style microphone plus cable and stand. All you need is something interesting to say…
  • Tux Droid from Firebox - £89.95. For the Linux aficionado in your life, a piece of kit that can be programmed to tell you about your appointments, or convey any other kind of information you need to know about. It also doubles up as a wireless VoIP phone, an MP3 speaker and an alarm clock that rouses you with any sound you fancy. And it has the power of speech too, apparently, or at least speech synthesis. Exclusive in the UK to Firebox. Did we mention that it’s a felt-covered penguin?
  • I Am the Eleventh Timelord T-shirt from Shot Dead in the Head - £18. Comes in almost any colour your heart could desire, from Tardis blue to Rose pink. Or, if The Doctor doesn’t hit the spot, try one with a Sinclair or Commodore 64 logo. Another of our favourites reads: Jack Bauer wouldn’t stand for this shit. In case you can’t decide there’s a two for £30 deal on offer.
  • Samsung Digimax i7 Digital Camera from The Digital Camera Company - £181. Boasting a frightening array of features including a rotating LCD applied to a digital camera for the first time. The new user interface allows the Samsung i7’s mode to switch automatically depending on the angle of the LCD screen. The 3in LCD incorporates a wide touch screen and the thoughtful design ensures a firm grip and while the dynamic SVGA quality iMovie Clip function and the Flash animation GUI will melt the heart of every geek that encounters it.
  • WiFi detector from Firebox - £59.95. A pocket-sized device that sniffs out the presence of WiFi without the necessity to boot up your laptop. As well as detecting a signal and indicating its strength it also displays essential network information including network ID (SSID), encryption status (WEP and WPA) and channel. And when multiple networks are present you can scroll through info for each individual network.
  • Tardis USB hub from IWantOneOfThose.com - £19.95. This four-port Tardis USB hub may not whisk you off to another dimension but it will cause a diversion during your working day. Every time you use a port the light on the top flashes and it makes that classic Tardis noise that geeks everywhere know and love (you can turn it off if colleagues start to object, then refuse to get a life). Rest easy, knowing The Doctor stands between you and oblivion.
  • Desktop Defender from A1 Gifts - £11.99. For those days when the rest of the world will insist on intruding. Don’t they realise that coding takes concentration? If not, keep them away from your desk with a few well-placed foam missiles from this neat desk-mounted, battery powered, fully aimable missile launcher with a 10ft range and sleek red and silver casing. And a big red button.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean DVD player from PC World - £49.99. Yo ho, me hearties! Let Captain Jack Sparrow entertain you with this official Disney product featuring CD, CDR and CDRW playback, on-screen display and NTSC encoding standards. So now you can watch all your favourite pirate movies and not get eaten by ghosts. Arr!

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Our top 10 gifts for gadget freaks

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

John Lewis: Micromark Tea Express

If you’re wondering what on earth to buy the gadget freak in your life, then look no further. Or, if you are that gadget freak, try printing out this page and leaving it lying about somewhere handy.

Here’s 10 things that we’ve spotted guaranteed to appeal to everyone hoping to find plenty of geeky gizmos under their Christmas tree.

Or maybe you just want an excuse to spend money on yourself… Whichever way, we hope you enjoy the suggestions.

  • Micromark Tea Express from John Lewis - £49.95 Nothing less than the rebirth of the Teasmade! This combined automatic tea maker, reading light and alarm clock is programmable and makes up to four cups, has a large LCD clock with an analogue face and built-in alarm, plus its own ceramic teapot. What gadget freak could ask for more?
  • Clocky Runaway alarm clock from IWantOneOfThose.com - £39.95. This is a sadistic little treat for people that have a bit of a job getting up in the morning. You see, it’s impossible to turn the annoying little bugger off without actually leaving your bed. Set your alarm and as soon as it goes off the Clocky will lurch forward and then move off in random directions for 30 seconds. There is a snooze function, but when it expires the clock will run off again. Endear yourself to friends and family alike…
  • Radio-controlled Pro Trek watch from Casio - £249. Casio Pro Trek watches use a unique triple sensor system to accurately measure temperature, barometric pressure and direction. This Pro Trek now also includes Wave Ceptor technology to ensure perfect timing to the second.
  • Roboraptor 8081 remote-controlled robotic dinosaur at Dixons - £64.99. Roboraptor is a 32-inch long realistic robotic beast with lifelike animatronic motion that allows him to walk, run and hold a predatory stance. Sensors all over his body enable him to hear, see and feel people and the environment around him. He’ll roam about, or you can set his mood to make him cautious, playful or on the hunt.
  • EZvision video eyewear from IWantOneOfThose.com - £149. They said it couldn’t be done - a take-anywhere 50-inch movie screen. Weighing in at just 68g, ezVision Video specs plug into your iPod Video or any portable player and screens movies in such a way that it seems as though you’re looking at a huge screen. Retractable headphones are built into the arms. Eight- hour re-chargeable battery, integral volume control and adaptors to connect to iPods and DVD players. Never go mad on a flight or a train ride again!
  • VOIP Cyberphone from Firebox - £29.95. A fully-featured USB-powered telephone which comes bundled with Skype, free software which uses new VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology to allow you to make free calls to other VoIP Cyberphones and obscenely low cost calls to landlines and mobiles all over the world. All you need is an Internet connection to start talking to the 208 million people worldwide who have already signed up.
  • Phillips LCD digital photo frame from John Lewis - £129. This 7in glass frame with a choice of coloured surrounds, scrolls through up to 50 of your digital photos, displaying a single image, thumbnails or a slideshow, complete with transition effects. It features high quality, print-like pictures with full colour, high pixel density and adjustable brightness to match ambient light conditions. Extremely easy to use, it allows viewing of digital photos directly from memory cards. Or simply plug the frame into a computer via a USB connection and download images.
  • Kameleon remote control from Firebox - from £49.95. An incredibly stylish object that offers simple remote control solutions to the latest technologies in the home. No other universal remote control removes the unwanted clutter of multiple remotes with such style. Comes in 5-in-1 and 8-in-1 flavours to take care of your TV, VCR, DVD, CD, audio, satellite and cable needs.
  • Combined MP3 player and USB stick from MyMemory - from £11.99. A huge memory capacity in a body that’s both tough and small. This multi-purpose MP3/WMA Player also doubles as a USB Flash Drive to help you store, transfer and carry your important data. Comes in 1GB and 2GB sizes.
  • Gadget cover - from £9.99 per month. With most of us carrying a small fortune in gadgets around with us these days, it’s definitely time to think about insurance. How about a policy that covers against theft, loss of mobile phones, accidental damage and water damage as well as offering an extended warranty, worldwide cover and replacement within 48 hours? Check out what Gadget Cover Insurance has to offer.