The holiday season is on and it is time that we all start trawling the internet for that quirky, different, useful, fancy gift for our loved ones that suits their taste and our budget.
Here are a few ideas thrown together to make your investigative journey a little less tedious and a lot more interesting.
Tech Gifts FOR MEN & WOMEN
Timex TX54 disposable nail watch
A design competition run by Timex threw up a new wearable concept in timekeeping, the TX54 concept is a disposable timepiece that can be worn on the user’s thumbnail making it an invaluable fashion accessory as well.
The translucent design allows the timepiece to blend seamlessly with the nail while a selection of text color options and a glow feature activating on command make it supremely functional as well. It is a perfect blend of appearance, user interface, and technology.
A robotic suitcase
There are many options available in the market. There are some that are still in the design stage. These suitcases are convenient, quirky and useful. One does not need to pull these suitcases along they just follow you around and even are able to maneuver around obstacles in the path.
They have smart technology enabling autonomous movement, it is dynamic and its AI allows it to adjust to your speed and movement. In short, it moves and thinks on its won.
It comes with a GPS chip for location and orientation, it comes with a renewable battery, a Bluetooth connection and some of them even come with a built in scale to measure the weight it is carrying so as not to go overboard and having today extra luggage charge. It can cost anywhere between $1000 to $1500.
LiveScribe 3 Smartpen
 It is the bridge between audio and script. You can write and record at the same time. The pen works on a notebook of Dot Paper that you can buy along. You can sync it to your smartphone to share your work via apps like Google Docs and Evernote. The pen is equipped with an IR camera that takes 72 snapshots per second. It is easy to change the ink in the pen and it charges with a micro USB cable. There are various pens available with different features and can cost anywhere between $100 to $200.
This technology is now available for purchase from LiveScribe.
Smart Locks
Smart homes and the Internet of Things (IoT) means that you can control the safety and gadgets of your home through smart technology at your fingertips.
Smart locks are a part of that evolution where now keys to a lock are done away with. You can now control who can lock and unlock your door and view who is entering or exiting.
You can use the fingertip enabled lock system. A wi-fi enabled lock to replace key entry into a home. With a smart lock, you can control who has permission to lock and unlock the doors of your home, as well as the option to view who has recently been entering and exiting your home.
Most such locks integrate with your home security and voice access system.
The price range starts at $120 to upwards depending on the features you need.
Smart garden
When everything is getting smarter by the day, including pets that can communicate through gadgets, plants cannot be left behind in the race
People who want an evergreen compact herb supply can opt for mini indoor smart gardens. There is no hassle involved watering them and rotating them in the sun. Now there are click-and-grow options available. There are some available that are self-watering with a built-in grow light. They come with a smart soil and hydroponics and LED systems that give the required light.
They start at $100 and go upwards till $200. Some give you the option of hanging too. Available at click and grow, Bath& Beyond and Food52.
Smart Vanity Mirror with Lights and Bluetooth Speaker.
There are many smart mirrors available in the market and if you have a loved one who loves dressing up and makeup, this can be a perfect gift.
Many come with LED lights that can be voice-controlled and Bluetooth speakers. If you want to get a bit expansive then get one that streams music and videos and is voice compatible. There are some which scan your face and can give a skin health analyzer. You can even order the relevant products without needing to go to our phone.
The price range is between $100 to $450.
Multifunctional backpacks
This is for adventure junkies and people who like to travel light—a backpack that is multi-functional. There are many in the market that allow you to marry functionality and convenience.
Vessel 3-in-1. Is one such backpack, which turns into a tent Vessel 3-in-1 jacket that turns into a backpack, a tent and a jacket. Designed by Justin Gargasz, the backpack can turn into a jacket in winter weather, which further converts into a private, protective cocoon while camping.
The medium-weight reversible jacket is with different weights of Cordura that makes it extremely durable as well as stable.
It is still at the concept stage, and will soon reach the market.
But if interested there are similar jackets minus the tent option available. We have the solar charging backpacks and the all-in-one tool carriers too from KATA. Ralph Loren has launched one with solar panels to recharge gadgets on the go. Quirky too has a similar one. These vary in prices starting from $100.
FOR KIDS
Electric Motors Catalyst
It is a fun, open-ended learning kit that helps you make things through tinkering. Children can build a countless number of projects that use electric motors to power them. There is a comprehensive guide of challenge cards to get started. Some of the suggestions are a machine that can make scrambled eggs, a vehicle with a suspension system. Build a robot with spinning arms, a ring launching game. There are myriad options available to connect the electric motor and creativity. Suitable for pre-teens and early teens.
The game comes for $55.
Pai Technologies Botzees Augmented Reality Kit for kids
It is robotic kit that combines augmented reality, coding, and robotics. It comes with 130 pieces of blocs, 30 interactive puzzles that teach coding using intuitive visual-based methods.
The Botzees you create can move dances and do some other activities once connected to the app.
The cost is $100.
The botzees are designed for children aged 3 to 6.
Sphero Mini bot
It is meant for educators and parents who are interested in introducing kids to the world of robots.
Beginner learners can drive and play STEM-inspired games with the Sphero Play App, and more advanced learners can go on to coding with Block-Based Coding or Javascript in the Sphero Edu app.
It allows one to build mazes, obstacle courses and more. It comes with a gyroscope, accelerometer, and colorful LED lights. Recommended for ages 8+ and is priced at $50.
FOR PETS
Self Cleaning Indoor Dog Potty
BrilliantPad has come up with the world’s first self-cleaning dog potty that automatically wraps and seals waste so the home stays clean and odor-free.
One Brilliant roll can run for at least two weeks. Disposal is fast, easy and clean, and you never have to use dog waste bags. Everything messy stays sealed inside the roll while the outside remains clean and dry.
To top it all off, the disposable caps are biodegradable.
Price: $149
The Arden Pet Collar
It has GPS, it’s made of hypoallergenic silicone, it’s waterproof, it has LED lights, and it uses NFC data transfers to notify people that are in close proximity to your lost pet, via their smartphone. The collar ranges in price from$149 to $600 (add-ons include leather and an internationally functioning data plan).
Smart Food Dispenser for your pet
The Hoohi Pet Feeder comes with a speaker and a camera. You can schedule exact feeding times for your cat or dog, watch them with the built-in 1.0- megapixel camera and speak to them with the integrated loudspeaker. It is available on Amazon for $180
A $30,000Â Doggy Dream House
Samsung’s Dream Doghouse, a $30,000 pooch pad that features an AstroTurf-covered treadmill, hydrotherapy pool, entertainment wall, and paw-controlled snack dispenser is for a very lucky canine.
The tiny home has vinyl walls that can be covered with photos of the owner’s choosing, while the opposite wall features a Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablet, for when the dog wants some entertainment or wants to go online.
The purpose is to serve those who have social media profiles for their dogs and want to constantly check on their pets and talk to them via video calling.
No More Woof
It is a wearable gadget that that converts animal thoughts into human language.
It has been invented by the nordic society for invention and discovery, a Scandinavian research lab, using microcomputing and EEG to recognize the pet’s brain waves and spell them out in English through an attached loudspeaker. It is still in the prototype stage. To make it more interesting and diverse the design team is working to develop different voices and tones to fit the personality types.
At the moment it is only speaking in English but models in Mandarin, French and Spanish are anticipated soon. The device can be pre-ordered through indiegogo.
