A Very Techie Christmas

By Bruce Richardson

This tech Christmas, without a doubt,  belongs to the mobile video phone.  The iPhone in particular, and all of the applications you can download with it. This year we are seeing phones that end in ‘Droid’, which is in reference to Google’s Android operating system. Reports indicate that Apple’s iPhone is still far and away the better system. Nevertheless, phone sales are through the roof and will break records by Christmas and year end. If you have someone on your Christmas list who has one of these phones, the most popular accessory is the ‘Crabble’.  The Crabble is a wallet-sized video stand for your iPhone or other video phone. You can check this out at  www.seskimo.com.  If you live in Ocean Shores, I would remind you that it is not the phone that matters the most, but the service behind it.  With these new mobile phones and all of the things you can do with them, you need ‘5 bars’ all of the time, and you need them where you live and work.  Check out the coverage maps of each provider before you make an investment.
Christmas in 2009 brings with it very sophisticated toys for adults and kids alike. Both the Sony Playstation and the Xbox 360 are on all of the top ten lists this year.  This is due primarily to the fact that you can also watch DVD movies on them and they connect to the Internet.  On all consoles, Modern Warfare 2, is the top game to get this year. The price of these systems are all tiered depending on how much branding you want with each system, so you can spend $200.00 for a base system, up to $400.00 to be able to store downloads from the Internet.  Systems aside, games will still cost about $60.00 and may be even a bit cheaper if you search the Internet.
Beating both Playstation and Xbox, however, is the WII; and in particular, the WII Fit game.  Adults are being captured by the ability to do some exercise and have a blast at the same time.  It is also turning into a party game, and retirement and nursing homes are buying them in droves. WII has held their price to $199.00 and the games are around $50.00.  If you go to Best Buy in Olympia, you can see the WII in action.
Kindle 2 sales are also up sharply this year.  This has driven other companies to develop their own electronic readers to compete.  Intel has developed a reader which it claims helps dyslexic readers, and even Barnes and Noble has marketed a reader with their brand on it. It is interesting to note that searching for other book readers reveals that the Kindle 2 is still the least expensive at $259.00.
A couple of Tech gadgets worth mentioning.  At Amazon.com, you can buy a USB foot-warmer. It is a cozy ‘glove’ for both of your feet that plugs into your USB port. Go to  www.amazon.com and type in ‘USB foot warmer’ for details.
One of the more fascinating gadgets this year is the Magic Wand Remote Control.  Yes, you get a ‘Harry Potter’ wand and you can change the TV channels with a wave of your magic wand! An adapter is included to fit on your TV and you get a book of ‘spells’ to train you on how to use the Wand.  Both the Wand and other slightly ‘geeky’ gadgets can be found at www.firebox.com.  This is where you can also buy Star Trek cologne….

Ocean Shores resident and North Beach tech guru Bruce Richardson’s web site is purpletreefarms.com.