Looking for some gift ideas for the techie in your life? The “Today” show’s gear guy Paul Hochman, an editor with Men's Journal magazine, shares his list of best bets:
Samsung 40” LCD HDTV (LN-S4095D)
Plasma’s main advantage over LCD technology is speed: A plasma pixel has no moving parts, unlike LCD’s microscopic mirrors, which flash open and closed to display colors. Fast-moving images in sports, action films and video games can leave digital “artifacts” or trails on LCD screens. Luckily, Samsung’s 40-inch LCD television has reduced each pixel’s response time to just 8 milliseconds, making image lag time almost too short to see. But the best thing about the S4095D (other than the fact that it’s easy to connect to games, players and other devices) it its incredibly high resolution. The television has over 2 million pixels, which means it can take advantage of the newest, ultra-high-definition videos out there, called Blu-Ray, which are many times as clear as a DVD. ($2,999 at samsung.com)
Zero Blaster
In a world of soulless, high-tech devices whose only appeal is the amount of data they can store, it’s nice to think that some of that scientific thinking is being dedicated to pure fun. Zero Toys’ new Zero Blaster is nothing more than a high-tech, smoke ring blaster, which uses the same technology as Hollywood smoke machines to transform non-toxic fluid into 2-4 inch fog rings. Pull the trigger, and send floating fog circles toward your opponent. Or through other players’ rings. An LED (light-emitting diode) lights up the game and the non-toxic vapor it creates hangs around for only a few seconds. Fun, easy. ($19.99 at zerotoys.com)
Nikon D40 Camera
Nikon’s 6-megapixel D40 camera is notable for its simplicity, a welcome change in a complicated tech landscape. For example, if you’re about to take a picture and the light’s too low, it will ask you on screen if you want to use the flash. And if you’re taking fast pictures of a fast-moving image, it can snap off 2.5 shots every second, which is very quick for a digital camera. Plus, the large LCD screen on the back of the camera is incredibly easy to see, and while the new D40 is one of the most highly advanced Digital SLR (single lens reflex) consumer cameras out there, it weighs just over one pound (including the lens), and is the smallest Digital SLR Nikon has ever made, so it’s even easy to carry. It even has an almost-nonexistent “shutter lag,” which means you don’t have to wait between the time you say “cheese” and the moment the shutter clicks. ($599)
Sirius Satellite Radio – Stiletto SL100
If there was one drawback to satellite radio (which picks up signals from orbiting satellites that hover over the United States), it was the players — they either had to be connected to cars or, if they were portable (a very recent development), they were about as easy to use as Rubiks Cubes. The new, sleek, shiny, simple-to-use Stiletto, which is offered by Sirius Satellite Radio, has a simple-to-navigate system and a very large, high-resolution LCD screen. The best part — other than the intuitive buttons — is the fact that not only can you can take it outside on a walk, bike ride or hike and pick up over 100 channels of digital radio, when you’re inside, the Stiletto picks up the wireless internet signal you set up in your house (it’s WiFi enabled). So you can stream sirius.com from your website and listen to satellite radio… inside. ($279, with rebate at sirius.com)
Bang & Olufsen “Serene” Phone
The Danish company Bang & Olufsen has become famous for its electronics design, but not in the way many might assume — the sound of their stereos and phones is excellent, but the design of the box the tech comes in is even more distinctive. The new collaboration between B&O and the huge Korean cell phone maker Samsung is designed to go against the recent trend toward complexity. The pricey but beautiful “Serene” has clean lines which are meant to remind users of the ancient rooflines of Asian farm houses. Some truly novel features — the phone opens with a smooth, relaxing, battery assisted motor around an aluminum hinge and closes softly, too. A simple, uncomplicated trackwheel helps you navigate through the phone’s features. B&O claims “the best sound and speech recognition ever heard in a cell phone.” ($1,275 at bang-olufsen.com)
Atomic Izor 9.7
Atomic, based in Austria, has created the world’s first nanotechnology ski, the Izor 9.7. Nanotechnology, which is the science of using materials that are a millionth of an inch in diameter or less, is beginning to affect the entire high-tech world, and the ski business is no exception. The Izor has an extremely low profile — from some angles, it looks like half a normal ski, because many of the Izor’s bulky structural elements, like the core and sandwich layers, have been replaced by microscopic silicon dioxide crystals; those crystals have been injected into the resins (strong glues) that hold together the ski’s carbon fiber layers. The more particles injected, the stiffer the ski. By adding crystals, not heavy structural layers, Atomic can add strength without adding weight. ($1,099 at atomicsnow.com )
Sushi Drive
Perhaps the strangest but most fun piece of technology I’ve seen out there is imported by Dynamism.com, which makes unusual backup USB thumb drives for people who want to back up their personal data. Only in this case, instead of impersonal, characterless plastic, these drives are in the shape of sushi. That’s right, a sushi drive. A 256 MB “Meguro” sushi drive is $99. So is a single piece of 256 MB “Ikura” or salmon roe. Fun, great gifts, totally distinctive. (dynamism.com)
Celestron SkyScout
This personal planetarium, as the company calls it, is nothing less than a GPS device that aims up, not down. In other words, the voice-guided system uses orbiting satellites to determine your position on the earth, and then uses tiny motion sensors in the device to figure out what angle you’re pointing it at the sky. The result: It can name, out loud, millions of stars and constellations that you’ve maybe never heard of but wish you knew. Named “Best in Show” at the 2006 CES consumer electronics show. ($399 at celestron.com)