The question that we go through every holiday season, “what do I get the tech guy for Christmas?” It’s not always clear what the hottest new gadgets are, and it’s nice to have a little help every now and then. So we here at Computer Geeks have decided to use our Geeky expertise and give you some suggestions. Because we are always here to help when you need us!
Top 10 tech gifts
10. UE Boom
The UE Boom is a great outdoor speaker to get as a tech gift. It’s Acoustic Skin with Plasma coating, makes it both stain and water resistant. Which means you can actually wash it when the outdoors has an unfortunate accident on it. the UE Boom is compact, and durable, with Bluetooth and 15 hours of battery life! It also has speakerphone capabilities and if you buy a second speaker you can make a wireless pair of true stereo speakers by using the UE Boom App for both Android and iOS devices!
Price: $229.39
9. GoPro Hero 4 Silver
For its latest Silver edition, GoPro seems to have taken the specs of 2013’s Hero3+ Black edition, added new features like HiLight Tagging so you can quickly find that cool thing that happened, improved low-light performance and, perhaps most importantly, a touchscreen on back! This is a great on the go camera for the price, making it much more affordable than the Black edition, without a huge drop off in performance.
Price: $399.99
?8. Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Another great tech gift is the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. And Before you Apple users blow me up with hate comments, read the whole blog first. The first smartphone to carry Qualcomm’s fastest 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor and quick-charging technology, the Galaxy Note 4 is also the only one of its kind to give you a stylus for writing and multitasking. Like many phones these days, it’s crammed with a 1,440p quad-HD screen and a high-performing camera that uses optical image stabilization. With its faux-leather backing, this is one device that really comes together. For Android users this is THE PHONE you want, Large screen, sleek design and super fast!
7. Xbox One
Talk about a tech gift that your geek will love, here it is. THE XBOX ONE. The Ultimate gamer experience, when you want the best in graphics and online gameplay, you have to go with Xbox One. The PS4 may be better for solo gaming, but in today’s gaming world, we don’t just want to kill AI over and over. We want to destroy someone on the other end of the headset and then dance on his lifeless body. And now Microsoft has dropped the price and promised us more games in 2015 which will be a treat. Also the Xbox One allows you to integrate it fully with your home entertainment center and control everything by voice, which comes in handy when your remote decides to walk away and hide under the couch
Price: $349.00
6. Vizio E0i-B Series
The models of the Vizio E series equipped with local dimming deliver superb picture quality for a very affordable price. The image evinces deep black levels with little to no blooming and great bright-room performance, and it provides for plenty of adjustments. The Smart TV component combines ample content with a simple design. With picture quality that outdoes that of numerous more-expensive TVs, Vizio’s E series likely represents the best value of 2014.
Price: $528.99
5. Apple iPad Air 2
Apple’s formula for success includes a high regard for design. The Apple iPad Air 2 continues a legacy of high-end aesthetics that help propel the tablet’s popularity. From gaming to steaming movies and TV Shows this device does it all
If you’re already wrapped into the Apple ecosystem, the iPad is meant to easily sync with your digital content, and if a slimmer design isn’t enough to appease those looking to upgrade, Apple also designed a speedy new processor just for the iPad Air 2.
Price: $499.99
4. FitBit Charge
The Fitbit charge is for those runners and health nuts in your life, that also love technology to take their fitness to the next level. *spoiler alert* I actually bought one for my wife for Christmas this year. The FitBit Charge Tracks steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes and sleep. It even includes Includes Caller ID.
Price: $129.95
3. Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Here it is Apple lovers your beloved iPhone 6 Plus. I have done an extensive review of this which you can check out HERE. This phone has all the bells and whistles, from a beautiful display, to a superfast processor, and if you can find one in the stores it would make the perfect tech gift for the geek in your life.
Price Starting at: $199
2. Death Star Bluetooth Speaker
Meet the iHome Death Star Bluetooth Speaker. When you’re not using it, it’s a lovely c. 4 1/2″ diameter Death Star on an acrylic stand. When you are using it, it’s a wireless speaker with one-touch connectivity to your Bluetooth device. Oh, and did we mention it also lights up? Yup. It can also play music from devices with a standard 3.5mm audio out jack (if it has a standard headphone jack, you’re good). Unfortunately, the model we got does not include Concave Dish Composite Beam Superlaser, but you know, them’s the breaks.
Price: $69.99
Star Trek Phaser Remote Replica
Sometimes after a long week filled with landing parties and surprise Klingons, you just want to prop your boots up and watch a little mindless television. Or maybe you’re ready to catch the weekly adventures of those wacky kids on-board the U.S.S. Enterprise. What sort of mischief will Captain Kirk get into this week? Aim that phaser at the TV and…. pew pew pew!
This ST:TOS Phaser Remote lets you harmlessly blast your home entertainment system into submission. Recreated from 3D laser scans of the last known screen-used hero prop, it looks good, but it’s also a fully-functioning programmable infrared remote control. And when we say “phaser” we aren’t getting away with just giving you the Phaser I. Nope. It does include the Phaser I which functions as a standalone gesture-based universal remote control but also slots into its Phaser II pistol-grip base, which provides additional controls. You can store up to 36 programmable gestures: plenty to control all of your Earth-based entertainment equipment. The combined unit (Type I and Type II together) features a wide range of settings and beam strengths, including different Phaser firing sounds (including Phaser Overload sequence) and authentic Starship Enterprise sounds.
Just be sure you’re not wearing a red shirt while aiming this at your TV set. We’re pretty sure that voids the warranty.
Today, Google’s blog released it’s top 10 trending items of 2014. There were some hit and misses, but the ranking of Google’s 2014 trend list is what struck me.
What was the number one trending event search for 2014? It was the tragic suicide of actor/comedian Robin Williams. It brought up a lot of other issues, like depression and mental illness. The second was this summer’s world cup, and the USA’s brilliant play in that world cup. ?A serious medical crisis, Ebola, was the third biggest trending issue of 2014, followed by the mystery of Malaysian Airlines 370’s disappearance into thin air. Rounding the first five is the ALS ice bucket challenge craze of this past summer. A technology trend was the sixth highest trend: the Flappy Birds game. Rounding out the top 10 were Austrian entertainer Conchita Wurst, the terrorist group ISIS, movie sensation Frozen, and the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Now I’m no sociologist, but I see we love our celebrities, especially after they’ve passed away. With all the serious news issues that happened this year, like the rise of Ebola and ISIS terrorism, I’m surprised Robin William’s death surpassed even them. But the sudden death of one of the all time comedic greats was a great loss for us all. And it has gotten a much needed conversation on mental illness started. I look at the major news issues of the year that didn’t make the top 10: Ferguson, Israel vs. Palestine 7-week-war, Ukrainian crisis, plummeting gas prices, I can go on and on. ?And of all the young celebrities that made the 2014 trending list, Conchita Wurst was the only one who made it? No Taylor Swift? No Kerry Washington? No Jennifer Lawrence? All had amazing years, but I guess not amazing enough to trend as much as Conchita Wurst has. I find it strange only one technology trend made the trend list. Where’s the smartwatch? What does Google’s 2014 trend list say about our society?
Apparently I am an old fuddy duddy, and I had no idea that this comments phenomenon even existed. Now I have watched and used YouTube videos to help me get through a difficult part of a game, or to find hidden items, but this is ridiculous. Watching someone else play a video game, and listening to his absurd comments and ramblings may be the end of a functional society as we know it. Last night while watching my favorite show “South Park” they were actually making fun of this phenomenon, specifically a famous YouTube personality Pew Die Pie. I mean, just typing out this guy’s name makes me want to puke in my soup. To go on YouTube and see MILLIONS of views and comments on his video’s is just mind boggling.
When I was growing up, parents couldn’t fathom why we all loved video games so much. They told us we were wasting our lives away by not going outside and enjoying real life. I didn’t see it back then, but maybe what my generation started, this new one is taking it to a whole new level. To be so lazy, that you can’t even play the mind numbing video game, and you have to watch someone else play, so you can listen to them comment on playing the game, is the end of a functional society as we know it.
If this is where the internet and the world as a whole is headed, then it is a dark day my friends. Here at Computer Geeks, we love technology, and we love the internet. But this is not some marvel of technology, this is the opposite. I almost don’t even want to post this blog to draw more attention to this, but deep down I am hoping that people will read this and inform others of how stupid this is, and stop it.
So go and look up this Pew Die Pie on YouTube, see what he is doing to the youth of America, and give this kid a piece of your mind. If we let this continue, in 10 years the internet will just be a vast wasteland of people commenting on people’s comments on comments that they saw of some guy throwing a baseball against a wall, because he has nobody to play catch with since they are all watching the comment video. That and pictures of an oiled up Kim Kardashian…
Here comes Google junior, well, not exactly. But starting in early 2015, Google expects to create and release products geared at children under twelve.
This is the brainchild of Panvi Diwanji, Google’s VP of engineering, and mother of two. While it’s unclear what these products are, it’s widely believe these products will be those already popular with children, like Chrome and You Tube. Ms. Diwanji is committed to creating a fun, safe and educational environment for children. This effort comes in the wake of initiatives like? Doodle 4 Google and Maker Camp. While Ms. Diwanji’s intentions may be good, controversy is almost bound to follow. Tech companies always thrive to reach out to new demographics. But it’s been the unwritten rule that the under 12 crowd was to be left alone as far as advertising campaigns were concerned. Then there’s the FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. They’re enforcing this act with a firm hand. In September 2014, they hit up Yelp for $450,000 simply for not implementing a proper age screen in it’s ratings app.
So yes, Panvi Diwanji and her colleagues need to be careful in how they launch these Google for children products. But I’m glad she’s doing it. Kids under 12 are more tech savvy than you think. Often times, they’re more tech savvy than many adults are. And look at the crisis of education, especially in the United States. I believe building child friendly products and services is what this generation needs to educate and inspire this generation to do better in school and life. Besides, the Internet runs just about everything we do these days. Isn’t it better to have safe systems in place that will equip them for tomorrow? And don’t even get me started on safety. We all know how much inappropriate things are on the Internet these days. I understand why some parents won’t let kids go on Facebook until they’re 18. Even looking up something innocent
The global online populations reaches a new milestone. Now, three billion people, more than 40% of the world’s population, is online.
Internet usage has grown online 6.6 percent in 2014. In less developed countries, about 2/3 of the population has Internet access, an 3.3 percent growth in this calendar year. In fact, in the developing world, online use and access has doubled in the last five years. These numbers are compiled by the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union, committed to improving IT systems all over the world, especially where it’s most needed. Mobile network systems worldwide are booming too. By December 31, 2014, there will be 7 billion mobile technology accounts, from phones to tablets to laptops, even the smartwatch. That’s almost to the tune of one account per every citizen in the world.? Despite these encouraging stats, there is still work to be done. In the world’s bottom 42, the 42 nations with the least Internet access, communication technology remains very foreign, especially in rural areas.
For instance, there may be 7 billion mobile technology accounts, but only because in many western developed countries, many people have two or more multiple devices at once. In case you’re wondering, the top five nations with the best IT infrastructure are Australia, New Zealand, Singapore,?Bahrain and United States. But 450 million people still have no access to any mobile web service. Many tech leaders, like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg, are working ceaselessly to get online access to all. Now that’s a cause that I can believe in. Being in the comfortable US, I often take for granted there are hundreds of millions who have yet to send or receive an email. They have yet to see a You Tube video. They have yet to send a Facebook post or Tweet. They may not even want to. We shouldn’t be forcing anyone to use this technology. But it should be available for all people to use. How long do you think it will be before that will happen?
Google is the biggest online-based corporation in the world. That’s quite an accomplishment, right? Not if you ask some international government entities.
The European Union, with headquarters based in Brussels, Belgium, is calling for their break up. There are calls to do this through anti-trust suits and/or new laws to shorten it’s far reaching influence. One draft motion says, and I quote, “…unbunlding of search engines from other commercial sites” should be used to weaken Google. This rare move for the EU is being led by German politicians from both the right and left side of the aisle. One of Google’s most outspoken critics is EU Digital Commissioner G?nther Oettinger out of Germany. He’s proposing levies for displaying copyright material, forcing neutral search results and he’s not too crazy about Google car software either. But clashes have been nothing new between Google and European elected officials. They’ve fought over everything from privacy issues to global commercial dominance. Remember the right to be forgotten controversy?
Obviously, things are done on that continent differently than what I’m used to. But there is a part of me that understands where these EU leaders are coming from. Often times, a corporation can get too big to fail. When they get too big to fail, they can become too big to care. But I don’t think that’s Google’s case and I think there’s more to this. This seems like the European Union wants more control over what Google does in Europe. This isn’t good. When any government gets too much control of any private owned company, it can lead to censorship and many other social ills. So when I read quotes like ‘unbundling if search engines from other commercial sites’, that makes me nervous. So what do you think the EU motive of breaking up Google is: fair play or government control?
