Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 18, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Christmas is just around the corner and some may still need one gift or another for a loved one. The pressetext service went searching on the Internet for last-minute gifts for technology freaks and put together a small selection. For those in love with technology, the web is a treasure trove for electronic toys and original PC accessories. Although these are often products one does not necessarily need, they nevertheless possess a certain fun factor.
Of course, a Christmas tree must not be missing from any office decorated for the pre-Christmas season. However, anyone who does not want a real conifer next to their desk should make do with a USB fir tree. The small tree is connected to the computer via USB and supplied with power in this way. The multicoloured lighting spreads Christmas cheer among office colleagues. The keyboard vacuum cleaner, on the other hand, proves thoroughly practical, removing dust and dirt even from the gaps between the keys. The USB aquarium, which is available complete with plastic fish, and the hand massage ball, which is also operated via the computer, are intended to reduce stress. The products are available from the online shop Arktis http://www.arktis.de.
Anyone wearing the M700 mobile phone watch from icool on their wrist feels reminded of James Bond or Michael Knight. The wristwatch, weighing only 56 grams, has a fully fledged GSM mobile phone integrated and transmits on the frequencies 900 and 1,800 megahertz. A 1.3-inch colour touchscreen is installed. “In addition to MP3s, videos can also be played back”, Daniel Schreiber, operator of the online shop ITDS http://www.itds.at, which carries the product, explains when asked by pressetext. Calls are made either using the built-in loudspeaker or via a Bluetooth headset. Furthermore, the product boasts virtually all the features one would also expect from a conventional mobile phone, such as vibration alert, voice dialling, calendar or stopwatch. The card slot for Micro SD allows the internal memory to be expanded to up to two gigabytes, and the built-in camera takes pictures with a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels. Battery life is stated as up to 180 hours in standby and 160 minutes in talk mode. The mobile phone watch costs about 230 euros.
For the more upmarket mobile phone clientele, Bang & Olufsen and Louis Vuitton have teamed up. In October, the sound specialist presented its Serenata fashion mobile phone to the public. Fashion designer Louis Vuitton http://www.louisvuitton.com now offers the appropriate clothing for the luxury piece. The elegant brown leather case is of course not cheap. However, anyone who spends 1,250 euros on a mobile phone will also be able to afford the protective case for 280 pounds (around 390 euros) http://www.bang-olufsen.com/page.asp?id=381&bhcp=1.
A nice gift idea comes from Catcorner. The C2 key ring has a 1.1-inch colour display and an internal memory of four megabytes for up to 56 photos. Power is supplied by a built-in rechargeable battery that provides energy for a continuous display of around four hours. The images are transferred via USB; supplied software facilitates the transfer and adaptation of the photos. The pendant can be ordered online for 18 euros http://www.zweizwei.biz/lifestyle/foto_digi_11.htm .
A clever gift for outdoor enthusiasts is the mobile solar panel for emergency charging of mobile phones and other small mobile devices. If the mobile phone battery is ever empty and there is no power socket in sight far and wide, operation can continue to be ensured with the help of the solar charger from the Dutch manufacturer Solidus http://www.soldius.com. The device weighs 85 grams, fits in a jacket pocket and is supplied with adapters for all common mobile phones and iPods.
For motorists, the electronic parking clock http://www.vesalia.de/d_parkscheibe.htm is suitable as a present. This parking disc has a built-in clockwork and therefore always shows the current time. If the car is parked in a short-term parking zone, the driver merely has to press the stop button on the back; the clock stops and thus records the arrival time. Of course, one should not forget this, otherwise the parking disc always shows the current time – that is of course not permitted in the interests of parking-space management. The motorist’s present costs five euros.
