Audio Video News

Forget the slippers, ties, socks, and countless other predictably boring gifts. Be a holiday hero and shower your loved ones with entertainment and technology. Here we present a dozen amazing gifts for your consideration. At prices ranging from $30 to $400, we hope you’ll be able to find a match or two for the special folks on your holiday shopping list. Worst case, you’ll come up with a few ideas for yourself.

Smarten Up
Ever wish your TV was smart? Plenty of your friends and relatives do, too. The new HDMI version of Roku’s Streaming Stick ($50) is an awesome gift for TV lovers who have yet to get with the streaming program sweeping across the nation. (Roku, alone, has sold 10 million media players since it opened shop in 2008!) Plug the 3-inch Stick into an HDMI port on the TV, run power to it, and after a brief setup routine, enjoy access to a ridiculous number of “channels.” Beyond Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, I’ve populated the My Channels list on my Roku with a few dozen carefully selected free channels, including YouTube, Livestream (live events), and Crackle (free movies). The Roku Stick is one helluva deal.
roku.com

Who Ya Gonna Call?
It’s hard to believe 30 years have passed since Ghostbusters—the most beloved supernatural comedy of all time—slimed its way into theaters. To commemorate the anniversary, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a gift set featuring remastered versions of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II in a 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Gift Set ($100) with never-before-seen bonus material, a Digibook packed with production notes and character sketches, and a gloriously goofy Slimer figurine, which is numbered for collectors. If the gift set is a bit too steep for your budget, the two-disc Ghostbusters 1 & 2 set is a bargain at $19.
ghostbusters.com

No More Tangles
Who doesn’t hate futzing with wired chargers? Available in handcrafted wood or marble, Orée’s elegant Pebble 2 wireless charger/Bluetooth speaker ($250 to $300) is sure to bring joy to any smartphone addict. The puck-like charger is based on the Qi (pronounced “chee”) inductive charging standard supported by many phones, either directly or via a $120 sleeve that attaches to the phone (iPhone 5 and 5S, Samsung S3/S4/S5) or a charging receiver that goes inside its back cover (Samsung S3/S4/S5). Adding to its utility, the Pebble 2 has a built-in Bluetooth-enabled speaker so you can take calls or listen to music whether or not the phone is charging. Allow two weeks for delivery. Like the concept but find the price a little too rich for your blood? Check out Panasonic’s Qi-enabled QE-TS101AA wireless charger ($60), featuring an LED indicator that shows the most efficient charge position.
oreedesign.com / panasonic.com

Rock the Outdoors
Modest as they are, the folks from Braven call the new BRV-X outdoor Bluetooth speaker ($230) the “world’s best outdoor speaker.” They ain’t lyin’! When I fired up the little guy to stream iTunes Radio from my iPad, I was amazed by the clarity and breadth of the sound. I linked two of them for stereo playback, and the sound was even more robust—outside on the patio and inside the house. The BRV-X is a tad bigger than a brick and built like a tank with a rubberized enclosure that’s shockproof and water-resistant. It even has a USB port for charging your phone and comes with a strap that will secure the speaker to almost anything. The BRV-X is a perfect outdoor companion that will keep the tunes crankin’ for up to 12 hours per charge.
braven.com

It’s a JBL
With so many wannabe audio companies hawking mediocre headphones these days, mobile music lovers will appreciate getting “real-deal” ’phones from audio pioneer JBL. The Synchros E40BT Bluetooth headphones ($100) are lightweight yet feel very substantial and produce natural, unhyped sound—with or without wires (minjack cable included). Bluetooth pairing is a snap, and you can venture well beyond 30 feet from the music source before the signal starts to crap out. The adjustable headband and pivoting ear cups make it easy to get a comfortable fit, and there’s a built-in microphone so you can take calls while streaming tunes from your phone. The battery is good for 16 hours, and you can even share music with a second set of ShareMe-enabled ’phones. Available in all black or black with red, blue, purple, or white accents.
jbl.com

Aerial Acrobatics
A super cool and not-too-expensive gift for teenagers and kids at heart (aka geek dads), the Parrot Rolling Spider ($100) is an ultralight, Bluetooth Smart-enabled mini drone that you control via a smartphone or tablet. Load the free FreeFlight 3 app, and with a little practice, you’ll be performing aerial acrobatics and embarking on stealth surveillance missions using its embedded camera. Pop on the included wheels, and you can navigate the Spider along floors, up walls, and even across the ceiling. Parrot pegs the Spider’s range as more than 60 feet and flight time as 8 minutes per charge. Check out the videos on the Brookstone Website to see the Spider in action. Also available at Best Buy.
brookstone.com

iBox
Having seen more than my fair share of shattered iPhone screens and bloodied fingers (no kidding), I’ve never understood how the most revered tech company on the planet could get away with making such a fragile display. Then again, who am I to question the almighty Apple? The Firebox Rhino iPhone shield ($30) is an incredibly practical—and cheap—gift that’s perfect for that special iPhone-toting relative or friend. Made of a custom-formulated high-impact polymer designed to withstand pavement drops, the scratch-resistant protector is a mere 0.01 inches thick and uses self-adhesive silicone to adhere to any iPhone 4 or 5. As for the iPhone 6, the jury is still out on the robustness of its new and improved screen.
firebox.com

Do a 360
The outdoor adventurer—OK, daredevil—in your family will love the VSN Mobile V.360 camera ($400). Designed to take a beating and resist water (even while submerged at 1 meter for up to 30 minutes), this utterly unconventional action camera uses patented optics to capture 1080p high-definition video from all angles at once, providing a seamless 360-degree view through a free companion app for Android and iOS phones and tablets. Think of it as a personal Imax camera. The V.360 also takes stills, is compatible with traditional camera and GoPro mounts, and has a built-in GPS sensor so you can tag exotic locations. You can even record barometric pressure, g-force, and altitude thanks to its onboard barometer, accelerometer, and altimeter.
vsnmobil.com

Tabula Holsta
I don’t know about you, but I can never seem to find my iPad. Somebody’s always walking off with it, or the darn thing disappears in the sofa. I could really use a place to hang my pad—and so could millions of others. The Hammacher Schlemmer Under-Cabinet iPad Dock ($50) is a multifunctional holder for any 7- to 10-inch tablet that can be used as a table stand or mounted on the wall or under a kitchen cabinet, making it ideal for the family chef. Instead of fumbling with food-stained recipe printouts, swing your iPad out from under the cabinet and grab recipes online. The Dock has aluminum arms with two pivoting joints and a rotating head for maximum flexibility. HS even throws in an extra mounting bracket so you can easily move the dock from one spot to another.
hammacher.com

Movie Lover’s Delight
Is there anyone who hasn’t been touched by the movie magic of director Steven Spielberg? From the 1975 shark thriller Jaws to the family-classic-turned-theme-park-attraction E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the Spielberg Collection ($200 on Blu-ray, $120 on DVD) presents eight films, reams of bonus material—including making-of documentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, interviews, and deleted scenes—plus a 58-page companion book featuring rare photos and archival materials. The collection also includes Jurassic Park (1993) and its 1997 follow-up, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, plus four movies never before released on Blu-ray: 1941 starring Saturday Night Live pioneers Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi (1979), Spielberg’s first feature film, Duel (1971), Always (1989), and The Sugarland Express (1974). universalstudiosentertainment.com

Oh Ho Ho It’s Magic
Give this gift, and you immediately become the coolest guy or gal on the planet. The brainchild of David Devillez, former Navy sonar tech and head of R&D at Velodyne Acoustics, the Om/One levitating Bluetooth speaker ($199) floats in midair over its disc-shaped electromagnetic base while streaming music from your Bluetooth-enabled phone or other device. (No, you’re not hallucinating—check out the video at omone.com.) The palm-size orb houses a “finely tuned” 3-inch driver designed to play loud—up to 110 decibels—and is battery powered so you can take it anywhere (case provided). Still not impressed? The Om/One doubles as a speakerphone, and two orbs can be paired for stereo playback. Available in black or white.
omone.com

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