Bob Ankosko

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you’re reading this and haven’t finished your holiday shopping you’re now officially a last-minute shopper. I’m right with you. In a normal year I’d be thinking two weeks is plenty of time to tie up loose ends. But in the Age of COVID, the world is upside-down and restrictions (whether government-mandated or self-imposed) are real and impacting just about everything — especially inventory levels and shipping times. Is the gift you’ve been contemplating in stock and, if so, will it arrive in time? On-time delivery was an issue last year so you can imagine how much pressure shippers are under this year with online shopping reaching all-time highs. If you, like me, find yourself running out of options, here are a few last-minute gifts ideas to consider, including a couple that don’t require physical shipping.

With a year of historic turbulence and divisive presidential politics almost behind us, it's time to count our blessings as we look toward the holiday season with hope for peace, prosperity, and a return to normalcy for all. Here we present a dozen or so gifts guaranteed to delight family and friends—and maybe even make your own personal wish list. Our goal was to go easy on the wallet so prices start at $50 and top out at around $300. With any luck, you'll be able to fill in a couple blanks on your shopping list and, ultimately, bring cheer to those you care about as we say good riddance to 2020.

Three years ago the HDMI Forum released the highly anticipated Version 2.1 of the HDMI specification, which paved the way for a major boost in A/V performance with support for higher video resolutions, high-dynamic range (HDR), and increased bandwidth plus important features like variable refresh rates (VRR) for gaming and eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel) for simplifying system setup. We recently caught up with Forum president David Glen to get an update on where HDMI stands today and where it’s going in the future.