Technology has your Christmas gift list sorted, from Apple, Bose, Oral-B and Sony
Automation can make the festive world go round.
Tech makes wonderful Christmas gifts and there’s an abundance of choices for every taste and budget. Headphones, portable speakers, fitness watches, universal adaptors, battery packs and set-top boxes are among the options. The items below all cost under $1000 and many are below $500. They demonstrate great innovation by the manufacturers.
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Sony Glass Sound Speaker: $799
It may resemble a 19th-century lamp, but Sony’s LSPX-S2 Glass Sound Speaker is hi-tech. It looks stylish on a living room mantelpiece, or beside a desk or bookcase. But it’s more than looks. The glass tube is part of the sound system and vibrates. Three actuators underneath the tube generate sound vibrations that transfer to the glass body, which acts as a tweeter. The wide surface of the glass tube generates 360-degree sound. An LED lights the tube. You can switch it off or change to candle mode so it flickers. You stream music to it over Bluetooth.
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Oral-B Genius AI toothbrush with artificial intelligence: $499
An intelligent toothbrush seems an eon away from the chew sticks of Ancient Greek and Roman times and even the bristle toothbrush. Nevertheless Oral-B has used machine learning to build a database of thousands of human brushing behaviours to assess individual brushing styles and coach users to improve brushing habits. Oral-B says the brush’s AI technology tracks where people actually brush in their mouth and offers personalised feedback on areas that need more attention. It says the brush teaches people to brush their teeth like their dentists recommends. At $499 it costs far less than a set of dentures — remember that.
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Commodore 64 (C64) retro computer: $199.95
The Commodore 64 of the early 1980s is back as retro tech. I vividly remember it as the first computer I had at home. Not all memories are great. I sat there typing in 60 odd instructions for a game only to have the C64 freeze. I had to enter them all again. This retro version called THEC64 is full sized with a full working keyboard. Its updated micro switch classic joystick plugs into one of the four USB ports, and connects to a modern TV via HDMI. You can boot straight into original C64 BASIC, VIC20 BASIC or switch to the games carousel and play one of the 64 built-in games. California Games and Paradroid and Boulder Dash are among the offerings. Australian supply is due just before Christmas.
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Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700: $599.95
Many manufacturers make great headphones. Sennheiser, Beats, Bowers & Wilkins, Jabra and Sony are some. This year Bose produced beautiful headphones with great sound and innovative acoustics. The headphones not only feature noise-cancelling, a standard these days, they contain a series of microphones that distinguish your voice from background noise. If you’re on a call, it sends your voice down the line and not the background sound. You can quickly switch between taking calls, listening to music, and engaging in conversations. You can chat to personal assistants such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Echo.
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DJI Robomaster S1: $899
DJI normally manufacturers consumer drones, but it has branched out with its first educational robot. The Robomaster has a chassis that can move in all directions, a high-precision gimbal camera mount, and interactive modes for programming, play, and competition. Children and teenagers can learn to program in Scratch 3.0 and Python to teach Robomaster new skills. The robot is a fast mover. Its ability to slide sideways and thrust forward and reverse at full speed is made possible by its omnidirectional mecanum wheels. It uses AI technology to recognise gestures, sounds and even other S1 robots, and fires lasers and gel pellets. Kids can even order it to follow their parents around the home.
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Wireless Go: About $280
The Wireless Go lets you record clear audio to your phone from up to 70 metres away. It’s great if you want to video blog your thoughts, or lay down a voice track, but don’t want to record the chatter around you. It comes as two small cube devices. One plugs into your phone, and you wear the other as you would a clip-on lapel mike. Australia’s Rode says the transmitter unit has an omnidirectional microphone that delivers broadcast quality sound. It uses 2.4GHz digital wireless transmission with 128-bit encryption for security. Both units have built-in rechargeable batteries, charged using USB-C. Rode says the transmitter and receiver pair in three seconds and the system can deliver up to seven hours’ use on a full charge.
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Apple gifts: various prices
Apple gear makes quality gifts but they can be so expensive with the basic iPhone 11 starting at $1199. MacBook Airs start at $1699. Luckily there are more affordable options. The iPad Air starting at $779 is one, a new more basic iPad from $529 is another, and the revamped, more powerful iPad mini from $599 with the same chip as the Air is a great option. Apple’s AirPods Pro ($399) is its best alternative for listening to music. Apple has finally included eartips for three ear sizes, so there is at last a chance they will fit. An Apple TV 4K starts at just $249 and there’s Apple Watch Series 5 from $649. It offers great connectivity on the go. Being able to make and take calls and stream music without an iPhone, quickly reply to messages and use voice dictation makes it a workhorse out and about.
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Sony turntable: $299
Do you have a friend who has vinyl gathering dust on their shelves? You can buy them a Sony turntable. It costs more than the cheapies but much less than high-end models. The PS-LX310BT turntable is wireless so you can output sound over Bluetooth to your existing wireless speakers, sound bars and headphones. There’s also an audio cable for wired connections. The PS-LX310BT has different gain selections to optimise the sound from different types of vinyl recordings, and a built-in phono preamp for use with amplifiers offering only line level connections. The turntable has a button for pairing the wireless speakers.
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Withings Steel HR Hybrid SmartWatch: $299.95
Withings makes beautiful smart watches that look like old-fashioned analog ones. But don’t be misled. This hybrid range includes fitness and sleep tracking and monstrous battery life. During workouts, the watch monitors continuous heart rate, distance, elevation and pace using connected GPS. Withings says it tracks walking, running and swimming automatically, and you can select other sports with a long press of the crown. There’s sleep scoring, smart notifications and a silent alarm that wakes you up at the optimal time of your sleep cycle, and a promise of up to 25 days’ battery life. It’s water resistant up to 50 metres.
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DJI Mavic Mini drone:$599 or $799 with extras
DJI’s range of foldable drones lets you take your drone anywhere. It fits in a backpack or glove box. Until this year, the Mavic range was more expensive, until DJI recently released the cheaper Mavic Mini. It weighs just 249 grams. It misses a few features found in others Mavics: its maximum video camera resolution is 2.7K rather than 4K, you get just 30 frames per second video and there’s no built in collision avoidance. But it’s fast and manoeuverable. DJI has produced a new app called DJI Fly, and it unlocks advanced features such as sports mode, cinematic mode, and quick-shot options found on other
Mavics.
