Peter
Thanksgiving has passed and I’m sure we’ve all had great conversations with our loved ones on safe topics like politics and religion, and I’m pretty happy not to see some of those people for at least another year. But, good news, the list of people who want to buy our gifts is likely to be significantly shorter!
My tradition is to write an article about tech gift ideas every year, although I wonder how many of you have completed your purchase due to the logistical issues that the market is experiencing.
One piece of advice: if you find something in the warehouse that you want to buy, buy it – otherwise it may disappear in a moment. Last week, this result happened with my product of the week. It was in stock when I submitted my column, but it ran out of stock the next day.
This year, I chose one product I wanted but probably wouldn’t get and four other products that you might want to consider. One is for those who have trouble sleeping, one for those who are concerned about an increase in crime and accidents, the best TV on the market (currently) and one for older relatives who may unexpectedly need help.
Jetson ONE Quadcopter
I’ve always wanted my plane, but I wanted something that was easy to learn, didn’t need an airport to take off and, well, powered by electricity rather than gas.
The Jetson ONE Quadcopter is a large drone that can carry a person – reasonably priced (compared to the price of other products of the same type) $92K and assembled in a set of accessories assembled 50%.
This seems very interesting to fly. It has a limited range and it is licensed as an entertainment aircraft. It has features such as advanced drones, which allow landing with a button, a ballistic parachute, Lidar sensors for active terrain tracking, a backup flight computer of three and eight electric motors (you can lose one and still fly and land). It has a top speed of 63 mph and a flight time of 20 minutes.
Jetson ONE has two flight controls, a three-axis joystick and a throttle lever to make things simple. It will recharge on a Level 2 charger in an hour and on a Level 1 charger for two hours. People heavier than me will have to watch it fly. However, it has a maximum bearing weight of 210 lbs. A good reason to diet!
Imagine how people’s faces look when they pull out their pants and bikes, and you pull this quadcopter flying over their heads without mud, dust and most bugs. This year Santa didn’t drop one of these into my warehouse, but you might be luckier than me.
Ooler Sleep System
If I were to choose a product that I really couldn’t live without, it would be my Ooler.
This device replaces electric blankets, which are both heated and cooled. My wife liked it warmer than me, and this allowed us to share a room at night.
It rotates distilled water (I use PC coolant to reduce evaporation), meaning there is no electric field that makes some people worry about electric blankets. Other devices on the market use air and the advantage is that you don’t have to monitor coolants. But water transfers heat better than air, and I see the air blowing beneath the crust distracting.
Ooler is the company’s premium product that doesn’t need much cleaning, is more beautiful, and can be controlled with your smartphone.
If you share a room with someone else who prefers to be hotter or cooler than you are, (I feel for those of you in the hostel), Ooler allows you to have the desired sleeping temperature without having to go to war with your roommate.
Costs range from $639 for one to over $1,400 for a king with two, each for each side (currently offering a 20% discount on holidays).
BlackVue DR900X-2CH Dash Cam
I’m also a moderator on a car forum and one of the topics that comes up with is a bit of envy with the built-in camera system on Telsa cars. I was able to use one of these a few years ago when a state trooper lied to give me a ticket (he said I was outdoors and there were no cars around when I was actually in congested traffic). If I have a video of the stop, I can prove that he’s not telling the truth.
The BlackVue DR900X-2CH dash cam is on sale for $413.59 at the time of writing this article and not only automatically records events when you’re driving but also what’s happening around your car when it’s parked.
A few weeks back, a guy parked next to my wife’s new Volvo slammed the door, causing him more than $2,000 in damage to her door. Luckily, he’s honest and always around to share insurance information, but if he doesn’t, we’ve deducted at least $500.
The camera captures front and rear 4K video so you can have your own YouTube channel about crazy drivers – or provide evidence that some incompetent drivers who are hit need to prove their case.
People with this camera swear to it and it’s important to prove your case if you have an accident. Once I had a guy come back to me and think it was my fault, and a friend of mine made a woman go in the opposite direction of the light, hit him, and then assumed he was at fault. These things happen, be prepared.
LG OLED TVs
I bought two LG OLED TVs, one for the bedroom and one for the living room. If you have an OLED screen on your smartphone and love vibrant colors and honest black, imagine that at the TV scale.
Prior to this year, I owned exclusively high-end Samsung TVs. I switched to LG OLED and, although they are expensive, if you like to watch screen movies first but not someone who likes to watch cinemas where people are a bit uneven in wearing masks and using vaccines, then this type of TV is for you.
Our is the 77-inch one that I bought at BestBuy for about $3,200. That same TV is currently on sale for $2,899 – which is a decent saving given that there is still a lack of everything at the moment.
Interestingly, LG TVs use the webOS operating system, which was once the Palm operating system when Palm was the smartphone manufacturer that beat.
Keep in mind that these LG OLED are thin and have a low wall mount on the TV, so if you want to attach it to the wall, you may need a mount that fits exactly with these TVs.
We watched the latest Marvel movie “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” the day before on this TV and it was amazing. I’m still using the Sonos speaker (center, two surround sounds and an extra speaker) and with the sound twisted down and the room darkened, it’s as cool as watching it in IMAX (I’ve seen the IMAX version).
Yes, you can buy a regular LCD TV at a lower cost; But damn, once you use OLED, I suspect you’ll never come back.
Oh, the TV I have for the bedroom is the 48-inch LG OLED at Amazon. That cost me almost $1,300. It is currently being sold for less than $200.
Wearable medical alert on mobile device 2.0
As we get older, we may have trouble getting out of bed too quickly, falling and getting hurt. The story of elderly people lying on the floor in agony for days until they are discovered is a deep pain. We all have people like this in our lives, just one step wrong you’ll be in real trouble.
As our memories fade, the risk of us getting lost, disoriented, or finding ourselves in an area where we are in danger also increases.
Years ago, I was caught up in a sci-fi series called Shadowrun. In the stories, there is a medical service where people can sign up for a service that has a one-button device to summon help.
There are currently some of these on the market, and the best seems to be Medical Guardian’s Mobile 2.0 devices and services.
They also have a so-called Mini Guardian (pictured right) with coverage on a nationwide 4G mobile network whose optional drop detection feature could be even better.
Mobile 2.0 devices are enabled by Wi-Fi and LTE to work both indoors and on the road. It has the GPS to send its location and it has an integrated internal communication system so that the dispatcher can ask what the problem is to send appropriate feedback.
The Apple Watch has a similar set of features, but it’s too complicated for many people, and when you’re injured, remembering how to access different functions or even making sure you’re already wearing the watch can be problematic. Medical alerts that can be worn on mobile devices 2.0 do not require skills to learn. When your loved one is in trouble, they simply press the button and ask for the help they need.
A “Care Circle” emergency contact network can be created to notify family members responsible for care if there is a problem, including sharing the location of the person in need.
It is water resistant when worn under a shower, where many people slip and fall. You can place the help button on the necklace or wristband if it is more convenient and the full four-hour charging time lasts up to five days, depending on the need to use it.
Finish
It was an end to his vacation. Keep in mind that there are a lot of shortages there. I cheated this year and gave most people a gift card a few weeks ago so they could get what they wanted before they ran out of stores. Fingers crossed together, when I finished writing everything I listed was displayed in stock.
If someone gets that, the Quadcopter will take a picture and send it to me so I can be extremely jealous.
This is hoping you have a great holiday and we all survive in the New Year!
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