Sphero | Geek Life: Augmenting Reality

The holidays are here, yay, and you're looking for the best geek gifts for those special someones, right? Not to worry, this geek will help you find gifts that will give your geeks a smile this holiday season no matter your budget. Whether you're looking for toys, wearable technology, helpful gadgets, or simply fun, unique geeky items, this list should just about cover it all! This is basically my Geek Christmas Wishlist, so if you see Jay, send him on over to this post please? Cool Geek Gift Ideas For All the Holidays Intel HDMI Compute Stick Its the tiniest computer you'll probably ever see for the next five years at least. What's more awesome, it turns your HDTV into a computer! All you'll need to get this baby to work is a free HDMI port on your HDTV, a bluetoothed mouse and keyboard (sold separately) and you're golden with a 32G hard drive, Atom 1.33 GHz Intel processor and 2 GB RAM! That should be flexible enough to run any program you need on a Windows 10 platform. This is particularly useful for those who live in compact spaces like condos or university residences. Why have both a separate computer and a TV/Entertainment station, if you can have it all in one place? Intel Compute Stick Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 with Built-In Multi-Touch Touchpad, Black .com.ca Sphero BB-8 App-Enabled Droid This is the droid you've been looking for. If your geek can't stop talking about the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie, then you would be their Jedi knight if they unwrap this gift from you! Some highlights include (excerpted from Amazon): Authentic Movement: Guide your BB-8 with a smartphone or tablet Listens & Responds: BB-8 recognizes and reacts to your voice Holographic Messaging: Record and view virtual holographic videos with BB-8 Autonomous Behavior: BB-8 has a mind of its own - explore the Star Wars galaxy together Adaptive Personality: Your BB-8's unique attitude and actions evolve as you interact Authentic Movement: Guide your BB-8 with a smartphone or tablet iOS & Android compatible BB-8 recognizes and reacts to your voice Sphero BB-8 App-Enabled Droid .com.ca VusionVR If you want your geek to be ahead of the game, they'll need one of these in their pocket... or more like backpack/purse due to size. I got the chance recently to check out the VusionVR 2.0 glasses (based on Google Cardboard) at their product launch in downtown Toronto. These cardboard box glasses are awesome and work for both Android smartphones and iPhones, and displays Google virtual reality apps extremely well, without any discomfort. Geeks are all over virtual reality. It's something we've dreamed about since we've first seen Captain Picard traipse through a Holodeck. It's a long-awaited tech that we're eager to play with! At only $22.95 CDN + shipping, this box is a highly cost effective way to get your geek started on the new frontier of apps usage and design. Just exploring the initial Google Cardboard app with the VusionVR box took my breath away by its beauty and genius and there are so many other apps to be in awe of! VusionVR 2.0 The Tile App Is your geek constantly losing their phone, keys, purse/murse, or perhaps their mind? The Tile app is this awesome little invention that ensures they won't misplace their stuff again as long as the tile is attached! Even if their smartphone is on silent, the Tile can be activated to emit a sound that they'll hear anyway. The Tile doesn't only keep track of where they've last left their things at home either. If they've lost their belongings while out and about, the Tile acts as a GPS beacon so that they can retrace their steps and be reunited again. Personally? i keep losing my phone in the couch cushions. And under the bed. And in my purse. Once, in my shoe. Tile (Gen 2) - Phone Finder. Key Finder. Item Finder - 1 Pack .com.ca 3Doodler 3D Printing Pen If you thought 3D printers were cool, similar technology comes in pen form! Your geek will have a blast "drawing" out 3D designs. 3Doodler 3D Printing Pen Jewelry, Cufflinks and Much More in Geek Accessories I wanted to share the entire jewelry collection that ThinkGeek has, its full of awesome! A whole bunch of charms, including Marvel's Avengers, Agents of Shield, and Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as trinkets from Star Trek, Star Wars, The Walking Dead, Harry Potter, Doctor Who and more. There is truly something for every Geek here, and the prices are just as fab as the designs! Iron Man Helmet CufflinksFirefly Serenity Charm BeadDragon Ear WrapDoctor Who 3D TARDIS 18" NecklaceJedi Order Class RingGroot Charm Bead Check out the whole amazing collection of geek jewelry! DJI Phantom 3 Standard Quadcopter Drone Ready to Fly This mid-range Quadcopter with an integrated 2k camera would be much loved by racers and explorers alike. Being able to fly high while still having your feet planted firmly on the ground is a fantastic way to spend the afternoon at a local park or racing circuit. Check out all the different drones available to suit your geek's needs. DJI Phantom 3 Standard Quadcopter Drone Ready to Fly Amplified HDTV Antenna - 50 Miles Range, 1byone® Super Thin HDTV Antenna Let your Geek cut their cable/satellite! If your Geek is into sports, they might not be quick to cut, 'cause it can be rare to watch any game on the air waves, but otherwise this HDTV Antenna will give a lot of free channels depending on where you live and how its positioned. We have an antenna for each HDTV in our home, and I honestly can't find a reason why to go back to cable. We get all the channels that we'd watch before the cut anyway (local TV/News, CBC, CTV, TVO, Omni, etc.) I believe the most we've ever received through an antenna was 17 channels, with the antenna directed towards the CN Tower, some channels were even from the US! Our current antennas are mid-range in price and pick up roughly 12 channels each. Amplified HDTV Antenna - 50 Miles Range, 1byone® Super Thin HDTV Antenna .com.ca LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon 75105 Building Kit With Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie coming out this December, it is definitely the year for Star Wars based gifts. Geeks love both LEGO and Star Wars, particularly the Millennium Falcon, so there is no way to go wrong with this gift. I would even ignore the age range on this box, 'cause this 30+ year old geek girl would love to see this under the tree for herself! LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon 75105 Building Kit .com.ca Moonet Two Wheels Smart Self Balancing Unicycle Scooters It's like a Segway, but without the handles to hold you up! It would be an incredibly fun way to get around town, and I'm entirely partial to the red. :) Moonet 165W/H Two Wheels Smart Self Balancing Unicycle Scooters Drifting Board Electric Remote Control With LED Light Red .com.ca Unique Geek Gifts for Stocking Stuffers IQ Fit Game The IQ Fit game is truly fun for the whole family. Despite being a solitaire game, its something that both my nephew and I enjoy playing. For him, at 4 1/2 years of age, part of the fun was putting the initial pegs into the map, which I'm pretty sure is helping his spatial awareness as he tries to imitate the puzzle map. For me, I'm addicted to Tetris, and this game is similar enough, and difficult enough at the higher levels to keep my interest too. I Q Fit .com.ca TiMER Intelligent Lord Magic Ring The one ring to rule them all! Okay, might be a tad overly excited about this one, but seriously, this sweet piece of wearable tech is a fab accessory for android users. Check out GeekBuying.com to see what magic it can do! TiMER MJ02 Intelligent Wearable NFC Lord Magic Ring For Android WP System Phones Size 10 - BlackBuy now Puzzling Wood Box Who wouldn't love two gifts in one package?? This is a gift that will keep them occupied for days! If you have a smallish gift you'd like to give your geek, forget the wrapping paper and place it in this puzzling wood gift box instead! But get this box early, 'cause it actually doesn't come with instructions, so you'll have to figure out how to open it up yourself (or hack it by checking out youtube for a literal unboxing instruction video from previous buyers.) Puzzling Wood Box RFID Blocking Wallet RFID is a relatively new tech that you'll find in your credit/debit cards, even in your security IDs for work. They emit a signal at all times, and with the right technology, those signals can be picked up by hackers and copied for later usage. This is primarily why most, if not all, banks provide a no-fault guarantee if its determined that money has been stolen from your card while you were out. Its just the way technology is; once some new security tech is invented, there's going to be those who are up to the challenge to break into it. That said, there is a way to block those signals from broadcasting while you're on the streets or in a busy mall, and the easiest way to do so is to carry those cards in an RFID Blocking wallet like these. They're actually an awesome thing to have for anyone, not just the geeks on your gift list, but if you have a Marvel geek at home, maybe go the extra mile and get them one that looks like the outer casing of an Agents of Shield badge! RFID Blocking WalletMarvel's Agents of Shield RFID Blocking Wallet The World's Smallest 10000mAh Portable Charger There's really no excuse for running out of battery power for your smartphones these days when portable USB battery charges are becoming more widely available. This charger alone can potentially give your phone 4 charges before drained, all at roughly 15 minutes for each charge! If your phone lasts up to 8 hours on one full charge, thats potentially 32 hours of charge available from this one device. It's size means you can keep it handy for whenever its needed, which adds a bit of safety for your geek and anyone else who carries a smartphone around (which is everybody.) [Quick Charge] Anker PowerCore+ 10050: The World's Smallest 10000mAh Portable Charger with Premium Aluminum Shell and Qualcomm Certified Quick Charge 2.0 Technology (Black) .com.ca Well, that's it! What geek gifts are you hoping Santa will wrap up for you this year? Are you in Toronto on December 5th? In honour of my birthday, Toronto Comicon has decided to launch the Fan Days Holiday show for one day only where you can buy all the geek gifts you want/need just in the nick of time! Okay, so its all just a big coincidence that it lands on my birthday. One guess for how I'll be celebrating it this year anyway! Please note: there are some (but not all) affiliate links in the list above. I encourage and thank you for shopping your holiday gift list through Geek with Style to help keep this site going! ♥

Tag: Sphero

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