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Its a bit late, but as promised, out holiday tech guide. Some of these products are new and some improved from previous years - but these are I think the best tech gifts for 2006.
Roomba
Roomba is a robotic vacuum and while its not quite Rosie the robotic maid from the Jetsons, it does a remarkably good job of vacuuming (I bought one for “testing”) and certainly likes vacuuming more regularly than I do. Its also fun to watch it figure its way around a room, avoid obstacles, etc. If this is our future, I welcome our new robotic helpers right up until they revolt like the Terminators or Cylons. Roomba at Amazon.com
Nintendo Wii
This is the first gaming console that’s excited me in quite some time, since its the first console in a long time that wasn’t designed for hard core gamers. While the other consoles keep getting more expensive, complex, and make more detailed games shooting people - Nintendo is trying a different approach. The controller is simplified, but more revolutionary is a significant amount of game play is done by the motion of the controller - not pressing buttons. The game selection is looking very diverse and there’s even classic games downloadable from the Wii online service - the Wii will be making gaming popular among the masses again, not just the gamers. Wii at Amazon.com
Slingbox
Ever been at the office or traveling and wish you could be watching TV at home? While the Slingbox can’t teleport you home, it can bring your home TV to you across the internet - even to your Treo! Slingbox at Amazon.com
iPod
While Microsoft would like you to believe their Zune is the iPod killer, it just doesn’t rock like the iPod. Apple introduced an all new lineup of iPods about a month ago including the new (Product) Red model with a portion of profits going to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. Of course I’d be remiss to not mention we sell iPods at selkowitz.com with free shipping and free engraving.
Mirra
Digital cameras have been hot the last few years, but now that almost everyone has them, few people are actually backing up their family photos! Mirra is great for families - just plug it into your network, install the software on all your PCs and Macs, and it does the rest! Backups are automatic and painless with Mirra. Mirra at Selkowitz.com
Windows Vista (kinda)
Early next year Microsoft is releasing Windows Vista to the world, which replaces Windows XP. But buying a PC now with XP actually makes a lot of sense, because you get a free upgrade to Vista with any PC bought now with XP Pro. You might wonder why not wait a few months, but the thing is I never recommend running a new version of Windows right when it comes out. Vista is bound to have major problems and the programs you need to run may not be fully compatible. Let other people be the guinea pigs and wait to find out what problems crop up and when they’ll be fixed. I’m sure by summer or fall Vista will be fine for most users, but in the meantime if you need a PC it is better to get one with XP and the free Vista upgrade which you can install anytime than to wait and get Vista first thing.
If you are looking at running Vista, be sure to get a PC with a dual core processor and 1GB of RAM for best results. Our new BizBox Core 2 RTS fits the bill and actually costs less than the same configuration from Dell!
Happy (almost) holidays all, if you have any questions about these or other geeky toys, don’t be afraid to ask!
The Author: Kevin Selkowitz
About: Kevin Selkowitz is the founder and lead consultant for Selkowitz Technology, a Seattle-area small business systems consulting company. We focus on the four major technology needs of small businesses - phone systems, phone and internet service, servers/network infrastructure, and business applications.
This entry was posted by Kevin Selkowitz, on Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Phone Systems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response on the right, or trackback from your own site.
