If there is a tech geek in your life who goes gaga for gadgets, News Shopper has a selection of great Christmas gift ideas.
Take a tablet
Apple may be hogging the limelight with its iPad Mini and Amazon may be making big noises about its Kindle Fire, but arguably the best model in the mid-price 7in tablet market is the Asus Google Nexus 7.
At a sub-£200 cost for a 32GB device (see Ebuyer), the Nexus offers premium quality design and powerful spec in an excellent value-for-money package.
The device runs on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system and comes complete with all the familiar Google applications such as the Chrome browser, Gmail and YouTube.
It's a powerful little machine inside, boasting a Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1GB RAM. Other useful things it comes equipped with include a front-facing camera, accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope and GPS.
It’s a great bit of multimedia kit for watching movies and TV, listening to music and playing games.
The Nexus is portable yet durable enough to be carried around in a bag to and from work, and with a very decent battery life per charge, it’s a versatile machine which is perfect for on-the-move entertainment.
Read all about it
The Nexus 7 tablet makes a surprisingly good e-reader but if you don’t have £200 to spend and are looking to treat someone to a device which specialises in books the Kobo Glo is a good possibility to consider.
Costing just under £100, the Kobo Glo is a rival to Amazon’s regular Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite.
Heavily backed by WH Smith, it’s a very lightweight and compact device which provides a clear front-lit E Ink touch-screen display.
The Kobo Glo has 2GB of internal memory and can hold around 1,000 books. This can be expanded up to 32GB and storage for up to 30,000 books with a Micro SD card.
The device has built-in wi-fi so whenever you’re connected you can jump into the ebook store where you can browse millions of titles, which include newspapers and magazines as well as many free books.
A 1GHz processor helps the Kobo Glo to run smoothly, and it’s also very customisable with an adjustable light and your choice of seven font types and 24 font sizes.
The Kindle will be the e-reader most people look at first, but the Kobo Glo is definitely worth keeping in mind.
Best thing since sliced bread?
Tefal has come out with a couple of hi-tech toasters which do much more than simply heat bread.
The Toast N Egg is a handy two-slice toaster that allows you to cook an egg while making toast. The gadget (£44.99, www.homeandcook.co.uk) also gives you the choice to boil, poach or fry your egg – giving you all the options for the perfect breakfast in just four minutes.
The Toast N Bean (£49.99, www.homeandcook.co.uk), goes one step further with a setting to heat half a tin of baked beans as well.
Either of these could make a good gift for any students not yet accustomed to looking after themselves, or for anyone who just wants to cut down on breakfast prep time and mess.
Sounds good
KAKKOii (Japanese for cool / awesome) is a boutique design company set up by London designer Antonio Arevalo.
The WOW range of single wireless speakers is the first product line from the studio.
These compact and durable speakers, which look like inconspicuous flower pots turned on their side, come in a range of colours and cost £55 (see www.kakkoii-me.com).
Easy to connect and recharge, the speakers are ideal for portable use, streaming music from any Bluetooth device wherever you are, be it at work, on holiday or relaxing at the park.
Got it covered
Smartphones are beautifully designed gadgets, so it’s such a shame they have to be covered up to protect them.
Luckily the blow is softened by being able to choose from a huge array of stylish accessories which look good and keep your phone safe.
Proporta has a new range of iPhone 5 and Samsung SIII hard shell cases which feature gorgeous prints from the National Gallery, Roxy and Ted Baker.
These eye-catching covers are all available for under £20 and make excellent stocking fillers. See proporta.com
That's entertainment
American TV station HBO has some great gifts for fans of its most popular shows including True Blood and Game of Thrones.
For tech lovers there are phone and tablet covers such as this Baratheon Distressed iPad Cover priced £19 at store.hbouk.com
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