Great tech gifts for boomer guys and gals

PRIME December 2012 By Gary M. Kaye Editor, In the Boombox (www.intheboombox.tv) Listed below is a sampling of some of the gifts for boomer-age husbands and wives – (or for you unattached, your significant guys and gals) –in the first Annual Baby Boomers Holiday Gift Guide at In The Boombox (www.intheboombox.tv). In each case we tried to find a gift that was well suited to the boomer lifestyle. Gifts For the boomer gal Music player – Even with smartphones, there are some good reasons to have a separate music player. For one, it's a great way to listen to your digital music without draining the precious battery in your smartphone. Our recommendation, the latest iPod Touch from Apple. It comes in either 32 gigabytes (GB) or 64GB capacities for $299 and $399 respectively. Besides playing music this device is WiFi enabled, so you can use all of the hundreds of thousands of apps out there, too. e-Reader – The latest generation of e-Readers do a lot more than let you read books. They will let you play music, watch videos, and surf the web. But first and foremost they are readers. That means they have fonts you can blow up, and they automatically bookmark your last page when you close the book. The black and white readers have much longer battery life and are fine if all you want to do is read. If you want to watch movies, or surf the web, the color readers are a lot more fun. We suggest the new Kindle Fire HD from Amazon. It's priced at $199. We like the 7-inch form factor, which is still small enough to fit into a purse or small carry bag, and we like the sharp, fast color screen. We also like the Kindle ecosystem that allows to you keep track of all your Kindle books on any Kindle platform device. Smartphone – When it comes to picking a smartphone, the main question is one of operating system – are you wed to Apple's iOS, Android, or Windows Phone 8? If you're making your selection simply on the hardware, we think the Samsung Galaxy Note II is the best phone yet for boomers. The Note II runs on Android 4.1, also known as Jellybean. It's the first Android phone we've seen that has a mode that enlarges the icons. With a 5 -inch diagonal screen, it's big enough to comfortably watch video, it comes with a stylus and Samsung's "S-Pen" software to take notes and create or markup images. The price on most major carriers is $300 with a two-year contract. Without a contract, the price is roughly $650. Fitness: a pedometer – Your wife (or lady friend) might be surprised at how many steps she takes during the course of the day, and the more steps she takes, the fitter she'll be. The Omron HU-323U Pedometer uses what it calls 3D smart sensor technology to measure steps, then can communicate the information back to a computer. The device comes with a strap and a clip, making it easy to hold onto or attach as she works out or just walks around. It will measure steps whether strolling around or running the track, and will also keep track of calories burned. The device lists for $50. Refreshment – We all know it's important to stay hydrated, that's why wherever you find folks working out you find water bottles. But let's face it, while water is healthy and doesn't contain processed sugars, it is pretty dull. The Aqua Zinger is a device that will let you take fresh fruit and infuse the flavors into water. You simply take your fruits, such as berries, oranges, kiwis or whatever, and put them in the bottom cup. As you screw the bottom cap on, it chops the fruit and infuses the flavor into the water. The Aqua Zinger sells for about $25 and comes in a choice of colors. Point-and-shoot Camera – There are a lot of great point-and-shoot digital cameras on the market from makers such as Sony, Samsung, Canon, and Nikon. That said, making a decision won't be easy. Among the criteria you might consider are the zoom capability of the lens and the number of megapixels per image. One camera that caught our eye is Nikon's new CoolPix S01. It's one of the smallest cameras we've seen, weighing in at 3.4 ounces, and the total package is just about 3 inches by 2 inches. It features a 10 megapixel sensor, a 3X optical zoon lens, and it will shoot high definition (HD) video (720p). We've seen it advertised for anywhere between about $145 and $180. Gifts for the boomer guy Golf gadget: the Garmin Approach S3 – This golf watch comes with maps of 29,500 golf courses from around the world. It displays the distance to the front, back, or middle of the green on every hole. It has a high resolution touchscreen that will work with your golf glove. If you know the pin has been moved, you can move the pin on the S3 as well. The device will let you keep score and print out scorecards on your computer. Price: $350. The ultimate traveling clock radio:The Geneva Sound System XS_ Modeled on the classic clamshell design of the old traveling alarm clocks, the Geneva Sound System Model XS includes an alarm clock with a bright LED display, an FM radio, and Bluetooth connectivity so you can use it with your smartphone or music player. The sound quality is excellent. It's available in white, black, or red, and is small enough to drop into any carry bag and sturdy enough to take almost any travel abuse. Price: about $250. Headphones for a noisy world : Phiaton Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones – If you've ever tried to listen to music on an airplane or a commuter train, you know just how tough it is to separate your music from the noise outside. Most noise-cancelling headphones are big and bulky. Even the portable noise cancelling earbuds can be entangling. The Phiaton PS-210-BTNC headphones are very portable, connect wirelessly to your music player or smartphone, and deliver great sound while blocking out the ambient noise of a train or plane. The also come with a cord so you can use them anywhere Bluetooth may be prohibited. Price: $128 to $160. Fitness training and location : Magellan Switch Up – Designed to meet the needs of runners, cyclists, and multisport athletes, Switch Up is a crossover global positioning system (GPS) watch. It tracks position precisely with GPS satellite data and records time, distance, speed/pace, elevation and more. By using ANT+TM wireless technology, Switch Up easily connects to any ANT+ compatible heart rate monitor, foot pod, bike speed/cadence sensor and power meter. The high-resolution display on Switch provides good readability in varying light conditions – especially bright light. The rechargeable battery claims eight hours of continuous use. Switch Up is water resistant to 50 meters, so it can be worn for an extended period in water to track swimming activities and other high intensity water and snow activities. Price: $220 to $360 An automotive GPS that listens to You: Garmin Nuvi 3590LMT Automotive GPS – There are dozens of automotive GPS systems on the market, many, like this, have free lifetime maps and free traffic information. But what sets the Nuvi 3590LMT apart is its superb voice recognition. It allows you to tell it an address in one sentence, without needing individual entries for town, street, and number. Accuracy is excellent, though not perfect. It also has a very readable 5 inch diagonal display and you can use the battery to take it out of the car and navigate on foot as well. Price: $345 to $380. Hands-free light when you need it: Surefire Minimus Headlamp – Many of us in the Northeast found out just how unprepared we were for superstorm Sandy. Even though flashlights are a necessity, they still leave you only one hand free. But a good headlamp will light the way and leave both hands free to work. The Minimus headlamp features a high-efficiency LED that provides a brilliant white light, adjustable in output from zero to 100 lumens . It is made by Surefire, the same folks who make nearly indestructible lights for law enforcement and first responders. Price: $97 to $140 Gary Kaye is the creator of In The Boombox (www.intheboombox.tv), the first website to cover technology from the Baby Boomer perspective. Kaye has been covering hi-tech for more than thirty years with outlets including NBC, ABC, CNN and Fox Business. He is a regular contributor to AARP and other websites on issues regarding the nexus of technology, seniors and baby boomers.