Sometimes, you have a person on your list who will only be pleased by a gift that plugs in, lights up and dazzles the senses. The Consumer Electronics Association claims that sales of electronics will rise by nearly twenty percent this holiday season, reaching around $60 billion in revenue. What gifts look to be the best stocking-stuffers on the market?
3-D Printers
FlashForge 3D printer
Though only a few customers may be willing to shell out the thousands of dollars needed to buy a 3-D printer, nothing you could get for the holidays is cooler than this piece of technology. The hype has currently outshone the actual movement of these printers, reports TechCrunch, but the sales rate should nearly double in the next few years as some 100 thousand 3-D printers move off the shelves. The recipient of this gift can do anything from create their own cell phone covers to manufacture a working hydroelectric generator. For the creative geek on the gift list, these printers remain the pinnacle of cool technology.
Photo of Airwolf 3-D printer by Eva Wolf via Wikimedia Commons
Portable Mobile Chargers
Enjoy The Benefits Of Wireless Charging With These Four Market Leading Qi-based Solutions
Having to find an outlet whenever your phone runs low on juice can be everything from a minor hassle to a major inconvenience. This problem becomes exacerbated when the phone, the iPad, the laptop and the e-reader all drain their battery. For the man or woman on your shopping list with more mobile devices than hands, an all-in-one portable charger lets you plug in and power up from anywhere in the world without needing an electrical outlet.
Next-Gen Consoles
Xbox One Console – Standard Edition
Some gamers have already preordered their Xbox One, Playstation 4 for the day their favorite title becomes released. The combination of a next-gen console and the holidays makes for fierce sales, with GameStop reportedly hiring an additional seventeen thousand workers in order to make it through the next few months. In addition to the new consoles, video game developers rush to put out their big title by the holiday deadline, and all eyes are focused on EA’s new “Battlefield 4” release. You can download BF4 on PC or preorder the console version in stores if you want to get back into the first-person shooting action on launch day. Players will get access to new weapons, new maps, a new campaign and new multiplayer modes to help will their team to victory.
Photo by tofuprod via Wikimedia Commons
Streaming Music Services
SONOS – PLAY:3 Wireless Speaker for Streaming Music
Having to use your computer to connect with an Internet radio service is so 2008. Today, you can stream music from Pandora or Spotify directly onto a high quality speaker system by using digital music players. The Sonos Play:3 has a built-in Wi-Fi receiver that allows a user to immediately plug in to their favorite digital radio and stream everything from Tom Jones to the Mars Volta. Digital Trends calls it the best way to enjoy your music to date. When you want to unwind without plugging in, digital radio offers the best solution.