My wish list to Santa 2012: Gadgets I want for Christmas
Last year I wrote two wish lists to Santa Claus, one with books I wanted for Christmas and one with cool gadgets. This year I’m focusing on the top five gadgets I would be ecstatic if Santa gave me. My wish list this year contains a mix of technical things covering all aspects of life, from entertainment, fun, and exercise to productivity. Here it is:
1. Music anywhere with AQ SmartSpeakers
Today most of us have access to unlimited music on a wide range of devices. Personally, I use Spotify, and I can listen to music on my computers, my iPad and mobile. At home, I listen to music through our Sonos speakers, but I want to be able to listen to music wherever I am – in our summer house, the backyard, in the hotel when on vacation – literally wherever I am. So, to solve this I would be thrilled if Santa got me a set of AQ portable SmartSpeakers.
These speakers are literally wireless – you don’t need any audio cables or power cables. This means that you can take them with you and place them wherever you are. The rechargeable battery can play for 10 hours before you need to plug it in for a recharge. You can send music to the speakers via a wide range of devices and applications. You can read the full specification here. I’m hoping I’ll be able to play my Christmas playlist on a pair of these when I go home to Sweden for the holiday.
2. Fun for the whole family with Just Dance 4
Christmas is really a time for families to get together and play fun games. When I was a child we used to have Tetris competitions (I had the high score until my cousin hacked into the high score list). Since you tend to eat a lot during Christmas I prefer games where you can move around and burn some calories. This year I’ve put the video game “Just Dance 4” on my wish list. No matter if you have a Wii, a PlayStation or Xbox Kinect, you can enjoy this fun family game that’s all about dancing. Just follow the characters on the screen and copy their dance moves. Fun to play and fun to watch!
3. Lazy evenings in the sofa with Netflix
My husband and I both work a lot so we really cherish the moments when we’ve put the kids to bed and we can enjoy an evening in front of the TV. To get the most out of these evenings I would like a one-year subscription of Netflix from Santa. This way we can easily browse popular TV shows and movies and watch them whenever we want.
4. A more fun way to get in shape with a Nike+ Fuelband
After enjoying all that great food during the Christmas holiday I will most definitely have to work hard to get back in shape. Being a technology geek, I think it’s much more fun to exercise if I can track my efforts on my computer. That’s why I’ve added a Nike+ Fuelband to my wish list. The wristband, which also works as a watch, measures your movement during the day – whether you are walking, jogging, dancing, or running after your children. It calculates the number of calories you’ve consumed, how many steps you have taken and it also indicates with a red, yellow or green light how close you are to reaching the exercise goal you have set up for the day. It also measures “Nike Fuel,” a unique metric which provides comparable data across different sports. All the stored results are synchronized to your PC or mobile using the built-in USB-cable or via Bluetooth. You can then analyze your daily, weekly and monthly performance and if you are very proud of your achievements (or just brave and honest), you can share your results with friends via Facebook, Twitter or Path.
5. For lighter productivity in 2013 – a Microsoft Surface
With the launch of Microsoft Windows 8, there are a lot of new touchscreen-enabled sleek tablets entering the market. To easier be able to work from anywhere – the coffee shop, the airplane, the bus stop, I want a Microsoft Surface from Santa. I’ve already written an entire blog post about Microsoft Surface so I won’t delve any deeper here. Since the version I want, Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro, won’t be available until early in 2013, I can’t expect this package under the Christmas tree. But if Santa gives out vouchers, I want to add an $899 gift voucher to the Microsoft Store to my wish list so that I can get it online when it ships.
Merry Christmas to all of you!
That sums up my top five gadgets for this Christmas. Whether you get what you wish for or not under the Christmas tree, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Remember that the best gifts in life are the ones that don’t put a hole in your pocket, like your children’s laughter and a hug from a loved one! Merry Christmas everyone!
(If you have difficulties reading this article, you can access the full article in pdf here)