GIVE THE GIFT OF GEEK

With Christmas coming next week, the time that us last minute gift buyers start looking for the perfect gift to give. There are many great tech options out there such as smart phones, tablets and smart watches out there, but if you’re looking for the really cool gift to give, look no further. Here are 5 of some of the most unique tech gifts to give:

:: Preston Bowman

NETFLIX SOCKS

Yes, you read that right. Ever fall asleep during your favorite movie or show and wake up to credits? Netflix has the answer for you: socks that detect when you fall asleep and pause whatever you’re watching. Using a simple accelerometer that detects movement (or lack thereof), the smart socks will know when you’ve dozed off and will send a signal to your TV that will pause whatever you’re currently watching. It should be noted that the socks cannot be purchased in full, but rather Netflix provides the instructions to make them on their website so you’ll have to either be tech savvy to make the electronics part work, or know someone who can do it.

SELF-STIRRING MUG

With it being Hot Chocolate season we all will spend at least some time mixing the right cocoa mix. However, if you or someone you love doesn’t want to go through all that hassle, then you might want to look into the self-stirring mug. The battery-operated cup stirs whatever is inside it with the simple push of a button. So long spoons!

GOOGLE CARDBOARD

Virtual Reality is starting to become a pretty popular entertainment piece. You’ve probably seen the commercials for Samsung’s Gear VR, which as of now is the only mainstream market VR headset. Well, almost. For an exponentially cheaper option there is Google Cardboard. Google Cardboard (or any manufacturer that is Google Cardboard compatible) is a build it yourself kit that results in a pretty decent VR headset that will work with most Android smart phones.

TILE

For the forgetful person on your list, there is Tile. The small Bluetooth key chain attaches to your keys and rings out a tone if you ever lose them as long as your smart phone is within 100 feet of the device, which will save precious time if you or whoever you gift Tile to should they lose their keys in the future.

AMAZON ECHO

Rounding off our list is the up-and-coming personal assistant Alexa, featured in Amazon’s Echo device. How does Echo work? Read on and you’ll find out….

On November 6th 2014, Amazon released to a limited trial run their device for the Connected Home Market, the Amazon Echo. The Amazon Echo, for those who are unfamiliar, is most basically described as a Voice Command Device, Similar to Apple’s Siri, Window’s Cortana, or Google’s OK Google. Its primary function is to act as a cloud access point for your home. Allowing you quick voice activated access to a multitude of online interactions without the need to boot up a computer or reach for your phone. Amazon even built into the device a friendly, not nearly as robotic as you would expect, female voice and named her Alexa.

The specs behind the Amazon Echo are fairly impressive from a tech standpoint. Amazon managed to pack a Texas Instruments DM3725 ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 4GB of internal storage, 256mb of ram, dual band wireless 802.11a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4 into the Echo as the brains of the unit. Seven high quality microphones in a circular array function as Echo’s ears and a combination of Sub-Woofer, Standard speaker, and a tweeter make up the power behind Echo’s sound. All of this can be found in a sleek black cylinder barely larger than a Pringles can.

:: Justin Wylesky

I knew immediately I wanted one. Sadly Amazon’s first trial run was limited to specially invited Prime members only, and it wasn’t until June of 2015 that the Echo was made available to the general public. I waited for an excuse to purchase one, as I knew it would be a hard sell to convince the wife of the need for such a device. My patience paid off when Amazon offered the Echo on sale just prior to Black Friday. Needless to say I pounced on the chance to own one of my own.

I could hardly wait when the box arrived to pull her out of the package and get her set up. The whole process was amazingly simple, and within minutes I was hearing Alexa’s voice live in my home for the first time. I’ll admit at first she was a novelty, much as I did with Cortana or Siri when I first tried them out, I began to ask Alexa simple things. “Alexa, how tall is Mt. Everest?” “Alexa, will you tell me a joke?” “Alexa, what is the airspeed velocity of an unladed swallow?” My wife was not in the least bit amused.

It quickly became my mission to prove to my wife the true benefit Alexa could bring to our lives, and that I hadn’t just wasted nearly $200. I stayed up late that first night, combing over Forums, and Web Pages dedicated to the Amazon Echo device. Studied manuals, looked up apps, and delved deep into the uses such a device could have. By morning I was prepared to wow my wife with the amazing things Alexa could do.

I began my sales pitch as soon as we awoke, to an alarm coming not from my wife’s or my alarm clocks, nor from our cell phones, but from our newly acquired Voice Command Device. “Alexa, turn off alarm?” The sound stopped. My wife rolled her eyes and gave me one of those looks that told me she was not yet impressed. Time for plan B… “Alexa, play holiday music on Pandora.” Instantly a soft voice replied “playing your holiday playlist on Pandora” followed by music of a quality you would not expect from such a small device. The music reminded my wife that we were planning on making homemade Christmas candy that evening, and were short a few supplies. She quickly rattled off the list to me asking me to put it into my phone as I had many times in the past. I seized the opportunity to go to plan C… “Alexa, add sugar, dark corn syrup, chocolate chips, and pecan halves to my shopping list.” The music paused and the voice replied, “ok, adding sugar, dark corn syrup, chocolate chips, and pecan halves to your shopping list.” The music resumed as my wife smiled and asked if Alexa was going to the store with us too. I could barely contain myself as I said yes, and opened up the Alexa app on my phone, showing her the shopping list we had just created.

For my wife it wasn’t the love at first sight it seemed to have been for me, but she has grown to accept Alexa as a part of our household. I have even expanded the scope of her role in the house. Adding a few connected devices to some of the outlets at home has allowed me to turn off the kids TV when it’s time for bed without ever having to walk back to their room. I can start the coffee pot in the morning before I even hit the kitchen, and can turn on the lights when we come home from being away. Recently Amazon has partnered with IFTTT, a connected home command developer which utilizes the “If This Then That” protocol of programming to better expand the capabilities of Alexa. I can now use her to interact with my Nest home thermostat, have Alexa send me an email when my kids let her know they are home from school, and Alexa will keep me apprised of items on my to do list and Google Calendar without me ever having to open my phone.

Don’t get me wrong, I still ask Alexa to tell me a joke every now and then, but she has grown to be much more than a simple Voice Command Device… She’s a member of the family.

EVERYKEY

It seems like everything today needs a password. Your phone, your email, your computer, your car, and even your home. Done all in the name of security. But often each one requires a certain requirement in order to create a password. Must be eight characters long, must contain one special character, must have one capital leader, so on and so forth. Leading to a bevy of different password com-binations. And then we start to forget them. The frustration builds as we angrily enter as many different variations of a password that we can recall, which usually ends with the same result, locked out with no way of getting in. Thankfully, there is a new device in the works that looks to remedy that problem. It is called Every-Key, and was created by the same team behind the McAfee anti-virus software.

EveryKey is small, portable and resembles a flash drive but instead of carrying PDF files it unlocks virtually anything by broadcasting, via Bluetooth, encrypted information to identify itself. Every time the password is sent from EveryKey to your device it changes how it sends its message so hackers cannot sniff it out and re-broadcast it. EveryKey is able to accomplish this by AES 128-bit encryption, the same type that the military use to protect documents with confidential security codes. And since the message is encrypted, each broadcast is non-determinis-tic. Which means it appears random but in reality it is the same message being repeated differently than the one that proceeded it.

:: Kevin Haugen

The passwords themselves are not stored on some distant server instead they are secured on EveryKey and thanks to the AES 128-bit encryption only the EveryKey and your device hold the encryption key. Whenever you walk up to our device it senses the broadcast and unlocks, and then when you walk away it immediately relocks itself.

But there is always the concern of losing the EveryKey. If that does happen, don’t worry, you are able to either call EveryKey or go online to freeze it. Afterwards, a message will be sent out to all of your devices letting them know that they should not unlock unless the password is manually entered. There is also a EveryKey App for download where you can pair your devices and manage how far you can be be-fore the device locks (within 3 meters) or freeze your key in case it is lost or stolen.

EveryKey is compatible with Mac OS 10.9+, Windows 7+, Ubuntu 14+, Android 4.4+, and iOS 9+. It is also compatible all major web browsers. The EveryKey’s bat-tery can last up to 30 days and is rechargeable. The device also has a USB port for charging, is water resistant, and comes with a key-ring. The goal is to have EveryKey ready for shipping in early 2016. You can check them out at their web page: www.everykey.com.

GOOGLE PLAY MUSICAlthough not a new app by any means, Google Play Music has updated to some pretty neat features. Mainly, you can now upgrade from the individual $9.99/month subscription to $14.99 and unlock the Family Subscription, allowing up to 5 additional devices have access to all of the unlimited music found on Google Play.

Although it hasn’t been yet confirmed why the Amazon Echo defaults to being called “Alexa,” it may have to do with Alexa Internet, Amazon’s web traffic data and analytics company.

When it started, what was Amazon’s only product?

a.) Electronics b.) Books c.) Magazine Subscriptions d.) Clothing

Last weekly’s answer: Blackberry is brought to us by our neighbors from the north, Canada.