The gift-giving season is upon us. It’s time to get organised and buy those presents for your family, friends and local Allure Media editor. To make it easy for you (or to give you some ideas for other friendly geeks), we’ve compiled our hottest wishlist for gadget gifts this Christmas.
Human Hamster Ball (Zorbing)
Danny Allen: Jumping inside a giant clear ball, spinning head over arse (and in my case having a few drinks) – what could go wrong? You could go to the OzBall park up on the Gold Coast or pick one up on eBay from the States. The land versions cost anywhere between $700 and $1200 (some even light up), while the water versions start at a much more affordable $150 or so. [imgclear]
Moog Little Phatty Stage II
Danny Allen: This awesome mono synth has a distinctive sound that cuts through a mix like a hot analogue knife: I’ve wanted one (well any Moog really) for a really long time. This might be the year! The Little Phatty includes MIDI clock sync to synchronise the arpeggiator and LFO, and this edition adds USB so you can easily connect it to software (MIDI over USB is supported, too). Ideally ,I’d love the limited edition Tribute Edition (with fancy blue LEDs), but they only made 1200 of them and I don’t think my budget will stretch that far. There’s also a Redback Australian edition. About $1700. [imgclear]
8GB iPod Touch
Elly Hart: I’m a die-hard Android fangirl, but I’m desperate to make the iOS 5 experience mine right now. I come across so many cool iOS apps when I do my App Deals of the Day, and not having an iOS device to test them on makes me a little bit jealous. If your loved one is using an old iPod, now’s a great time to upgrade. Harvey Norman has a fantastic deal on at the moment – $164 for an 8GB iPod Touch. You have to go in-store to pick it up, but that’s 25 per cent off Apple’s RRP. Bargain. [Harvey Norman][imgclear]
iPod Classic
Angus Kidman: iPod Classic ($279)
Yes, I know: it can’t run apps and it uses old-fashioned hard drive technology. But now that I’ve finally ripped all my CD collection, the total amount of music is around 110GB. So a classic iPod is going to make more sense than anything else on the market. Is it wrong that I’m dreaming up playlists already?[imgclear]
AKG Portable Stereo HP In-Line Mic Headphone (White)
Tracey Lien: As if my risk of being hit by a car wasn’t already high enough, now I can increase it by blocking out street noise with a chunky set of headphones. The upside of this gift is that it will make me look like a Legitimately Cool Person who might possibly have a decent music collection. The downside is I will probably get hit by a car while crossing the street. [JB HiFi][imgclear]
Climb Station
Mark Serrels: I want to climb forever. All of the time. That is what’s best in life. So if anyone happens to have a spare 30,000 Euros lying around, you might want to help a brother out and buy me a Climbstation.
It’s a bit like a climbing treadmill, except it costs a ludicrous amount of money. So yeah. Buy me one plz![imgclear]
Home Office Shed
Nick Broughall: Having just had my second child, the amount of spare space in my 3 bedroom house is eroding faster than my hairline. I need an outdoor mancave, like the Alpine from Cabin Kits Galore. Set up properly, it could easily accommodate my work space and my play space, although it would cost about $10,000 to set up, which is why it’s on my Christmas wishlist. [Cabin Kits Galore][imgclear]