Hasta La Ideas

Tech-centric highlights from our 2011 holiday gift guide

Many adults—including a majority of CH staffers—classify their favorite toys in the tech sector. We’ve culled a batch of coveted electronic items from the Cool Hunting Gift Guide for all the gadget lovers on your list.

Ultimate Ears

Developed in 1995 by Van Halen’s touring monitor engineer and drummer, this line of earphones ranges from the simple $50 set for the daily commuter to the extravagant professional in-ear monitor custom-made to mold to your ear ($450-$1350).

Qlocktwo and Qlocktwo Touch

The gorgeous display on this digital wall clock will deliver accurate readouts without the stress of a ticking second hand. Qlocktwo comes in multiple colors and sizes, with a design fit for home or office.

Ray Solar Charger

Power your life on the go with pure sunlight from ray, a portable solar charger for digital devices. The handy contraption comes with a silicone suction cup and kickstand to harness solar power anywhere. Coupling convenience with responsibility, this is a sure win for conscientious gadget users.

Moshi Moshi 03i Handset

French designer David Turpin presents Moshi Moshi 03i, a wireless handset and dock for iPhones and personal computers. Link up via Bluetooth or USB and use the slick desktop accessory to call and Skype to your heart’s content.

NeatDesk Digital Scanner

Digitizing all kinds of clutter from tax returns to receipts to business cards, NeatDesk is a scanner-and-software combo that records and organizes your most essential information. The intelligent software is able to digitally categorize the content of your scans; in the case of receipts, it finds the date, payment type, purchase amount as well as other important details.

Ceramic Speakers Version 2

The second installment of SF-based industrial designer Joey Roth’s ceramic speakers pump out massive sound in a simple package. Made with durable and natural materials like cork, porcelain and maple plywood, this classic set will enliven your living room for years to come.

Kogeto Dot

The adorable Dot from Kogeto snaps onto your iPhone 4 or 4s to enable 360-degree recording from the palm of your hand. The attachment comes in a rainbow of colors and is a perfect gift for amateur videographers to record their latest youtube shenanigans.

iPong

The nifty iPong robot provides expert ping pong training without a partner. Best of all, the cylindrical, super slim design allows setup in less than a minute.

Take business on the road with a mobile scanner weighing less than a pound

While other portable scanners with great digital functionality have come before it, Fujitsu’s new ScanSnap S1100 adds some key features that put it a cut above for business use. The PC and Mac compatible device, designed for the traveling
professional (deemed the Best Mobile Productivity Accessory by Notebooks), allows users to immediately upload documents, photos or hard cards (plastic cards) directly to Google Docs and Evernote.

Like the similar Doxie Cloud, ScanSnap’s resolution output is as high as 600dpi, but its speed and universal compatibility make it a more ideal business companion. With efficiency at the core of the design, Fujitsu’s focus was to furnish the business community with a mobile scanner that could digitize a class action lawsuit from a Starbucks. A number of features make such remote heavy lifting easy.

Continuous document feeding allows for scanning of multiple documents without delay, at scanning speeds of 7.5 seconds per page. The searchable content function digitally archives information highlighted in a document to the chosen upload platform to make it finable later. ScanSnap also gives the option of scanning in business cards or credit cards, immediately extracting information for use within laptops or mobile devices. Another brilliant addition is the easy self-maintenance of the scanner—pop it open to clean the camera and roller in a matter of minutes.

The ScanSnap S1100 sells through Fujitsu’s site directly for $200.