Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Loves in Your Life

It’s hard to believe that Valentine’s Day is already coming up again…didn’t we just celebrate Christmas???

I love Valentine’s, it’s a great reminder to show those you love a little extra lovn’ that day.  I especially like all of the parties my kids have in their classrooms – everything is red and pink and it’s a great excuse to get into their classrooms and see them having fun.

If you’re looking for something a little different this year to give your sweethearts, the Well Connected Mom has a number of different gadgets and accessories that are sure to be appreciated…

Now this is a fun camera.  The Sony Bloggie is lightweight, the size of a smartphone, and takes both video and still pictures.  I’ve never understood the popularity of the Flip, other than the fact the pictures were easy to upload, because it did not take still shots.  I’ve always liked the Sanyo Xacti because of it’s dual camera/video camera, but they’re not being made anymore after Panasonic bought Sanyo.

Fortunately, The Bloggie takes pictures…and good ones too with its 8MP camera.  The video is 1080p and is of very high quality.  Want to get your holiday videos up in a flash?  The Bloggie features a Live Video feature where the videos are uploaded to the Interet via Qik  so others can join in on the fun of the moment.  The Sony Bloggie is also Wi-Fi enabled for easy uploads and ive streaming as well as contains a flip-out USB plug for uploading and or charging  The Bloggie sells for $199.  Looking for a great camera extension accessory?  See this blog article on the XShot and how it works with the Sony Bloggie.

I love these warm SmarTouch gloves.  They allow you to still use your touchscreens while you wear them due to the special touchpads woven into the fingers of the gloves.  Have you ever tried to operate your iPad or smartphone with normal gloves on?  Nothing happens.  Not so with the SmarTouch gloves.  They also have a rubberized webbing across the palms so they can better grip onto your smartphone. At CES, I saw a new pair that are lined with a stuffed animal type fleece.   Boy are they toasty!  Even though I live in Southern California, I find I wear my SmarTouch Gloves often in the morning while dropping my kids off to school.  I absolutely love these gloves and can’t recommend them highly enough.  They also come in leather.  SmarTouch gloves are available in men and women sizes.  Although there are no children sizes, there is an XS/S size that might fit older children.  SmarTouch gloves run from $13 up to $35 depending upon the fabric.

AFTERSHOKZ is a new headphone set I discovered at CES.  What I like about these headphones is that they DON’T cover your ears!  Intriguing, huh?  They claim that there is “Nothing In, On, or Covering Your Ears,” and they’re right.  Interestingly enough, the headphones are placed on the top of your cheekbones, just outside your ear.  Why is this cool you ask?  Well, for one, the music is not as damaging to your ear canal.  Secondly, it allows you to hear more of what it going around you — the phone ringing, your son screaming in pain after your other child bopped him, or allowing you to hear cars and impending traffic during your jogging or cycling routine.

AFTERSHOKZ is based on bone conduction which means sound waves are converted to vibrations and transmitted to the inner ear, bypassing the eardrums.  This is how you can actually hear your own voice.  AFTERSHOKZ uses pretty fascinating technology to produce a great sound.  I know, I’ve tried it.*   You can buy AFTERSHOKZ at Barnes and Noble for $56.90.

Any sweetheart would love this gift.  OK, it’s a little unusual for a Valentine’s gift, but I think everyone will agree it’s super handy.  Do you remember that handy  AC phone adapter plug you got with your phone?  Don’t you wish you had more of them?  One for your bedroom, one for your bathroom one for your kids’ rooms, one for your kitchen, one for your family room, one for your mudroom, etc.  But what if you already have lamps, appliances, electric toothbrushes, etc. already using the plugs?  This is where the Power 2U AC/USB wall outlet comes in handy.  Now you can use your plugs as normal for other things AND plug in two mobile devices to charge them, such as your smartphone, tablet, etc…anything that uses USB technology to charge.  I installed one* in my mud room so now I can charge my phone with a USB cord only – no AC adapter needed.  I love it.  Just think of where your sweethearts could use this gadget?  Ideally, you can find a place where everyone can use it because it has two USB outlets.  Think “gift for hubby with benefit for you!”  Fortunately, Newer Technology just lowered the suggested retail price by 25%, which means that you can find the USB wall plug for as low as $22.99 if you look in the right places.  Right now, you can buy it for $27.88 from Amazon.com.

Karotz  Internet Bunny

I couldn’t resist this one.  Karotz is a plastic bunny gadget that you can place anywhere in your home.  The company that makes the bunny, Violet, claims that Karotz is the world’s first intelligent Internet companion.  Can a tablet do that?  I have never thought of my tablet as a companion.  Karotz can assist you in all sorts of ways.  It can surf the internet for you, play your favorite music, check the weather, news, sports, etc, play webradio stations, update or check your social networks, even provide video surveillance of the room it’s sitting in and when it detects movement…from you phone!  Karotz can even record your audio message and post to Facebook or Twitter for you!  Now that’s something!

But there’s more, you can even control it remotely from your smartphone to take pictures, play music, or send a message.  The Karotz bunny sounds pretty cool huh?  One is being sent to us to review, so I’ll let you know if Karotz can deliver all it says it can.  I know my daughter can’t WAIT for Karotz to arrive, she has a home all planned for him…in her room!  Karotz sells for $129.

Some fun different Valentines gifts, huh?  There are SOOOOO many gadgets out there…and new ones hit the market everyday.   The WellConnectedMom.com will continue to attend tech and video game tradeshows to keep you apprised of what’s out there and how it is relevant to your family.  Curious is there’s a certain gadget out there to help you with something?  Let us know and we’ll keep our eyes posted for you.

Have a wonderful Valentines with your sweethearts!

*  I was provided with all of these items in exchange for my honest opinion and review.  I have tried all of the products so far except for Karotz, which is forthcoming , and because of my very favorable opinion of these products, I have decided to include them in our Valentines Gift Guide.