Want to wrap your Christmas gift and New Year's resolution into one? Try a device that keeps track of your every waking (and sleeping) moment. The Fitbit Force and its competing brands, count your steps, distance, calories burned, stairs climbed, and active minutes. It also monitors how long and how well you sleep and syncs it with your computer and smartphone.
Cincinnati technology expert Dave Hatter, at the request of WVXU, came up with a list of cool tech gifts, including the Fitbit Force. Another idea probably serves no real purpose, other than it's fun to watch.
More practical might be:
- an illuminated computer keyboard
- a wireless range extender
- A Roku streaming media player
- A wireless music receiver
Hatter already has his eye on this: a system that allows you to remotely adjust and pick the hue of lights in your home.
With identity theft a real threat, companies are marketing ways to protect yourself. What about a wallet that blocks people from using a skimmer to steal your credit card numbers?
And finally, the cold weather could be hampering your ability to text. There are gloves you can buy that have tiny conductive filaments woven into the fabric, so you can operate a touch-screen phone or tablet without taking them off.
