Category: Gift News

Even Santa gets cold feet sometimes, and we're not talking about when he married Mrs. Claus. Japanese gadget trove Thanko has introduced a pair of USB Santa Boots, a gadgetized way to keep the feet warm during the frigid winter months. These slippers, which look suspiciously like footwear belonging to a certain white-bearded, rotund Christmas hero, are heated by a USB connection from the ...

If you watched the news before Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year for American retailers, you surely heard tales of doom and gloom with predictions of downward trends in consumer spending and all that jazz. As it turns out, sales in-store were just fine, and according to reports about online shopping, many chose to wait and do their shopping on the following "Cyber Monday," ...

The new Katalyst from Samsung is the latest phone to get paired with the Wi-Fi powered T-Mobile HotSpot@Home VoIP service. This slim slider has all the standard features you'd expect from a mid-range phone, Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, instant messaging, media playback, and more. The Katalyst also comes with a Wi-Fi radio, a necessity for working with T-Mobile's HotSpot@home service. ...

Remember the breakup when she (or he) got your gadget? Whether it was the flat screen TV, laptop computer or robot vacuum cleaner, original ownership is often a point of contention when it comes to divvying up the domestic gadgets during a breakup. Well, it's been awhile, but the British have saved the day. Online electronic retailer Pixmania and law firm Lloyd, Platt & Company have brought ...

We always thought there was something off about a fat, red-faced guy, who gave kids gifts for just "being good," and took to sitting the good boys and girls on his lap. This week some other people started realizing that maybe good ol' Saint Nick has a few screws loose -- including those who tried to speak to Santa via his northpole@live.com address on MSN Messenger. It seems the Microsoft run ...

Marketing geniuses at Japan's Aqua Toto Gifu Aquarium have caught the attention of both the marine-life lovers and the media with a holiday display that uses a unique source of clean renewable energy -- an electric eel, otherwise known to us geeks here at Switched as Electrophorus Electricus. The aquarium placed its "E-Tree" next to tan electric eel in a tank. Inside the tank, copper wiring has ...

Proving yet again that we haven't run out of good ideas (as a species), the folks at Charles and Marie (we'll call them "Charles and Marie") have released one of the most logical items we've seen in some time. Like Sunday mornings, it's easy: The mug turns from off to on when filled with hot liquid, and then goes back to off when your beverage is drinkable again. 25 bucks is a bit on the pricey ...

Even though listening to the Backstreet Boys version of 'Christmas Time' every hour on the hour -- at least while we're out shopping -- makes us want to seal our eyes and ears with a caulking gun, we still like to get into the holiday spirit... we just want to do it on our own terms. So, for those of us who want to spruce up our cubicles for the holidays and would rather skip those lame snow ...

If you planned to get your hands on one of Amazon's hot little eBook readers before Christmas, we're hoping you've already ordered. Amazon's Kindle reader dropped a few weeks ago and has already taken the world by storm -- despite being little more advanced than Sony's Reader. The Kindle is now so popular that Amazon can't keep up with demand, indicating that any new orders won't be delivered ...

This year the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is going green. By green, we mean environmentally friendly, of course. The 30,000+ lights on the massive conifer have been replaced with energy sipping LEDs that have cut the tree's power consumption to about a third its normal level. In fact, the amount of electricity required by the tree has been reduced enough that the whole thing is powered ...

Greenpeace has been making a lot of noise lately with its attacks on Apple for using nasty stuff in the iPhone and in general for not being very green. Apple is implementing plans for getting greener, and now it seems Greenpeace is moving on to, well, greener pastures, attacking a whole boatload of tech companies with its latest Guide to Greener Electronics. The guide rates electronics ...

Well, Black Friday came and went, but it's still kind of Black Friday at many places through the end of the weekend. This means hundreds of amazing deals on electronics and other digital doodads, not to mention insanely long lines. We don't really think all the fuss is worth it, particularly since two weeks ago, we bought a Panasonic 42-inch plasma HDTV for about $1,100. In fact, we're ...

Amazon.com has found great success with its Marketplace, a sort of better-structured eBay enabling users to post their own used goods for sale on the site. Now it seems Target wants to get in on the action, but it won't allow just anyone to sell their wares on its site, Target.com. The company is posting so-called pre-owned electronics to the site, but it will only be re-selling those ...

For some of us, the supermarket is something of an oasis. The endless rows of celery, chicken thighs, Cheez Whiz -- it's just us alone with that which God has provided for our nourishment, perfectly at home underneath the fluorescent lights. Like heaven, but with a candy aisle. So even better, really. Now marketers are doing their best to destroy that sanctuary. In the very near future, ...