The holidays can be a busy season so we took a short break from the hustle and bustle to ask our team for some of their top gadgets and services. We put it all together in this 2021 list of top gifts for techies.
CrossComm's Holiday Techie Gift Guide
Courtesy: Ember
Ember Temperature Control Mug
$129.95
"The reason I want this and why it makes a great gift for so many people is because everyone loves hot beverages but the problem is they don't stay at an ideal drinking temperature for long. This cup helps solve that, but it is a tough pill to swallow dropping $129.95 on a single mug which is what makes it a great gift. I have tried other less expensive options but Ember still seems to be the premier item in this category."
Steve Maxson
Sr. UX Designer
Courtesy: Playdate
"This quirky little rectangle brought to you by Panic, the long famed developers of some of the greatest software for developers on Apple computers. They've teamed up with Teenage Engineering (!!!) to build a quirky little game console that not only comes with a subscription with regular game releases - but all the tools you need to create your own games. They've partnered with groups around the world to enable underrepresented groups to produce and ship games on their platform. I can get behind all of it! The backorders are pretty well established, but I think that DIY, indie gamer in your family will be super excited to turn the crank when it arrives. Yea. A crank!"
Ian Turgeon
Dir. of Software Engineering
Courtesy: Aftershokz
"The sound quality is superior and I love the fact that I can enjoy music, podcasts, or even attend business meetings and still hear what’s going on around me."
Beverly Gulvin
HR/Finance Administrator
Courtesy: Korg
"I love this tiny battery-powered box from Korg. It may look like a toy but secretly it's a techno powerhouse, and it's very easy to spend hours tweaking away making 90's-style jams. The idea is that you can tweak and sequence several short 12-bit samples, everything from drum sounds, stabs, pads, vocal phrases, and so on. This specifically is the second iteration which allows you to easily replace the built-in sounds with your own over USB (you still can with the first version, it's just a little bit more fiddly). They're not too bad at $145 or so, and you can easily find older versions for around $100 used. It's my desert island piece of music gear (assuming I can bring along several AA batteries)."
Zachary Berry
Sr. Front End Developer
Courtesy: Framework
Framework Laptop
$999
"I'm in love with what Framework is doing! They're not only creating a great laptop, but one that is socially responsible! An upgradable and repairable laptop with a great design."
Ian Turgeon
Dir. of Software Engineering
Courtesy: Tile
Tile Combo Pack
$79.99
"The Tile combo pack was recommended by a fellow CrossComm team member a few years back and I had to bring it back because these trackers are so useful! I lose my wallet, keys and phone on a weekly basis, and these trackers make it super easy to find them with the mobile app, Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant."
Phillipe Charles
Dir. of Marketing
Courtesy: Elgato
Elgato Stream Deck
Starting at $79.99
"There's a couple different models that range from $79.99 to $249.99. It's designed for streamers, but I've found use in using it for video production in Premiere or After Effects as you can create your own macros and have them on a nice little touch screen. A nice time saver if you have to do repetitive tasks."
Derek Prinzi
3D Artist
Courtesy: DJI
DJI OM 5 Gimbal
$159.95
"DJI makes some of the best gimbals and drones available and this little all-in-one smartphone gimbal is the real deal. For less than $200 you get A+ stabilization, an extendable arm, a stand, smart image tracking, and more. It's a dream toy for anyone that loves shooting video from their smartphone and it's at the top of my list this year."
Shane Norris
Content Marketing Associate
Do you have some great gift ideas for tech lovers that we missed?
Shoot us a tweet and we'll share it out!
Happy shopping!
