This Christmas shopping season promises to be a good year for electronics stores and gadget lovers.
Just in time for the holidays, two new game consoles – the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 – are flying off store shelves – and the first generation of smartwatches is making its debut this year.
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:APPL) and Samsung have released new tablets, and this promises to be the first Christmas shopping season where consumers seem to be willing to shell out up to $10,000 for new ultra-high-definition 4K and OLED televisions in any measurable number.
"We're selling 4K TVs and also the OLED TVs," said Danielle Jang, communications manager for Best Buy Canada. "That's the biggest trend in televisions."
A related trend is that the new generation of game consoles – the Xbox One and PS4 – have merged into smart-TV territory, providing a range of multi-media features, from Internet browsing to TV apps like Netflix and integration with social media, which means they are much more than just game devices. The Xbox One even allows people to use their TVs to make Skype calls.
"This year, the big item is definitely the consoles," Jang said. "They're not just for gaming now, but because of the way people are consuming technology, you can get Internet, movies, TV, Skype, and you can put your photos up there. You can do so many things with these hubs now."
New tablets include Apple's iPad Air and mini, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD (not available in Canada until this summer) and Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1.
"It's a good year [for gadgets], but there's almost so much hype around it and so much saturation, it's like what do you pick and where and how much?" said Ben Abel, who does gadget reviews for Vancouvergadgets.ca. "I just don't see how you can go wrong with Apple and Samsung."
One trend Best Buy is seeing this year is electronics and gadgets related to health and fitness.
"We're seeing a lot in fitness bands and smartwatches," Jang said.
Best Buy and Future Shop carry the Pebble smartwatch ($149) – but only online. It tethers to your smartphone so you can see incoming calls and text messages. It also tracks distance travelled and calories burned. (It even tells time.) Best Buy also carries the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch ($329.99).
Closer to home, the MIO smartwatch for fitness was developed in Vancouver and is available in local Apple and Mountain Equipment Co-op stores. Designed for athletes, it provides strapless heart rate monitoring.
Another locally developed gadget for fitness-minded gadget lovers are smartglasses for skiers and cyclists from Vancouver's Recon Instruments Inc.
Recon's Jet glasses are like Google Glass for cyclists. They feature a built-in microphone and speakers, and use Bluetooth to connect to sensors – for things like heart-rate monitoring – and to smartphones, allowing users to make calls or read texts on the go. A built-in HD camera allows users to take video or still photos.
Recon's Snow 2 ($399) is a heads-up display (HUD) device that snaps into ski goggles and provides many of the same functions as the Jet glasses, but specifically for skiers and snowboarders. Recon's devices are only available online, except for Oakley Airwave 1.5 ski goggles ($649.95), which incorporate Recon's Snow 2 HUD. They are available in Apple stores.
Cool gadgets for business travellers
- Mophie Juice Pack ($99.99). Provides backup power for smartphones and tablets when you can't find a plug-in.
- Belkin iPad case ($99 to $129.99). A case with keyboard that turns your iPad into a laptop.
- Leef Bridge USB ($18.75).This flash drive can plug into Android smartphones and tablets, then into a PC or Mac, allowing you to easily move files between devices. Particularly handy when travelling, you don't have a connection and can't use Dropbox, Google Drive or email to transfer files.
Apps to help you shop till you drop
In addition to a range of cool new high-tech gadgets on the shelves this year, there are also a number of apps to help shoppers find the things they like, including two that were developed locally.
The iwishfor app takes the guesswork out of gift shopping by allowing users to create and share wish lists. Users who see something they like in a store can whip out their smartphone and scan the item's barcode. It gets placed in the user's wish list and contains information on the item's price and where it is available. The wish list can be shared with friends and family who can access your list. Conversely, you can access their wish lists, so you don't have to guess at what they want for Christmas.
Locasity – now in beta testing – allows users to do virtual window shopping and place reservations on items that are unique or limited in availability.
"We've got north of 25 boutiques in Vancouver that are signed up all over the Gastown, Main Street, West 4th areas," said Locasity co-founder Casey Era. "Our goal is to eventually allow every shopper to window-shop every store in Vancouver."
Locasity allows people to browse boutiques and small shops and when they see something they like, they can reserve it, then go try it out before buying it. Locasity is currently focused solely on fashion.
