“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date…”
– William Shakespeare
Yes, I just led with Shakespeare in a gift guide story. There’s no rule against it. But, there is a rule against summer lasting forever. The clock is ticking, and the calendar is crossing off the days of Summer 2016.
But, it’s not quite over yet. We’re in the hottest, dog days of the season now, and there’s still time for days at the beach, road trips and everything else summer calls to mind. To get the most out of these days, here’s a gift guide offering ideas on ways to enhance these last couple of weeks before the seasons begin to turn again.
Below you’ll find a neat and tidy little gallery of summer gift ideas. You can send them the way of anyone who’s moping about the impending arrival of autumn — or give them to yourself while there’s still time to
Mistbox
It isn’t exactly sexy or fun to play with, but the Mistbox can save the recipient a pile of money. It uses a temperature controlled (and controlling) water cloud that cools an outdoor air conditioning unit. That means the compressor has to work less to cool your house, saving electricity and (potentially) repair costs.
Amazon Tap
After trying it out, I can report that the Amazon Tap essentially does everything the Amazon Echo does. It just asks for a poke every so often to know you’re there. With an ever-growing AI component that’s learning new skills all the time, the Amazon Tap will play music via voice command with Amazon’s Alexa system will do everything from stream your music to tell you the day’s news. All you have to do is “tap” its microphone button to let it know you’d like to talk. The Echo is “always listening,” so the Tap feels a little less nanny-ish. And, yes, if you throw on a free rubber sleeve that ships with the device, it’s water and impact resistant.
Polaroid Cube
A clever rival to the traditional GoPro, the Polaroid Cube uses a simple design and a standard micro SD port to record you’re misbehaving. But, give it a gold star for including a magnet in its frame. Yes, there’s a whole set of special mounts, but it’ll also stick to metallic surfaces on its own.
Cobra JumPack XL
The Cobra JumPack XL is the next evolution in Cobra’s in-car power source kits. You can charge any smartphone or tablet off of this kit, but it’s real function is to jumpstart your car in an emergency — making it a great summer road trip resource.
NuForce BE6
With more talk of analog cord connectors disappearing from cell phones and other devices, the need for good Bluetooth headphones is growing. The NuForce BE6 pack all of the essential functions with a price tag under $100.
Roadtripper Travel Pack
A great gift idea if you want to spend a little less, the Roadtripper Travel Pack is a great throw-in for summer road trips. It’s a portable charging unit for cars without their own USB connector or for groups of passengers who might need an extra plug.
UE Boom 2
A Siri and Google Now-friendly rival to the Amazon Tap, the UE Boom 2 is a voice aware wireless speaker that streams music via vocal command or by the free Google Now app. If you don’t want to use the voice features, it’ll also stream your own music library indoors or outside.
