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Geeky Gifts For Geeky Dads

By Staff Author | June 15, 2012

Father’s Day is this Sunday, and for those of us can no longer make macaroni necklaces, it’s time to step up our gift-giving game.

Get your favorite guy a gadget this Father’s Day, and thank the man who taught you how to ride a bike with something that can fly. Here are three of the most impressive, yet affordable, wireless devices on the market today:

The Parrott AR Drone 2.0 may silently soar through the air- but it’s creating quite the buzz from down below.

The Parrott AR Drone 2.0, the successor of the AR Drone 1.0, is a remote control flying and High Definition recording device. According to Lance Ulanoff, “It’s best described as your own personal spy drone.”  The AR Drone 2.0 boasts extreme precision control, reaching heights of over 100 meters and is controlled entirely from your smartphone or tablet.  Purchase the FreeFlight 2.0 application from the Apple App Store or Google Play for Android, and enjoy the absolute flight control Pilot Settings that utilize a built in 3d compass to make the pilot a universal reference point. The application also features Media Manager which allows you to instantly stream, view and share HD quality videos and pictures.

The AR Drone 2.0 allows the pilot full control while streaming a Bird’s Eye Recording straight to your device, with a 720p 30fps HD Camera offering 92degrees diagonal wide angle lens. Store your videos and images on the fly straight onto your remote device using AR Drone 2.0’s WiFi capabilities or a high speed 2.0 USB key.

The control extends to the on-board technology with automatic stabilization features and emergency stop and landing, 1GHz 32 bit ARM Cortex A8 processor with 800 MHz video, and ultrasound sensors for ground-altitude measurement. The AR Drone 2.0 sports 4 brushless inrunner motors, 14.5 watt and 28.000 RPM, low noise Wylatron gears, carbon filtered tubes and high grade thirty percent fiber charged nylon plastic parts. Test-fly before wrapping the AR Drone 2.0, it’s “crashable” and fully reparable online.

After taking the quadrocopter from its default flight of 3 meters to past 100 meters (it can fly as far as your WiFi capabilities reach), charge the AR Drone 2.0 with the 3 elements 1.000 mA/H LiPo rechargeable battery, and fully reprogram the motor controller.

 

For the man who never misses a baseball game, but always misplaces the remote control, the I-Got-Control Universal iPad, iPhone and iPod touch remote control is a great gift.

The I-Got-Control Universal remote control is a plug-and-play IRB1 accessory, especially made for those forgetful dads who may not be as tech-savvy as their children. 

The I-Got-Control Universal remote control instantly turns your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch into a universal learning remote control that can control virtually any infrared device dad may use. Rather than search for each specific remote control, the I-Got-Control Universal remote control can learn and control the navigations for not only the television, but the cable box, stereo system-and maybe even the dog. With its built-in world wide IR database and learning capabilities, this remote control works at home and on-the-go. It requires no WiFi, wires, or batters, and can control any AV components that utilize IR equipment.

The I-Got-Control Universal remote control is extremely user-friendly. The graphic user interface is highly intuitive, providing both audible and visual feedback for the user. The connector piece is small (fits within most palms), lightweight, portable and affordable. It takes only three simple steps to turn Dad’s iPad, iPhone or iPod touch into a universal remote control: connect, select and control. Connect the IRB1 remote to the device’s dock connector, select and launch the application (available on iTunes) and choose the devices, then select the saved devices- and control.

 

Maybe your father doesn’t want control over the television- he wants a new way to watch it.

The Boxee Box is a device that eliminates the need to pay a monthly cable fee, and allows you to watch your favorite shows and movies available from the internet on your television. Rather than pay the cable company a large monthly fee, Boxee Box requires one affordable payment, and then finds the shows you want to watch online and instantly connects them onto your television screen with an HDMI out cord (HDCD cable included). Boxee Box has created partnerships with many of the largest television and movie companies available online today- Netflix’s Watch Instantly full season television shows, VuDu’s Hollywood Blockbusters and MuBI’s critically-acclaimed foreign films, to name a few.

You can also search for any video, movie or television show on the internet right on the Boxee Box’s remote control and watch instantly. The Boxee Box’s remote control has a fully-enabled QWERTY keyboard on its backside, allowing you to search, browse and watch with ease. The Boxee Box kit also includes the HDMI cord, an Ethernet Port, 892.11 n wireless technology, 2 USB 2.0 ports, optical Digital Audio (S/PDF), Composite Audio Connectors and an AC Power Connector.

The features do not end with television and movies, unlike a cable box or mediocre television set. Boxee Box has an accessible Applications Library, offering the user hundreds of music, video and photo applications.  Listen to free music with Pandora, enjoy the Mets game with MLB or upload photos with Flickr. It also offers built-in Social Life applications, connecting your social media sites to your television screen, so you can get movie recommendations from your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Share with your friends by clicking the remote. There’s also a built-in application called Personal Stuff that allows you to share, organize and view all of your files, videos and pictures from your computer to your television screen. Boxee Box offers frequent updates, and an extra application called Boxee Live TV. Boxee Live TV allows you to watch live sports, local news, special events and shows from local broadcast stations (FOX, NBC, CBS) via a High Definition antenna. Dad will never miss another game- or monthly bill again.

Skip the light-up tie this Father’s day, and get Dad a gadget that’ll really get him going!

June 15, 2012

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