YORK TECH SPEC
On the face of it, St Valentine and technology don’t have much in common, but that doesn’t stop gadget sites and shops from trying to persuade you that nothing says “I love you” like a pink USB vacuum cleaner. If you avoid the novelty stuff, though, there are plenty of great gift ideas - and very few of them are pink.
Hi-tech gifts for the gadget geek in your life
Gadgets they’ll love S
ome of the best ideas are the simplest, such as the HiJack Double Headphone Sharer (£7): when you travel together you can both enjoy the same video or music. If you fancy getting really cosy while you do it, you could also invest in a Double Slanket (around £25), a two-person version of the sofa snuggler - although we wouldn’t recommend buying one if your beloved cares about being cool (in the fashion sense) rather than toasty. Many gadget sites are stuffed with hilarious housework-related gifts, such as the Diva Washing Up Brush (around £6), and novelty items such as the Y-front shaped Hot Pants Hand Warmers (£5.95) although perhaps best passed by if you’d still like to be in a relationship on February the 15th. Tea lovers might appreciate the awfully named IngenuiTEA (£17), a clever infuser that delivers the perfect cup of tea from loose leaves of any description, while the LEDembedded Model Mirror (£15.99) is perfect for fixing eyeliner - or guyliner when your partner’s out and
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about. Glowing wine glasses (£6.99) can add a touch of fun to even the cheapest plonk, while another awfully named gadget - Le Whif - promises perfection: all the taste of chocolate without any of the calories. Its secret? You don’t eat the chocolate; you inhale it. It sounds bizarre but it does work, lots of online reviewers seem pleased with it and at just £5 for a three-pack it very affordable. If the object of your desire really loves chocolate you could always invest in a chocolate fountain (from around £33, widely available) although it’s worth remembering that once the novelty wears off, it’ll take up a lot of space as it gathers dust in a cupboard. If you’re old enough to remember the days of music on cassettes, you’ll know the power of a romantic mix tape but while cassettes have gone to the technology graveyard, the mix tape lives on in the form of Suck UK’s superbly
clever USB Mix Tape (£16.95). It comes in six retro designs, looks like a tape and comes with an inlay card for scribbling your song titles in carefully drawn biro, but unlike your old C90s it offers pristine digital sound and 900 minutes of digital audio on the enclosed USB drive. If the thought of sharing your pop favourites with your partner fills you with fear, perhaps because you’re a Cliff fan and your beloved is more partial to Slipknot, then don’t despair: technology offers all kinds of personalised gifts. The “Your Life’s Theme Song” plaque (£54.95) is a framed CD or 7” single commemorating a special day, such as the day you met, featuring the UK number one single for that day, while U Star Novels (www.ustarnovels. co.uk) will happily insert your name(s) into a novel. With categories including romance novels, classics and, er, vampires, there’s a title to suit most tastes. Expect to pay around £24 to become Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare’s play or to take a starring role in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Copy deadline for the next edition is Tuesday 7th February