Western Living Magazine
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Its that time of year, when electronics move from wish lists to must-haves.
There are hundreds of wireless speakers out there, so we’ll make it easy. Nothing beats the Jawbone Mini Jambox ($179) for its blend of performance, design and price, and the new mini packs major sound. jawbone.com
So if you’ve already maxed out the kids’ RESPs and given at least an equal amount to charity, then may we present the coolest TV we’ve ever seen. The Samsung S9000 ($40,000) is voice-controlled, hand-controlled and at seven feet across, suitable for the lair of any James Bond villain. samsung.com
In Nest’s first year they overhauled the thermostat, and now it’s the smoke detector’s turn. The Nest Protect ($129) means no false alarms, silence with a wave of a hand and built-in CO alarm. nest.com
The Sony SmartWatch ($130) is smart enough to let you wirelessly check your email, listen to music and tweet and it doesn’t look half-bad to boot. sony.ca
Unless your home is a bare-studs reno, built-in speakers are a hassle. Leave it to the Danish geniuses at Bang and Olufsen to solve that problem with their Beolab 16, 17 or 18 (from $3,390) high-performance wireless speakers, so beautiful you won’t want to hide them away. bang-olufsen.com
If you’re still feeling sheepish about your $40,000 TV, we have just the solution: theNokero solar light bulb ($6), a solar-powered bulb that actually works, looks smart and is easy on the wallet. nokero.com
Neal McLennan is the wine and spirits editor for Vancouver and Western Living magazines, where he susses out the wonderful (and occasionally weird) options for imbibing across Western Canada.
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