Holiday Gifts With a Digital Twist Appeal to Consumers, Techies

It’s not too early to start thinking about holiday gifts for the geeks in your life. Here are 10 gifts displayed at Pepcom’s annual “Halloween Spectacular.”

Beddit Smart is a thin sensor you place under your bed sheet, and it connects wirelessly to your Android, iOS or Watch OS device to track your sleep, including heart rate, respiration, movement, snoring and sleep cycles. In the morning, you’ll get a personalized “SleepScore” and tips for getting a better night’s sleep.

The next time someone asks, “How was the drive?” you’ll be able to show them with the Drive HD Dash Cam, a 1080p Full HD video recorder for your car that continuously records your trip. The latest models, CDR 835 ($139.95) and CDR 855 BT ($169.95), are the first to connect wirelessly to smartphones. They include a two-inch LCD screen, an ultra-wide 160-degree lens and an embedded G-Sensor designed to automatically save and protect video clips if an impact is detected. A new “parking mode” feature in the 855 BT will start recording if an impact is detected when the car is parked.

Want to give your favorite geek a gift that keeps on giving? Loot Crate ships a monthly box chock full of geek, gaming and pop culture gear, including collectible items from popular sci-fi and fantasy shows, clothing and gadgets. October’s “Time” themed crate included exclusive items from “Back to the Future,” “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and “Doctor Who.” Loot Crate costs $20 for one month, $58 for three months and $115 for six months.

Muse “The Brain-Sensing Headband” is a $299 device you wear with headphones to help you meditate more effectively. The headband tracks your brainwave patterns, while the Muse app gives instructions and plays sounds via headphones connected to your smartphone. If your mind isn’t calm, you might hear, for example, stormy weather, but as you relax those sounds are replaced by birds gently chirping, a softly babbling brook, etc.

No more worrying about losing your key or forgetting the combination to your padlock. Register the new Bluetooth Smart Padlock, and you can unlock it with touch when your authorized device is within range. The padlocks also feature a traditional directional keypad as an alternate method of entry if a Bluetooth Smart-enabled device is unavailable or if the device is stored in a locker. Available starting in November, the indoor Bluetooth Smart Padlock is $50 and the outdoor Bluetooth Smart Padlock is $60.

Having a security camera in the house is nothing new, but Petzila has come up with a video camera specifically designed for your pets. With the Petzi Treat Cam ($169) you can see, talk to and listen to your pet remotely and take pictures of him or her that you can share on social media via your Android or iOS mobile device. You can also remotely dispense treats to your pet via your smartphone. Do it a few times and you can be sure they’ll be paying attention.

The latest active noise-canceling headphones from Plantronics feature what the firm says is a “best-in-class wireless audio connection” to computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets via a high fidelity USB Bluetooth adapter. Multipoint Bluetooth connectivity gives the BackBeat Pro+ ($299.99 list price) the ability to pair with two audio sources simultaneously so you can listen to your mobile device when you’re on the go, and when back at your PC or Mac, the headphones will shift the connection to your computer.

The handy wireless, stick-of-gum-sized storage device from SanDisk let’s you wirelessly save and access photos, videos and computer files and stream HD videos and music to up to three devices at the same time. SanDisks is offering storage sticks at various capacities and prices, including 16GB for $29.95, 32GB for $39.95, 64GB for $49.95 and 128GB for $99.99.

TripIt, the free travel app for keeping track of your itineraries, is a handy way to organize your flights. The TripIt Pro app takes things up a level with a raft of features including flight alerts for any delays, lists of alternate flights if yours is canceled and Point Tracker to track all your reward points in one spot. It also includes Seat Tracker, which will alert you when that aisle seat you wanted has become available. Pro is available as a 30-day free trial followed by a $49 annual fee.

Speedforce is a “smart” accessory that replaces a bike’s stem and incorporates a GPS cycling computer with a power supply, headlight (offering up to 30 feet of illumination) and navigation. The Speedforce smartphone app offers real-time transmission of data to your Speedforce account in the cloud. There’s also an online Speedforce community you can share photos and achievements with or just chat about bike stuff. The preorder price is $159, but the crowd-sourced funded product isn’t due out until February 2016.