gifts

Those hoping for a chance to dine with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will have to settle for an Apple gift card instead.

Computer memory maker Crucial today made a significant change to the grand prize in the Mac-centric contest it launched earlier this month. Instead of offering a dinner with Wozniak in San Francisco, the company said that "due to unforeseen circumstances," the new prize has been changed to a $10,000 Apple gift card.

"We apologize to our customers for the change in the grand prize, and hope entrants will understand that we were trying to … Read more

Tired of eating the same things over and over? Or maybe you're just looking to grab a deal at your favorite spot to eat? Time to check out Restaurant.com's Android app.

With this app you'll find options for gift certificates at restaurants that are local to you, and at a much better price. For instance, when I went looking for sushi, I found a local place that had options to spend $4 for a $10 gift certificate, or $15 for $25. Those are amazing deals if you're on a budget and don't want to … Read more

Flowers are all well and good this Mother's Day, but let's face it: they're ephemeral. And cliche. And not terribly practical. That's probably why a recent survey showed that moms covet tech gear nearly as much as they do spa trips and jewelry.

If you want to get Mom something that's useful, entertaining, and long-lasting, look no further than the tech department. I've rounded up five gadgets, all priced below $100, that should make Mom a happy camper this year -- and on into next.

ChicBuds Most earbuds are basic black or Apple white … Read more

Karma is one of the most well thought-through gift-giving services I've seen. It combines smart analysis of users' Facebook streams, with a carefully curated storefront and a unique payment cycle.

The experience starts with an app that does some semantic analysis of a user's Facebook content. It watches your friends' updates and walls for messages that are likely to fit into certain emotional categories. For example, you'll see someone pop up in the "Tough day" category if they're getting a bunch of "I'm sorry to hear..." notes on their walls. The … Read more

We often don't appreciate love till love is lost or broken. The same goes for networking and storage devices.

Do you realize that you're able to read this post this right now because some router and storage device somewhere are both busy at work?

The good news is that every year we have a day to appreciate love. And you may also want to take this opportunity to appreciate the tech tool that's been so underappreciated. Luckily, I am here to help.

Here are the Top 5 networking and storage devices that are not just among the top of their respective categories--including mobile routers, home wireless routers, internal drives, network storage, and external storage devices--but are also collectively sexy, cute, lovely devices that would make a great gift for a special someone. … Read more

Forget the flowers this Valentine's Day. Go for a lightsaber-lit dinner, the open-source iNecklace, and the flirtatious Fingle app. Bridget Carey shows off tech to woo the nerd of your dreams.… Read more

Psst...Wanna earn 25 bucks? Here's an offer from the folks at Google.

The search giant is promising up to $25 in Amazon gift cards if you let it track the Web sites you visit and how you use them. Through a new project known as Screenwise, you install a browser extension that monitors every site you check out.

Google's stated goal is to find out how everyday people use the Internet in an attempt to help it improve its own products and services.

Those of you not shy about sharing your Web sites can score a $5 … Read more

Back in the day, CDs burned with custom playlists were the ultimate last-minute gifts: thoughtful, unique, and took just enough effort to warrant a "Wow, I can't believe you made this for me!"

For the most part, those days are over, but if you have a USB drive laying around, you can give a gift that might be even better than a burned CD: a customized USB hard drive. Not only can you pack it with a variety of goodies (like hand-picked music and photos), the gift recipient will use the USB drive over and over again … Read more

Best Buy hopes the Super Bowl will bring super-sized crowds of smartphone buyers to its stores.

The retailer plans to run its second-ever Super Bowl spot, this year placing the spotlight solely on mobile and creating a short-term deal that will dole out $50 gift cards to customers who buy smartphones this year.

The push is part of Best Buy's increased focus on mobile, which remains one of the stronger revenue drivers for the retail chain. While the company is seeing slowing sales and price cuts in other areas, smartphones are lucrative.

Most consumers still tend to go to … Read more