So you've got the kid's holiday wish lists taken care of but what about that friend, special person in your life or family member that is hard to shop for? Don't you want to get them something special? One rule of thumb I have for getting friends and family gifts, is I look for something that is on the borders of "would like to have", "Wouldn't Mind it" but have "lived without it" until now. Well the following is a list of the cooler stuff out there that might fill that void and make someone very happy to "receive it".

In a past WouldntMind article about managing your thoughts, notes and ideas I discussed the Livescribe Echo ($99-199 depending on your internal storage needs) which is a combination smart-pen, audio recorder and specialized digital dot paper. When combined, the information written on the paper is also saved digitally in the pen for later download into your PC or Mac. I received the latest version of this pen last Christmas and it is always at hand at any meeting or time that I want to jot down something. This makes a great holiday gift for someone looking to get better organized or handles a lot of information.

Couch potato's in your life without a universal remote? This must have accessory is something I can't more strongly recommend. The Logitech Harmony remotes are amazingly easy to configure using their online setup and easy to use with the combination of real and soft buttons (buttons that map to the small color display). I know that spending more than $30-50 on a remote might sound odd for some people but once you have a quality universal remote, you won't go back. Check out the Logitech Harmony 650 (less than $60)...its only limitation is that it only controls up to 5 devices. Check out their other Harmony remotes if you need to control more devices.

For your health conscious friends, what about getting them something to track their fitness efforts and keep them motivated as they set new goals. The Fitbit Ultra (under $100)is a new high-tech, wireless pedometer I reviewed in a recent Wouldn't Mind article that not only tracks your steps but it also has an altimeter to track the steps you climb and reports the whole set of information to a customized website where you can following your progress over time.

And no holiday list would be complete without some great camera options. The four I recommend cover the gambit of use cases as you might need to address...

Best Compact Travel Zoom - I wrote up the Canon SX230HS in a past WouldntMind piece if your looking for why to get this camera if you want a small camera to travel with but have a powerful zoom.

Highest Quality Pocketable Camera - My favorite Canon S95 has replaced with a new and improved Canon S100.

Best DSLR for under $500 - With the EOS Rebel T3 (roughly $479), Canon has bundled their new 12.2 mega-pixel sensor with an excellent 63 zone metering and 9 point auto-focus system. Combined, this set gives you amazing pictures for the price. The one aspect that really illustrates its position in the Canon DSLR hierarchy is the plastic body. This might not feel like a quality camera...but trust me, this is a great camera for the money! Keep in mind this camera sells for less that $500 with interchangeable Canon lens. If the person you are getting a new camera for already has Nikon gear or you can inch over the $500 barrier, the Nikon D3100 is a great update for them in the roughly $600 price range.

Best DSLR for under $1000 - From the rankings above you may have the impression that I am a Canon evangelist...and it is true that Canon is really leading the pack in quality digital picture taking through their investments in new sensor technologies and lens but there are some great options from other manufacturers. The Nikon D5100 (roughly $800) is a great example and a strong contender for this category. Featuring a 16.2 mega-pixel, 1080P high definition video recording and a very solid construction. The Canon EOS Rebel T3i with its 18 mega-pixels, HD video recording and great low-light picture handling make this a strong option in this sub-$1000 category.

And yes, the ultimate gift is an iPad 2. My only caveat is that I'm pretty sure an iPad 3 will be coming out in the late spring. Not really clear on what to expect from the new iPad.

Be sure to check out the other write ups on WouldntMind.com for other great gift ideas, like Bluetooth speakers or headphones, GPS solutions, flat-panel TVs, wireless hard disk storage for your smart-device, videogames, etc.

Okay...one last idea. Are you well-off financially? Are you getting a gift for someone really, really special? Cessna's CitationAir is running an end of the year promotion. You can get a 5-Hour Jet Card ($31,145-55,000 depending on the jet) that covers all expenses. They offer convenient payment options (wire transfer, check or credit card)!

And if you are looking for Holiday recommendations for the little ones, check out my other WouldntMind Holiday recommendations for kids.

Note: This is a work in progress. I am still churning through some other products that might make the list over the next couple days. I'll update this piece with details as they come around.

I am still looking for more great gift ideas for friends, family members or your favorite kids. Please feel free to share in the comments below if you have your eyes on something I haven't considered.

Well by now you know you should not expect the usual list of gift ideas for your boys and girls from me. My lists will skew toward the cool, new and/or high-tech. I'm probably not going to dive into that new tricycle for your toddler unless it comes with OnStar location services! But that said, let's look at what cool things a kid can ask for this holiday that I wish was around when I was a little one.

Toys R Us - Nabi Tablet

It is almost magical to watch young children take to their first experiences with a tablet computer like the Apple iPad. It comes so naturally for them, almost as easy as finger-painting and also akin to how they can naturally pick up a second language...the language of interacting with a computing device. You can only imagine what this new generation will be like brought up on such instant access, always available information at their fingertips.

I'm a heavy GPS users. I enjoy knowing that I am taking the most direct/shortest travel time route. I use it even in my hometown to avoid traffic and construction. But while I am a fan, the technology is built into pretty much every phone sold today...so I've been wondering "How long will they continue to make a standalone GPS?" With the world of convergent technologies, I just figured these standalone devices won't be around much longer. But I still see them advertised, I see people using them and often wonder..."Don't you have a smartphone?"

So I thought I would dig in and see what you get with a modern, standalone GPS. I'm focused on the standard automotive/portable type of GPS. There are a slew of other options for marine, motorcycle, outdoor or fitness products that I am not covering in this review.

There seems to be three key features to the standard breed of GPS today. First many of them have Bluetooth features like providing the ability to sync your cell as a speakerphone. Another great addition is real-time traffic information and routing options. And lastly, a new breed of voice command GPS units that make them ideal for hands-free use in a moving vehicle.

So I'm presuming with this write-up that you have a need for such a device and are starting there. You have a vehicle that did not come with navigation or have an "on-the-go" need for GPS guidance that a smartdevice doesn't cover. One benefit might be that you don't use "data" when traveling abroad and don't want to call up Google Maps on your phone. Data plans when traveling abroad are extremely cost prohibitive. And there are some smartphone solutions which I'll cover in a future article.

Under $200?
Nuvi 1490 LMT
My past experience has been with the Nuvi line from Garmin and found the 1400 series their popular line-up today. Last year's model the Nuvi 1490 LMT has been a runaway hit online and has garnered a lot of good buzz. It is an especially feature-rich product for the money. The large 5-inch diagonal LCD has a very readable resolution of 480x272. This product also features Bluetooth technology enabling hands-free calling. It retails for $260 but you can currently find it online in the sub-$200 price range. There are cheaper versions of this product but the LMT version includes Lifetime Map updates and real-time Traffic. The 1450LMT version is the same for under $170, if you can live without the Bluetooth hands-free features.

Overall I like the way information is displayed on this Garmin. The ability to preload 10 routes and saved waypoint can come in handy for long trips. The "lane assist" pops up a clear image of which lane you need to be in at major junctions along your travel plan. And the ecoRoute feature calculates the most fuel-efficient route and tracks your fuel usage.

Around a $100?
TomTom XXL 540S
This value GPS is not the latest model but proves to be a great buy at a street price under $100 (I've seen it for around $80 on occasion). You get a solid and reliable route finding product with a good 5-inch display. It is not the most user friendly but overall is a favorite for the price. It does an excellent job finding the fastest route and its Advance Lane Guidance clearly illustrates which lane you should be in. This base product does not offer Lifetime Map nor Traffic. The XXL 540TM model is available with traffic and map subscriptions for around $120 but once you get into this price range I would highly recommend the Garmin Nuvi 1350LMT for $130 online price. The Garmin has a slightly smaller 4.3" display but overall is a much nicer product.

Splurging on a GPS?
Garmin Nuvi 3490LMT
Nowadays it costs $1,000 or more to get navigation with a new car purchase, so $400 for the ultimate in a personal, vehicle GPS solution is a steal. If your car doesn't have navigation, this is a great add-on. Not only does it have all the must-have features like Lifetime Maps and Traffic, it is also voice activated and includes support for Bluetooth hands-free calls and reads your text messages out loud. Garmin's new Guidance 3.0 service offers an even more intuitive user-interface with pinch-to-zoom multi-touch features. Digital 3D Traffic provides real-time (every 30 seconds) updates and the system will work to dynamically route you around new traffic situations.

The 3490LMT is a sleek, attractive device that is 9mm thick and features a 4.3" monitor that displays landmarks and terrain in 3D.

TomTom Go Live 2535TM
In past years I have faulted TomTom for their user interfaces and it seemed like they were trying to appeal to the more geeky, gadget-savvy demographic. If you had fun tweaking several options to get where you wanted to go...their product was for you. The good news is TomTom has begun to make their products much more user friends and features some great advances in usability such as the "Google Local Search" and more intuitive setup screens found in their recently introduced TomTom Go Live 2535M. The device includes a 5-inch display and has a retail price of $300 and a street price around $270. To further aid your navigation needs, TomTom has included Voice Commands and Bluetooth hands-free calling. Their IQ Routes feature presents the fastest route based on the time and day of the week. I will say that the reason TomTom seems to have successful is their routing logic and I would say this continues to be true. The 2535M is a very reliable device that seems to do quite well in getting you from "Point A" to "Point B" pretty efficiently. The Live traffic information seems to be more up-to-date that the old ClearChannel FM subscription solutions of the past.

Smartdevice w/Built-in GPS?
Obviously most smartphones and tablets include a GPS in them today and feature an online mapping tool like Google Maps. But automated turn-by-turn with voice guidance tends to be an additional option in the form of a cell carrier extra feature or an app you need to download.

Goggle Maps for mobile "beta" is available for Android devices and features free turn-based GPS navigation. It includes 3D Maps, Offline functionality for areas you regularly travel, Voice Search, Street View and Traffic. All in all, it is a good, feature-rich but not a very flashy solution...and free for Android users. For non-Android users, Google Maps is just a mapping tool that can help you plan out your trip but lacks real-time updating and voice announcements.

I'll do a full write-up on the navigation software packages available for smart-devices in a future posting but currently I use Navigon for the iPhone in case you are curious.

Conclusion
Based on the mapset they each rely on there definitely seems to be a preference between Garmin in the US and TomTom in Europe but both products also work well in either part of the world. I really like the Garmin Nuvi interface and believe they represent the easiest products to use overall. The Nuvi 1490 LMT is a great product for the price but if you can live without some features check out the entire 1400 series for the right one for the dollars for you.

In closing, I do need to mention that both Garmin and TomTom offer voice packages for many of their GPS products so you can customize what your device sound like...or who they sound like. Both companies have Star Wars packs licensed from Lucasfilm - Garmin Star Wars / TomTom Star Wars