Every year I look at quite a few tech sites to get an idea of what's hot for Christmas so as to help those who have not had the time to do the research themselves. What follows are some of the goodies you should consider for yourself or, if you can part with them, for someone you dearly love, or want to impress.E-book readers are hot and will remain hot, though some people are considering the pricey Apple iPad as a viable alternative. However, Amazon's latest version of its Kindle is now down to about $140 and has better contrast than previous models. The battery also lasts for up to a month. Of course, you might have to spend more to buy some books for your gift recipient, but the overall price is still good.

Watch out on Amazon, as some of the booksellers have just repackaged classics that are actually available as free downloads elsewhere as the copyright has run out.

I really like the idea behind the Flip UltraHD pocket camcorder. It fits in your pocket like a cell phone but shoots a great video for a price in the $100 range. You can't beat the convenience. It comes with software that makes it a cinch to edit video directly and upload it to your favourite sharing or social network.

For all those snorkellers out there, you can always spend $700 for the Sanyo Xacti VPC-WH1, waterproof to three metres, which is great for most places in Bermuda. However, most of us would be happy just to be able to take a video camera to the beach, film the kids and not to be afraid of a splash here and there.

If you really want your partner to go to the beach and still work you can always give him or her the Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 for about $6,600. Just in time for Bermuda's next hurricane, it is designed to military specifications. Panasonic claims it can withstand drops of 90cm, heavy rain, dust storms and sand.

For the keen gamer who likes to travel, many sites are recommending the Nintendo DS Lite. This second-generation version is getting good reviews for the improvements Nintendo has made to the portable game player. It has a dual-screen, microphone-enabled gameplay and Wi-Fi multiplayer features. You may not want to get someone an iPad (keep it for yourself) but you can get them a battery-powered, wireless Magic Trackpad and keyboard that goes along with it. For $70, the two transform your iPad into something like a computer, when you don't want to touch and zoom.

Every presenter likes their personal laser pointer. The Wicked Lasers E2 cost about $50. It is disturbing that when you try to buy them at the company's site you also have a choice of ordering safety goggles with them (another $30). They are made from You could also get the Spyder III Artic from the same company for $300, but you may get stopped at the airport for carrying what looks alike a weapon. Next week, I will make more gift recommendations and point you to sites where you can get recommendations by price bracket.

If you've got some free time from December 15, wander over to ‘The Third I' (www.3rdi.me) where you will apparently see a live stream of photos, a minute apart, coming from a camera embedded in the back of Wafaa Bilal's head.You get to see these for a year, with dark shots only showing time and GPS coordinates when he is on campus, at work on New York University property as an assistant arts professor for the photography & imaging section.

Aside from having the skin at the back of his head implanted with plates to hold the camera, this internet happening doesn't seem as daring as when in his ‘Domestic Tension' exhibit he allowed internet viewers to fire a paint ball gun at him. He reportedly got shot at 40,000 times, especially after hackers programmed it to fire automatically.

Send any comments and gadget gift suggestions to elamin.ahmed[AT]gmail.com.