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Holiday Gift Guide 2016

Intro Phones Accessories Etcetera Comments 1

Photography Tools

Add-on gear to take your smartphone photography to the next level.

Olloclip makes a series of clip-on lenses available for the iPhone that include fish-eye, wide-angle, macro, and zoom capabilities. The company has plenty of options already available for the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, and 6s Plus, and just recently added several products for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. For the photobug in your life, Olloclip's attachable lenses open up new dimensions for creativity. Lens sets typically cost about $80 depending on which combo you select.

For Budding Robot Builders

Simple-to-use and programmable robots that can be controlled via smartphones.

Ozobot makes a couple of neat little robots that are meant for kids, but might still make a decent gift for some adults. The Ozobot Evo and Ozobot Bit are autonomous, social, programmable, and thus ideal to help children learn some rudimentary coding. More than that, the Ozobots are fun to use. They're incredibly tiny, and have an array of programmable multi-color lights and sensors. Control them from an app on your phone, which updates regularly with new challenges. The Bit costs $59, while the more-advanced Evo costs $99.

Home Thermo Control

An affordable and manageable way to control the climate in your house.

The Ecobee3 Lite is a WiFi-based smart thermostat that can help reduce heating and air conditioning bills. It's the most affordable full-featured smart thermostat. The unit replaces your existing thermostat and, via the intuitive touchscreen panel, allows owners to quickly and easily program their indoor climate. Moreover, the associated mobile app (Android, iOS) lets people take charge of their home even when out and about. Last, it is compatible with HomeKit, Amazon Echo, SmartThings, and IFTTT for broader smart-home integration. The Ecobee3 Lite costs $170.

For Streaming Media

A plug-and-play module that brings effortless media streaming to most HDTVs and smartphones.

Google's Chromecast Ultra makes a good thing better. This year's HDMI dongle adds support for 4K resolution and HDR (HDR10 and Dolby Vision) for the absolute best in picture quality. This media streaming device is able to tap into 4K content from Netflix, Vudu, and YouTube at launch, with more on the way. Toss in support for Google cast, which lets nearly any Android or iOS device push online content to their TV, and the Chromecast Ultra makes for a nice gift. It's available for $70. Last year's model doesn't support 4K/HDR, but costs half as much at $35.

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