Tech gifts for the office

There are all sorts of gadgets that can enhance productivity and make working a breeze, so if you’re looking for a tech-boost in the new year, look no further!

Christmas is a great time for looking for a few gifts, and I’ve run my eyes over a few tech treats you may consider buying the office to make the new year a breeze.

Here are my picks:

Phones

Remember when phones just made phone calls? Me neither.

Now phones come with all sorts of tools to keep you on the go and on top of it.

Here are two of my picks from this year:

Pixel 2

Google’s flagship phone, the Pixel 2, is fresh and not long on the market.

It’s a solid phone built well and runs Android the way Google intended it (that is without all the customisation other phone makers put in it).

With a very clear screen, great camera and tons of storage, this phone is a good work horse, but it’s not a luxury device.

It’s good for those wanting a solid phone with awesome battery life without extra software bloat.

Keran’s score: 7 out of 10

iPhone X

The flagship iPhone from Apple is a true delight to use and in many ways feels like you are finally able to use iOS the way Apple intended.

Steve Jobs always said he wanted no buttons – well, now the iPhone is button free and it’s awesome. Face ID works as well if not better than the fingerprint scanner, swipes are natural and the software is smooth and fast.

Plus, it also has a few more nifty features…

Getting a “get well soon” animoji from @keranm is both awesome, and a little weird. I’m not sure I’m up for random speaking animals with my bosses voice just yet…

— Jack Skinner’; — (@developerjack) December 4, 2017

Keran’s score: 10 out of 10

On the Desk

Eventually, you do need to go do some work at your desk – so why not make the work you do at the desk a breeze?

Here are a few of my suggestions:

iPad + Apple Pencil

I recently swapped my much-loved MacBook Pro (with the touch bar) for a 12.9” iPad and I have to say I love it.

Provided you are using something like MS Office 365 or Google Apps, then the iPad is perfect and easily allows 90 percent of my work to be undertaken on the iPad. The only thing I can’t do is the occasional bit of software coding.

For everything else (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Presentations, Web, Skype etc) it works surprisingly well. The ability to write in and over Excel files is delightful.

Keran’s score: 10 out of 10

Samsung 49” Curved Monitor

It seems that every desk these days has multiple monitors, so how about an upgrade for your teams?

Samsung have an utterly glorious 49” curved monitor that is amazing to behold.

I’ve seen a couple of these in offices this year and the folks using them just LOVE them. It looks so futurist and cool sitting on the desk.

Keran’s score: 8 out of 10

Out of the office

So what about when you are out and about away from the office?

Robot suitcase

The future is here!

Sick of lugging around a suitcase when you’re going to one-day conferences? Why not use a robotic suitcase which literally follows you around?

Travelmate’s fully autonomous suite case will do just. Oh, and it can charge your devices and change colours too.

Keran’s score: 9 out of 10

Daqri Smart Helmet

This technically ins’t for the office, but it’s too awesome to not mention.

Have a team who need to be in hard hat environments with access to complex data?

Then check out the incredible smart helmet from Daqri. This incredible device brings AR (augmented realty) to the worksite, allowing your team to see the complex data they need, overlaid on the real world.

Apple Watch 3

We all know what it’s like to be out working and not able to get to our phones to answer (or place) an important call.

The new Apple Watch 3 now has the ability to connect directly to the cellular network – meaning yes, it can place and receive calls.

To be fair the speaker/microphone in the watch aren’t the greatest, but with Bluetooth headphones connected to the watch, your staff can be contactable while leaving their mobile phone in their car.

Keran’s score: 7 out of 10