Mother’s Day Gifts: Gadgets for the Traveling Mom

Locations in this article:  San Diego, CA

Mother's Day Gifts: Gadgets for the Traveling MomTrust us, a traveling mom who craves adventure doesn’t want another bottle of perfume this year.   

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, gadget guru Phil Baker shares some of his top tech-inspired gifts for moms on the go.

Take a look at the new Lumix DMC-ZS7. It takes terrific images, both stills and hi-res movies, has a 25-300mm (equivalent) 12X mm zoom lens, and built-in GPS to identify where the pictures were taken.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7Imagine my surprise when I took a picture of my grandson at the new Children’s Museum in downtown San Diego, and up popped “San Diego Children’s Museum” on the LCD screen.

It stores this info with the pictures (not on them) which helps when searching for images. The camera also has a new type of image processing to enhance fuzzy images and adjust exposure over small portions of the image, and has both fully automatic and manual modes. Yet it’s small enough to tuck into a small purse. $399; www.panasonic.com

If you’re just interested in movies, the Flip Mino HD is a tiny camcorder that makes great HD movies. It’s one of the simplest products to use. It plugs into a computer and automatically transfers the movies into the computer to watch or share with others. $200; www.theflip.com 

Learn more in our Photography & Photo Galleries section.

Plantronics Discovery 975The Plantronics Discovery 975 is an accessory Bluetooth headset that tends to be  appealing to women with its slim jewelry-like design. Combining good performance with a slim microphone, it does a good job removing background and wind noise. It comes with a small case to recharge when it’s not in use. $130; www.plantronics.com

How about a computer laptop bag? Levenger sells a beautiful leather briefcase (AL7860) with pockets for pens, phones and keys and comes with a padded sleeve for the notebook. The Majorca expandable leather laptop case has plenty of room for files plus, books, papers and a laptop computer. $299; www.levenger.com

Get more info with: Travel Gadget Reviews: New Bluetooth Headsets

Briggs & Riley Shopping ToteOr consider the Briggs & Riley Large Shopping Tote that redesigns this classic concept for air travel. It’s constructed of ballistic nylon and leather, has a SpeedThru pocket for easing through airport security,  and a huge main compartment with lots of smaller pockets for holding your phone, wallet, keys, and other items. It  also comes with a removable pocket for liquids and a pocket that slides over the handle of roller luggage. $139; briggs-riley.com

If the woman in your life needs a new phone, consider the Palm Pre. The Pre is one of the best of the new smartphones out there. It’s the smallest smartphone with a real keyboard, yet has a display that’s great for displaying photos, Web surfing and managing emails. It’s available from Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T for less than $30 with a new plan. www.palm.com

Yes watches, created by a brilliant La Jolla inventor, are unique digital watches that display not only the time, but graphically show the sunrise and sunset for 600 cities worldwide. It also shows the moon phase, moonrise and moonset and has a built-in alarm. Their latest model, the “tati” is their first designed for women and is one of the most unusual and useful watches on the market. $395; www.yeswatch.com

By Phil Baker for PeterGreenberg.com. Read Phil’s blog at blog.philipgbaker.com, and check out his book, From Concept to Consumer: How to Turn Ideas into Money, available at bookstores everywhere and as an e-book on the Nook and Kindle.

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