Essential Gear and Gadgets for Summer

Summer is a time for rest and relaxation. It’s also an opportunity to stock up on tech gadgets that will help you find your way out of town and have some fun on the way. These road-tested, summer approved products are designed to spice up your vacation activities.

T-Mobile Garminfone - $199 with contract

Genuinely innovative, even in light of recent iPhone announcements and raves about Sprint’s new HTC Evo 4G, the T-Mobile Garminfone is a handy summer guidance system. As a full navigation device with voice prompts (you can customize them with your own voice), weather indicators, and local gas prices, the Garminfone is also a full smartphone, powered by the Android OS.

 

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Nike Air Rate - $90

No ordinary golf shoe, this lightweight and waterproof fairway model is new for this summer. The synthetic material is designed to give your foot 360-degrees of breathing room. Extra cushioning molds around your foot, and the shoe is wide enough to keep you stable for every tee shot.

 

Think Geek Marshmallow Mforcer Semi-Automatic pistol - $40

This 15-chamber pistol shoots mini-marshmallows across the room — at a high enough velocity to warrant a screech from a surprised sibling or spouse. To prep the gun, you just pump the air chamber a few times and start firing. Works best with marshmallows that are well past their freshness date.

 

The North Face Spectrum 23 - Starting at $298.95

At just over four pounds total weight, the Spectrum 23 two-man tent is wind resistant up to 130 MPH, uses light aluminum poles that are color coded, and uses an overhead venting system that actually works on hot summer days. The North Face tests their tents in wind tunnels to make sure they can actually stay in place even in the least hospitable conditions.

 

Dyson Air Multiplier - Starting at $299.95

Available in three colors, the Dyson Air Multiplier generates a cool breeze — enough for an entire room — by sucking air in from the base (using a motor impeller) and pushing it through the circular frame that’s just 1.3mm wide. A ramp accelerates the airflow. The fan actually multiplies air intake by 15 times and dispels 118-gallons of cool air per second. Inducement, a process of pulling air from behind the fan into the mini wind tunnel also helps push fresh cool air into the room.

 

Panasonic AVCCAM AG-3DA1 - $21,000

If money is no option, this Panasonic 3D camera — designed for professional use — will definitely liven up home movies at the summer picnic grounds. The twin-lens system records in full high-def, but the camera only weighs about six pounds and is portable enough for remote recording. The 3.2-inch side mounted LCD viewer helps you get the best angle. Records onto standard SDHC memory cards.

 

EasyBloom Plus - $50

Products that interact with the real world and feed data to a Web site are becoming popular. This small gardening device — which you stick into the soil next to plants, vegetables, trees, or flowers — reports the spoil condition, temperature, light levels, humidity, and other variables to help you determine how much to water or whether to add soil nutrients or start the weeding process.

 

Winnebago Via - $135,132

The luxury liner in the Winnebago fleet, this 25-foot 2010 model is packed with tech features. There are side-view video cameras and a rear-view cam to help you navigate in a campground. The holding tanks use a micro-electric field to determine water and wastewater fill levels. Constructed using a metal frame (instead of the wood used as the base for many motor homes), Winnebago uses a laser guidance system to mount the main cab to the chassis. The Via uses the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, which has a 154-hp turbodiesel engine with 6-cyclinders for hauling power, but a vacation-friendly 18MPG.

 

Kodak Easyshare M580 - Starting at $149.99

Sharing photos used to be a laborious process — you snap the picts, connect the camera, and then wade through countless shots and upload them to photo sites. The Easyshare M580 actually makes sharing easier — after you snap a photo, you can tag it for use on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, e-mail, or the Kodak online gallery. Then, when you connect the camera to your PC, the shots are uploaded automatically. Has a true 8x zoom and shoots in 14 megapixels, or enough for a 30×40-inch poster.

 

2011 Ford Fiesta - $13,320

The hot car for summer, the Ford Fiesta is a trendy vacation accessory. Like a luxury car, the new Fiesta has heated leather seats, ambient interior lighting, and optional LED lamps that glow when you park the car. The really impressive feature has to do with the 4-inch LCD screen, which will initially provide all of the media options and Bluetooth phone features. This fall, Ford will introduce the AppLink service, which allows you to see and control apps like Twitter and Pandora running on your phone.