In this newsletter: Christmas Gadget Guide, 5 Tech Tips for the Holidays and Easy Beach Listening

Toys, Toys, Toys!

Christmas Gadget

Gift Guide for Geeks

Ideas from $25: Have you left the Christmas shopping to the last minute? These are the gadgets we are lusting after this year. With ideas from $25 there is something for everyone… happy shopping!

Tile - Are your things always running off? Never lose anything again. Tile is a tiny Bluetooth tracker that helps find your lost stuff in seconds. Attach, stick, or place Tiles inside everyday items and keep track of them with an easy-to-use app. At $25 it’s a good secret santa gift.

Phillips Hue Lux – Do you want to create some mood lighting? Or amp up your security over the Christmas break? The Phillips Hue Lux enables you to change the colour, brightness and function of your lights via an app on your smartphone. This is also the perfect gift for someone who regularly falls asleep on the couch watching TV.

Logitech Harmony Elite – The Logitech Harmony Elite is the mother of universal remote controls and the perfect gift for someone who has a complicated or extensive home entertainment set-up (TV, surround-sound audio, DVD and/or games console). It will make all of your remote controls redundant.

Fitbit Surge™ Fitness Super Watch – This watch is the Rolls Royce of fitness watches. The Fitbit Surge™ tells the time, syncs to your smartphone, monitors your pulse and has a battery life of 7 days ..... get running!

Looking for some more inspiration? Listen to Episode 25 of the Small Business Technology Show for a review of the products listed above, plus some other great ideas.

Ben's Blog

Thanks: I feel very fortunate to have so many great clients and a great team! Thanks so much for your support in 2015 and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Highlights for us this year include achieving Microsoft Silver Competency, welcoming Sam Burchmann to the team and co-launching the Small Business Technology Show. I hope you’ve kicked some goals as well.

Christmas Trading: I’ve told the boys they can take off around 2pm on Christmas Eve, but we will have an on call service for those of you who don’t get a break. Digit IT will be closed on Christmas Day (25 Dec), the Boxing Day Holiday (28 Dec) and New Year’s Day (1 Jan). Sam has volunteered to man the decks and we will be open as normal in between the public holidays.

Easy beach listening ...

Podcasts: Are you looking for something to listen to at the beach this summer?
You could catch up on episodes you’ve missed of the Small Business Technology Show.
If IT isn’t your thing, than I would highly recommend Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. Dan has a fascinating way of bringing history to life. The Wrath of the Khans was a particularly good five-part episode that talks about the expansion of the Mongol Empire.
Are you keen to get fired up for 2016 over the Christmas break? Tim Reid’s Small Business, Big Marketing podcast includes some great marketing tips and tricks that are easy to implement. Tim also interviews successful business owners and the podcasts are generally short and easy to listen to.
Happy listening!

5 Tech Tips for the holidays

Out-of-Office: Have you forgot how to activate your Out-of-Office message? Just follow these easy steps.
Backup Photos: Do not lose precious digital memories this Christmas. Consider installing iCloud storage and regularly back up your devices to your computer.
Storm Damage: Turn off and disconnect power to your PC’s, printers, television and other electronic devices before you leave the office or head on holidays. We also recommending installing an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) if you haven’t already.
GPS: Don’t leave your portable GPS in your car when you use long-term parking at the airport. It will alert thieves that you’re not at home and give them a convenient map to your house.
Let us help: Not sure how to set up the iPad or laptop you got for Christmas? We are open over Christmas, except the public holidays, so please give us a call.

Office 365 FREE for students

Back to School: There is no such thing as a free lunch, but students can enjoy FREE access to the Office 2013 Pro Plus software suite, as part of Microsoft’s revamped Office in Education program.
The offer is available to full-time or part-time students who have a school-specific email address, who are over 13 years of age and have internet access.
The offer includes access to the Microsoft Office 2013 suite (including Word, Excel and PowerPoint) via a self-service portal.
It will be the cheapest item on your back-to-school list.
Get access HERE.