Mother’s Day is fast approaching – it’s this Sunday, if you’re panicking – and we’ve no doubt there are many out there who have let the date slip their minds, or are completely stumped for a gift.
We’ve been in the latter boat many times, and this year we thought “what better gift than a gadget?” While you might be thinking of getting a nice pot plant or some chocolates, consider getting your dear Mum a gadget she can enjoy for a long time to come. This gives you the perfect excuse to buy new technology, which we know everyone loves doing, and “teaching your mum how to use it” is an obvious way to get a play with said gadget.
What’s more, if you pick the right gadget you could be sorted for years of Birthdays, Christmases, Mother’s Days, Bar mitzvahs… you get the idea. Products that store and display digital content of all kinds are ideal, allowing you to buy gift vouchers in future to let your Mum add whatever she wants – This means eBooks, games, music, movies and much more. We’ve consulted our own wonderful Mums and scoured the internet to compile our top gadget gifts to give this Mother’s Day.
iPod Shuffle 4th Generation – £40.00
The perfect introduction to the mp3 era and a great way to start somebody off with the idea of purchasing, downloading and listening to digital music. The Shuffle is compact and very easy to use with a simple selection of buttons on the front, and a clip on the back for attaching it to your pocket or lapel. 2GB of storage gives you space for hundreds of songs, and when fully charged, the battery will last you around 15 hours. Once the gift is given, you can look great by installing iTunes, then teaching your Mum how to download songs and sync them to her new iPod, that is if she isn’t already a whizz with Apple gadgets.
Pure One Mi DAB Radio – £34.99
Pure’s One Mi is a brilliant DAB radio at a low price, with Pure’s expertise in digital radio shining through. Available in both black and white, the One Mi is a very small and compact radio with a LCD screen that shows what you’re listening to. You can switch between DAB and FM radio, and store up to 16 of your favourite stations using the inbuilt memory. An additional rechargeable battery pack can be purchased, allowing you to take DAB radio out into the garden, or wherever you want to go. There are, of course, fancier DAB radios available on the market that cost a wedge more, such as the Pure Evoke, but we feel the One Mi is perfect for small to medium rooms, and outdoors.
Scholl Comfort Neck Massager – £16.99 (Amazon)
We asked around, and the idea of a neck massager was a surprisingly popular one amongst gadget-loving mums. Scholl’s Comfort Neck Massager is one of the highest rated out there, designed to sit around your neck, resting on your shoulders for maximum comfort. A built in remote lets you adjust heat settings to ensure a comfortable and soothing neck and shoulder massage. There’s even two speakers built in, which can play one of 8 soothing sounds while you enjoy your massage – choose from the dulcet tones of a song bird, a running stream, the ocean and more. We might just order one of these for ourselves.
New Amazon Kindle Wi-Fi – £89
The Kindle is a little pricier than the previous options, but still one that is sure to be high on many Mums’ lists. Amazon’s new Kindle is lighter and slimmer than other models, and is the cheapest in the range. Wi-Fi connectivity will give you access to thousands of eBooks from Amazon’s online store, and you can download one and have it ready to read in seconds. The amazing e-ink display technology means your Mum can enjoy reading at home, out in the garden and even with the lights out before bed without straining her eyes. A single charge lasts between 3 weeks and a month, and downloading books is a doddle. What’s more, you can give your Mum Amazon vouchers next Mother’s Day so she can add to her eBook library.
Moshi Moshi Retro Smartphone Handset – £24.99
“This new phone is too complicated for me! Take me back to my corded landline!” How many of you have heard something along those lines from your parents? We certainly have, every time one of them gets a new phone. Fear not, as Moshi Moshi has the answer. The Retro Smartphone Handset is a classic landline telephone handset, complete with the curly chord, with a 3.5mm jack on the end. You can plug it straight into your mobile phone and use the corded handset rather than fiddling with the mobile – just like the old days. The handsets are really well designed with a comfortable soft-touch finish, and are available in a huge range of colours and patterns. We’re pretty sure these are the future, so give your Mum a head start.
There’s Always an App for that…
If our gadget gift ideas aren’t for you, as Apple loves to say: “There’s an app for that”. Interflora has an app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, allowing you to order a bouquet of flowers from anywhere using your iDevice. If you’ve missed the boat for getting a gadget gift, you can always rely on good old flowers, even if the only gadget this Mother’s Day is the iPhone you used to order them.
The Interflora app is free to download from the App Store, and lets you place an order at any time of the day or night, to be delivered this Sunday.
To all the Mums out there: Which gadgets would you love to receive for Mother’s Day?
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.