With the holidays right around the corner, now’s the time to hunt for that gadget for the geek in your life.
This year, consider giving a consumer electronics gift from one of these 10 tri-county companies. While not all of the gizmos are made here, the design, engineering, marketing and most of the other important parts of the business are right in our backyard.
Here’s a brief description of each company and its products, with a few quick picks that the Business Times thinks would make great stocking stuffers.
The undeniable 800-pound gorilla of consumer electronics in the Tri-Counties is Santa Barbara-based Sonos, the maker of wireless music systems that use their own mesh network for reliable playback. Nearly a decade ago, founder John MacFarlane took the Apple approach to pricing, with systems costing upwards of $1,000. But now that the brand has gone big, systems start at $199, a price so low that even the mildly geeky gadget collector has no excuse to not own one.
» Quick Pick: Sonos - Play:1, $199.
Co-founded by several UC Santa Barbara engineering professors, Unite to Light is a nonprofit that makes simple, durable solar-powered reading lights for the developing world. For $30, you can buy a light for the geek in your life and the nonprofit will donate a matching light to a family in need. You can also donate $15 and send a light directly.
» Quick Pick: UTL-1 light, $30.
Westlake Village-based Blue Microphones makes everything from $5,000 studio microphones for music stars to USB and iOS microphones. Studio-quality 24-bit/192 kHz sound straight to USB for less than $300? The geek in your life says yes.
» Quick Pick: Yeti Pro USB Condenser Microphone, $249.
Santa Barbara-based XShot has been helping people take selfies since before selfie was even a word. The telescoping camera holder helps get more of the background and your companions in the picture. The company was recently purchased by Michael and Peter Shepard, who are expanding it rapidly.
» Quick Pick: XShot 2.0 Camera Extender, $34.95.
It’s no secret that smartphone battery life sucks. Santa Barbara-based iPowerup makes phone cases with an extra battery built in to give you a boost when you run out of juice. Even cooler, you can get a battery case that also has a projecter built in, allowing you to project slides or videos up to five feet wide – from a phone. Very cool.
» Quick Pick: iPower Pro Projector iPhone 4/4s, $229.95.
If there happens to be a serious audiophile in your life, for whom nothing but the highest fidelity analog sound will do, Thousand Oaks-based Zesto Audio is your best bet.
Yes, the gear is expensive, but it is all handcrafted by Carolyn and George Counnas and, according to audio magazines, sounds as good as stuff that costs many times more. Let’s hope the geek in your life has a large stocking.
» Quick Pick: Zesto Audio Andros PS1 tube phono stage, $4,300.
OK, Nipomo-based BakBone’s ring-like device for holding a tablet computer one handed does look a little like a baby pacifier. But it works really well, because it was designed by a emergency room doctor Paul Webber for holding iPads one-handed while dealing with patients and electronic medical records.
» Quick Pick: Original BakBone, $29.95.
Camarillo-based BuQu Tech makes protective cases for phones with a magnetic charging port built into the back, sort of like the magnetic power adapter found on MacBook laptops. The company’s Magnetyze cases also work with a whole line of charging stands, making grabbing a phone off the charger quicker.
» Quick Pick: Magnetyze case for iPhone 5 and 5S, $59.95.
Santa Barbara-based Phone Halo wants to help you keep track of your stuff. Its range of Bluetooth-powered devices tether with a smartphone to alert you when you misplace something like a wallet and then find it again. The Wallet TrackR is only 4mm thick and has two years of battery life.
» Quick Pick:Wallet TrackR, $29.95.
San Luis Obispo-based iFixit is on a mission to help people fix their old gadgets instead of mindlessly buying new stuff. Its online repair guides are free, but iFixit sells the parts and tools you need, like the obscure and insanely tiny pentalobe screwdrivers for Apple products.
» Quick Pick: Pro Tech Toolkit, $64.95.
