I am Robot...almost.

Wow, Christmas was really good to me on the gadget front. I got some awesome toys to play with, and I'm finding a few of them to be indispensable.  Like what?  Well, on a whim my lovely wife bought me a SONY Smartwatch, which becomes an extension of your smartphone on your wrist.  Using your phone's Bluetooth connection, the watch subtly vibrates and displays Facebook and Twitter notifications, Gmail alerts, weather, traffic, text messages, and incoming call information.  You can control your music player, AND even reject calls, and all without ever taking your phone out of your pocket.  Plus, there are more apps in the Google Play store for almost anything you'd want to do. It is truly awesome, and highly addictive.

Another great gift was a pair of Beats soloHD headphones. I've worked in radio, and I work in television now, so I've played with my fair share of high-tech headphones.  For the money, these puppies are a force to reckoned with to be sure.  The sound quality is exceptional and unlike many of their professional counterparts, they're lightweight and downright comfortable.  I particularly like the inline microphone and controls on the supplied cord, which allows me to control my music player (iPhone or Android) AND accept or reject calls (just like my watch).  Sure, we've all seen these features before, but the integration on these is really well done.  Plus, the sound quality of the mic is just better...

The final piece of my cyber triumvirate is my Nike+ Fuelband,  which was a gift from my mother (okay, I asked for it, but it was still cool she bought it for me).  If you're unfamiliar with this device, it's a wristband that keeps track of your movement throughout the day using built-in accelerometers.  It plugs into your computer's USB port for programming and charging, which makes it very convenient. By just supplying a few bits of personal information (weight, height), you can set an activity goal for the day and your fuelband will monitor your progress. I'm now obsessed with seeing how many steps I've taken for the day and how many calories I've burned.  If nothing else, it's made me more conscious of my activity level (or lack thereof).  And if you're worried about people staring at the LED display on your wrist all day, have no fears.  The display only activates when you press the discrete single button that walks you through the bands various display screens.  Make your goal for the day, and you're rewarded by a fun "GOAL" animation on your wrist.

So now, thanks to Christmas, I am a technological wonder walking down the street, with my smartwatch supplying me with a constant connection to the web, my fuelband on the other wrist monitoring my internal systems, and my Beats headphones filtering out the world and optimizing my mood through music.  At this point, I'm just a few government funded surgeries away from being a darn cyborg...and I'm actually okay with that.

A Laptop for $249?!? Welcome to Chromebook!

It's good to try new things, even when you might not really need those things. Take my new Samsung Chromebook for instance. I didn't really need another laptop (or tablet or smart phone for that matter), but after watching the TV commercial for it, I was intrigued enough to do a little more research on the web. Hmm...cloud computing you say? Light weight, compact with no fan and 7 hours of battery life you say? Go on...people love, they hate it, it's controversial you say? "I must have it," I say. So, while I didn't need the device itself, I did need to try out the concept of cloud computing. Regardless, with a price of only $249, I was getting it no matter what.

And get it I did, which was no easy feat, because it seems quite a few people felt the same way I did, and were trying out this new concept in computing. After trying several outlets (several times), I finally found one on Best Buy, which unfortunately meant I had to pay tax, but I was anxious to get mine, so be it.

 Now that I have it, I love it. It's like getting a MacBook Air at 80% off! Ok, so it can't do everything I can do with my Mac, but at fraction of the cost, who cares?!? It's similar in size, weight and appearance, and it even has a comparable keyboard. The biggest difference with the Chromebook is that it uses the Chrome OS from Google, so the OS is really just one big web browser. All of your applications live in the cloud, which might seem strange at first, but in use, it's hardly even noticeable. That is, until you use the Chrome browser on another device, and then like magic, all of your work is there too.

 Perhaps the hardest concept to accept is that you only have a 16gb SSD, rather than a giant hard drive. This is because you store your work in the cloud, and to make that more palatable, Google gives you 100gb of storage for free for two years. Another bonus of this storage solution is that the Chromebook has no need for a cooling fan, so it's dead quiet and the battery lasts for up to 7 hours. Plus, it powers up in seconds, not minutes like a traditional laptop. For me, this is proving to be my "go to" computing device. I'm using it over my MBP and my new Galaxy Note 10" tablet, which has my wife a bit upset over the purchase, but the Chromebook will win her over soon enough.

 Of course, there are going to be those who dislike the concept of cloud computing because they either don't understand it, or are afraid to try new things. In several reviews, I've read where people deride the Chromebook simply because it relies on an internet connection "all of the time", which is in fact false. While you do need to be connected to get maximum use from the device, you can work offline in many apps, and then sync once you reconnect with the web. No big deal. In fact, you can listen to locally stored music or watch videos from an SD/SDHC/SDXC card or a USB drive.

And let's not forget that price tag of only $249! I mean, come on now, how can you not even want to try it for that? Sure, I was worried that the build quality might be cheap and plasticky, but it's not. Well, it IS plastic, but it doesn't scream CHEAP, and more importantly, it doesn't feel cheap. So, what have you got to lose? In my opinion, nothing, but you gain...the cloud.