With barely enough time to spare for the procrastinator shoppers, I thought I’d share my favorite toys of this year.

7. Nike Plus for iPods

This small sensor (left) is placed inside a special slot in your sneaker, and the receiver plugs into your iPod nano. Nike plus adds a new menu option from your nano which allows you to specify a type of workout goal (basic, time, calories, distance) and a playlist Throughout your workout, you receive feedback on your progress, and at any time you can press the center button on your nano to hear your speed, time, and distance. When you reach goals or achieve records (for example, when you break your fastest 1 mile time) you hear little motivational cheers from famous athletes. You can track all your runs on the Nike website and see your progress over time. You can set long and short term goals as well. And apparently, if you need running buddies, you can get them on their site. Very cool, though you need special sneakers with a slot for the sensor (I don’t recommend ripping a hole into your own shoes, but I guess that’s one way to get started)!

6. The Blackberry 8830

I am a hypocrite. I said I’d never get one, I didn’t want to be bothered, I hate email why would I want it around me all the time, yada yada. Despite this, slowly I chipped the Blackberry hatred away as I watched others seem to *be more productive* in answering messages and accepting meeting invites on the road (gasp!). While a bit overwhelming at first, it quickly became a critical device. I prefer a full keyboard, and I am willing to take a bit of a hit on size for this (though it is really quite a nice size). The bright blue numbers/letters/symbols are a bit hard to read.

5. The Bang & Olufsen A8 Earphones

I’ve never spent more than $20 on headphones, so I am not able to compare these to other high end ones. However, my partner is very picky when it comes to small speakers blasting into his ears. On a spontaneous visit to the local B&O, he gave these a try and loved them. I got them for him last year as a holiday gift, and after a few listens I had to get a set for myself. The sound is the best I have heard, which as you know isn’t saying much. However, the design of these make them also very comfortable to wear for extended periods of time (i.e. sleeping on a plane) or exercising.

4. The Harman Kardon Drive & Play

This automobile iPod adapter allows you to navigate and select music from your iPod using a joystick and a display in much the same manner as you would if you were holding the iPod (not recommended while driving). The top portion of the joystick twists left and right, giving you scroll ability, and the center button and 4 outer buttons make selections. The display shows nearly the same list of options as your iPod, with some addition for tuning, and some missing for newer generation iPods. For example, mine doesn’t show the podcast playlist. I’ve worked around that by creating a separate playlist of podcasts only so that they are picked up by the device.

3. Sharp Aquos LC-D82U

Motivated by an extremely good sale and a desire for the next item on the list (#2), we sprung for this LCD. Specs we liked included 1080p display, a 10,000:1 contrast ratio (best we’d seen), three HDMI inputs, and Sharp’s special black panel technology for decreased colorshifting. The picture is great quality.

2. Wii

What more must be said? The gaming console that brings generations together for fun and bonding. And encouraging sibling rivalry

1. The Bang & Olufsen Earset

I’ve wasted more money on headsets for my mobile phones in the past couple years. My experience with them had been very poor, frustrating the people I speak to. That ended today when I received my early holiday present. Slick, intuitive design, super comfortable, and the sound is fantastic. I did the “calling from the kitchen while the phone is in the living room” stunt and the quality was still great. I plan to stand outside and make calls in the frigid gusty winds of snowdrowned Boston tomorrow to test it in noisy and windy conditions. The microphone acts as the on off switch – stretch it out, its on, fold it up, its off. Pleasant beeps notify you of incoming calls. A small button on the backside of the earpiece lets you raise and lower volume as a lever push and lets you answer/close calls with a click. Very tight design, simple controls. Another B&O audio favorite. Thank you honey!