Jonathan Takiff: Kindle that holiday glow with great tech gifts

GIZMO GUY loves the holiday gift season. It's an extra-serious excuse to kick-test new stuff and tout what really rocked my world. Hope these do the same for you and yours!

Baby, light my fire

Think of the Kindle Fire as a well-stocked gourmet market. It's no superstore (that would be the Apple iPad). But there's plenty of fun nourishment on this new tablet - e-books and magazines, movies (including Netflix), music, games, news sites, email and Facebook - on a smooth-sailing, 7-inch-color-screen device that's easier to hold than a larger tablet and less than half the price.

The $199 Fire is especially suited to Amazon.com customers, as books bought on a Kindle eReader automatically pop up on the Fire, too. Amazon Prime ($79 a year) subscribers get instant access to 11,000 movies and TV shows. Sweetening the deal, Amazon is offering a "free app of the day" to early Fire adopters.

Not into the Amazon ecosystem? The rival 7-inch Barnes & Noble Tablet offers useful upgrades for $50 more.

ET, phone home

Wanna save someone a bundle? The Ooma Telo is an Internet-based phone system with unlimited free domestic calling (just $3-$4 a month in taxes) and international calling for pennies (free to other Oomas). It sounds superb and doesn't require you to leave a computer on. Use your current phone number, too. The Ooma base station works well with any phone, though the brand's 6.O DECT cordless model has enhanced features. A new dongle accessory ($29.95) funnels in cellphone calls. JR.com has the Ooma Telo with dongle for $199.99 through Monday. Amazon.com sells Ooma phones for $34.43.

Cable cutter

If someone on your gift list has good over-the-air TV reception and mostly watches broadcast networks, Channel Master TV will do the cool things a cable tuner/DVR can but without that monthly bill. Such as: recording two shows simultaneously while watching a third, previously recorded in pristine high definition. Connected to the Internet, this box delivers pay movies in HD, free video podcasts and specialized channels from Vudu. $400 at channelmasterstore.com.

Roku Internet TV boxes can't record but pull in an amazing array of content from 350 Web sources, including Netflix and Hulu Plus. The new Roku LT is a mere $49.95 at http://www.roku.com.

Internet radio to go