2015 SOLIDWORKS-Inspired Holiday Gift Guide

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With every release of SOLIDWORKS new features and enhancements are added that enable our users to not only get their jobs done faster but to also innovate better. There’s no stronger evidence of the success of these efforts than to see some of the world’s hottest new products that got their start in SOLIDWORKS.

With the holidays right around the corner, we’ve compiled a list of great gifts and cool gadgets that will make everyone on your list happy. You’ll notice that many of the products that made this year’s list are smart products. As today’s products get smarter, so does SOLIDWORKS. SOLIDWORKS 2016 includes many new features that make designing these complex, connected products easier than ever.

So without further ado, here are the top holiday gifts ideas that made our 2015 SOLIDWORKS Holiday Gift Guide.

For the gourmet chefs in your life. The Nomiku Sous Vide Immersion Circulator enables anyone—even cooking novices—to easily cook food perfectly every time with low-temp “sous vide” cooking. The compact design clips onto any pot to turn it into a precisely controlled water bath.

This watch is smarter than your 5th grader. Choose from six styles of these lightweight, wearable smart watches that run activity tracker and sleep monitoring apps. In addition, you can choose from thousands of custom watchfaces and apps in the Pebble appstore. Pebble watches are compatible with iPhones and Androids.

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Remember George’s exploding wallet on Seinfeld? If you have someone on your list whose wallet is maxing out its capacity, check out Coin, an electronic credit card replacement. Coin is its own credit card that stores other cards inside it, letting users switch between various cards to pay for things. It’s connected to your smartphone, ensuring you won’t lose it or leave it behind.

Coin 2.0 Device Lock Display

A beer-brewing robot. Brewbot is a smart, smartphone-controlled appliance that provides the perfect environment for brewing. Brewbot’s app features a recipe platform that allows anyone to download or create a recipe so they can brew beer of any style. A visual and data format, called the “DNA of Beer,” opens up the reproduction and collaboration of beer recipes, giving brewers the opportunity to share and distribute their beer globally without ever shipping a bottle.

Doodling in 3D. This 3D printing pen, 3Doodler, works in a similar way to a glue gun, melting plastic filament in its body and extruding the liquid from its tip. The plastic cools quickly, aided by a fan built in to the pen, solidifying in the air to create a stable structure. You’re only limited by your own creativity. So far, users of 3Dooddlers, have “penned” everything from radio-controlled planes to 3Doodled dresses, architectural models, and even writing braille.

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Need help keeping New Year’s Resolutions? We all make them. We all break them. If being accountable for resolutions—whether it’s to lose 10 pounds or quit smoking— is a struggle, enlist MOTI. MOTI is a smart companion that makes habit formation convenient. MOTI is a tangible and ever-present reminder of your commitment to your goal. It’s specifically designed to keep users accountable; tracking your progress throughout the day and showing your progress on his face. Stay on target and MOTI will cheer you on.

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This speaker made Oprah’s “Favorite Things” list. Need I say more? For the music lover in your life, the Sonos is the crème de la crème of wireless speakers. It delivers sound quality like no other by analyzing a room’s acoustics and adjusting accordingly. This smart speaker can play tunes from a streaming service or a music library from a smartphone, a tablet, or a computer.

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For the environmentalists on your list. Nokero’s line of solar light bulbs was designed to address the needs of the 1.3 billion people around the world who live without electricity. These environmentally friendly light bulbs run on batteries powered by photovoltaic cells and shine for up to seven hours per charge. And, the best news is they last three years and pay for themselves in a few weeks.

Barb Schmitz

Barb Schmitz

Senior Marketing Communications Manager at SolidWorks
Barb Schmitz is a Senior Manager in Marketing Communications with BA in Journalism and over 30 years of experience in the CAD software industry. She started her career as a journalist covering technology and served as an editor for several leading industry publications for over 20 years. Besides being a sleuth of tech, she is a loyal dog owner, travel bum, mom, lover of hoppy IPAs, red wine, and alternative music lover living in the great city of Chicago.