Business-Worthy Consumer Tech Gifts

The team at BYTE had the unique challenge of finding the top business-worthy consumer tech gifts for the holidays. There are lots of top 10 lists out there, but our challenge was finding cool consumer stuff that will also work well in the enterprise. Of course, many consumer products can be brought into the enterprise--that's the raison d'etre for BYTE--but there aren't a lot of them that also make great gifts. We skipped the obvious--the iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire--because we bet whoever wants those gadgets has them already. Our goal: gifts that would surprise, yet also function at work.

The CLEAR 4G Mobile USB Modem is the gift that keeps on giving--that is, if you also offer to pay for the monthly service that goes along with it. If you surf the Web at work, odds are you're being monitored by the network administrators. They might not be looking on a daily basis, but that information is being stored for your annual review. Those hours spent on BYTE can really add up. Even if admin doesn't have the tools to track your Web usage, your cache is recording all of it locally. Attaching this USB stick to your laptop will give you peace of mind knowing that your surf time is truly private. It works on Windows 7 and Mac OS 10.5. This pay-as-you-go plan won't saddle the recipient (or you) with any long-term contracts if they don't use it. As with any provider, check the coverage map before you buy. $49.99; $35 a month