A Selection of Gift Ideas for the Frequent Traveler
For many, shopping for holiday gifts more resembles a particularly long and backed up airport security checkpoint line than a fun leisure activity. In order to help mitigate this, we at Frequent Business Traveler have scoured the field of holiday gifts for all budgets, that are perfect for the business traveler both at home, and on the road. We’ve even included the link to make it easy to purchase them, making shopping this year almost as easy as clearing a checkpoint with TSA Pre-Check.
Herewith part one of the Frequent Business Traveler 2012 Holiday Gift Guide.
Apple iPad mini
Perhaps the only worse-kept secret than the iPad mini itself,
has been that the Mini is on the top of almost everybody’s holiday wish lists. It’s smaller and less expensive than its retina-display equipped big brother (it’s also less powerful), and fits rather nicely in the palm of one’s hand as well as in a carry-on.
Available in black or white, the 7.9” tablet runs Apple’s now-familiar iOS 6 mobile operating system. It can be ordered with 16, 32, or 64 gigabytes of flash-based memory, and a choice of Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi plus global LTE mobile for mobile Internet connectivity. We recommend the latter, since it includes a GPS that can find your location in any corner of the world. – Dan Collins
Apple MacBook Pro with 13″ Retina Display
Apple’s MacBook Pro with Retina display is available now in a 13-inch version, 
just in time for the holidays. The world’s second highest resolution laptop (the display has over four million pixels) is also extremely fast thanks to the solid state drive (SSD) and a 2.5 GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor. We think you’ll agree that this latest MacBook Pro is Ideal for travel thanks to seven-plus hours of battery life, a weight of 3.57 pounds (1.62 kilograms), and an extremely thin form factor with a thickness of 0.75”(1.9 cm).
The MacBook Pro is housed in an elegant aluminum case with a backlit keyboard and runs Apple’s OS X Mountain Lion operating system, which allows one to access content and messages across a variety of devices including iPhones and iPad tablets. – Jonathan Spira
AQ Audio SmartSpeaker Speaker
“Look ma, no wires!” The AQ Audio SmartSpeaker resembles the speakers
that provided great sound with desktop computers of decades past, only without the clutter of wires behind it. The UK-based manufacturer designed the smart system to connect to one’s Wi-Fi network, and seamlessly play with a Mac, PC, iOS, or Android device.
What is even better is that the built-in battery is rechargeable and can wirelessly play tunes for up to 10 hours on a charge. Multiple SmartSpeakers may be networked together for a stereo or multi-room system. A USB connection allows for easy configuration, and also provides the expected functionalities such as powering ancillary devices and facilitating data transfer– Dan Collins