11 Tech Innovations For When You're Out of Gift Ideas

It may be better to give than to receive, but by the time you’ve reached the last name on your shopping list, you may have used up all your creativity. Fear not—with these apps and websites you can find the perfect gift for even the pickiest person on your list.

1. Gift Generator

This simple gift generator gives you a few prompts (age, sex, etc… ) before presenting a product. If you don’t like what it’s showing you, a new gift will be randomly generated until something strikes your (and hopefully your recipient’s) fancy.

2. Facebook Gift Gen

Stumped on what to get a distant relative? Their Facebook profile can help. Use this Facebook app so you can keep their interests in mind without having to leave the social network to search.

3. Genius Gift Idea Generator

The Genius Gift Idea Generator asks you intriguing questions to help find amazing presents. “Do you want the present to be a bit crazy and bold or rather something classical and safe?” and “Do you want to make a cool or sexy present?” are just two examples of prompts you may see. It also features DIY ideas in case you want to give a gift with a personal touch.

4. Elfster

Hosting Secret Santa is a great and economical way to get friends and family involved in gift giving and can save you from having to buy dozens of presents. The only hurdle is organizing the whole shebang. Elfster is a simple and easy website that will do all the hard work for you, and it includes a “trending gifts” section to help with ideas.

5. Red Laser Barcode Scanner

While this helpful app turns your phone into a barcode scanner, that’s only one of its talents. Scan an item in-store, and Red Laser will tell you if you can get a better deal online or nearby. If your family or friends put a price cap on gifts, this app can conquer that with just the press of a button.

6. Slickdeals

This app is like a coupon master list, and you can program your preferences and set up alerts to have highly specified product ideas delivered to you when they are on sale. If Uncle Jim’s favorite hardware store has a sale, you will be notified and won’t miss out on treating your favorite handyman to the perfect gift.

7. Cool Hunting Gift Guide

Trying to find a gift for your coolest friend? This app curates new and hip items that are ideal for the avant-garde person in your life. Just pick from a list of categories and this app will shoot off gift ideas that are far ahead of the trend.

8. Gyft

Gyft is an app that lets you keep all of your gift cards in one place. Beyond that, you can search for unique gift cards and send them to others, making shopping for relatives you don’t know very well easier than ever.

9. Random Amazon Product

This website is pretty self-explanatory—but totally addictive. It randomly generates a product listed on Amazon. That’s it. Press the button and it will display another item. It is peak randomness, but who knows? You may find an amazing and perfect gift through the power of chance.

10. Flipp App for Flyers

Tell Flipp your favorite stores, and every week it will send you sales flyers customized to your interests. When holiday shopping ramps up, so will the flyers, which means Flipp will send affordable gift idea after affordable gift idea to your phone.

11. eBay App

The app for the world’s largest auction website is chock full of great features that you can’t find in your browser. It’s ultra-personalized, can give push notifications for when suggested items go up, and even has barcode scanning so you can immediately check how much you can save on in-store items.

If innovative technology can solve a problem as thorny as finding the perfect gift, just think how it can change the rest of your life. With Intel® RealSense™ technologies like 3D capture and share and immersive video chat, soon you’ll be more creative and connected than ever. Learn more here: intel.com