Terrific Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is usually all about flowers and chocolates—or if you’re lucky enough to be near Mom, perhaps Sunday brunch. However, Today’s moms are notorious multitaskers, so consider giving her a little technology to help things go smoothly. She’ll appreciate being able to work on a laptop or tablet while keeping an eye on the family or track calories and steps while walking to the office.

Whether you’re giving a Mother’s Day gift to your mom, step-mom, daughter, daughter-in-law or best friend, these terrific tech gifts are sure to please.

Workout Mom

For moms who emphasize fitness over fashion, the Fitbit Charge HR fitness tracker’s 24-hour heart rate measurement lets her check her workout intensity or keep track of daily steps, activity and sleep. It syncs wirelessly with smartphones and shows call notifications, all on a battery that lasts five days without needing to be recharged. If only Mom had that much energy! And it comes in purple (as well as black), which makes it a perfect gift for this mom.

Price: $149.95 at Fitbit and Amazon

On-The-Go Mom

Who says portable tech has to look clunky? The Asus Transformer Book Chi T300  is a beautifully designed two-in-one Windows device that’s thin, lightweight and packed with power. It’s got an all-aluminum exterior with diamond-cut edges and a sapphire blue chassis for an ultra-chic look. Like other hybrids, it can be used as a tablet for consuming content and media, and when docked with the full-sized Bluetooth keyboard, it becomes a thin touchscreen laptop for on-the-go moms.

The Transformer Book Chi T300 makes use of Intel’s latest Core M chips, so Mom can work on a train or plane without any noise from the fan. The battery will last about eight hours before needing to be recharged.

Price: $699 at Amazon

Connected Mom

Moms need to stay connected during the day, whether it’s with the kids, the family or the office. That means battery power. Give Mom a kate spade new york Backup Battery Bank so she can charge up on the road or between soccer games. It comes in bright pink and red, but we love the ivory and gold model. Its 4,000-mAh battery can fully recharge a smartphone or tablet with power to spare for charging the kids’ devices—and it’s small enough to fit into a purse, though it looks too fabulous to hide.

Price: $79.99 at Best Buy, from $59.99 at Amazon

If your mom likes things that match, throw in the Belkin Mixit metallic gold Lightning-to-USB cable. It charges and syncs any device with a Lightning connector. Mom can charge her phone from any USB port, whether it’s an external battery or laptop, while showing her style. It also comes in silver and space gray to match Apple’s iPhone colors. 

Price: $24.99 at Belkin, $23.97 at Amazon

Fashionable Mom

If Mom enjoys using an activity tracker to count steps and calories but hates how the devices look with her favorite outfits, she’ll love the blingy appeal of Misfit’s new Swarovski Shine Collection. It’s everything fabulous about Swarovski jewelry combined with the easy convenience of the Misfit Shine Activity Tracking Crystal. Measure daily activity and sleep patterns for six months on one battery.

Among the new designs available for pre-order is the Slake set, which includes the Shine Activity Tracking Crystal, a blingy Slake bracelet and a sports band for wearing the water-resistant tracker while working out.  There will also be elegant necklace options. The Swarovski Shine syncs with iOS and Android devices.

Price: pre-order for $169.00 on Misfit

TV-Loving Mom

If your mom likes to kick back and watch TV at the end of a long day, the new Roku 3 lets her watch what she wants when she wants to watch it on over 2,000 streaming channels such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO GO and Sling TV. The new $99 Roku 3 has integrated voice search, making it simple to search for movies and TV shows.

The new Roku Feed is an easy way to find even content that’s not available yet. Use the feed to follow a movie you want to watch that’s not yet available for streaming, and Roku will notify you when it becomes available and which channel it can be streamed on. That saves Mom from making yet another to-do list!

Price: $84.95 at Amazon

Or give Mom something to watch—Parenthood: The Complete Series is out on DVD. Mom can watch or relive all the heartwarming, relatable struggles of the Braverman family. It’s nice to know other families aren’t all perfect, right?

Price: $79.81 at Amazon

Music-Loving Mom

We know moms are busy, always stopping to answer a question or get one more chore done. The Parrot Zik 2.0 wireless headphones are perfect for multitasking moms because they have a built-in sensor that recognizes when you’re wearing them. Put them on, and you’ll get great sound in a comfortable over the ear design. Take them off, and the music pauses so you don’t miss a beat.

The Zik 2.0s have touch controls on the right earcup, allowing you to stop, pause, go forward, change tracks, adjust volume and otherwise control your music without ever looking at the device. They come in bold colors like yellow, orange and blue and feel light and comfortable to wear. They’re a bit pricy at $399, but your mom is worth it, isn’t she?

Price: $379.48 at Amazon

Traveling and Working Mom

When it comes to travel, working moms pack a lot into a bag. In addition to a laptop, there’s a phone, business cards, wallet and likely a cosmetics bag too. Lenovo’s $99 Executive Tote is a laptop bag designed for stylish moms.

This doesn’t look like a guy’s laptop bag. It’s attractive and comfortable to carry with its padded handle straps, and it has protective compartments for laptop and tablet storage. We also like the ample storage pockets phones for organizing all the travel items women carry.

Price: $99.99 at Lenovo

For a more casual jaunt, moms might prefer the $149 Urbana Bag from Moshi. It looks small and thin but offers a ton of storage space and pockets for a laptop, tablet and phone, plus all the chargers and cables you need. This bag comes in a blue color we really like, with padded brown straps, and it’s water-resistant for those times you get caught without an umbrella.

Price: $149.95 at Moshi and Amazon

Forgetful Mom

Moms have a tough job. They not only have to keep track of the kids’ soccer uniforms and homework, but they also have their own stuff to worry about. Make Mom’s life easier with the TrackR StickR or TrackR Bravo,  a circular device you attach to easily lost items like phones, bags and keys so you can find them with your smartphone. Simply attach the TrackR to your car keys and ring the device when you need to find them in a hurry.

And if you can’t find your phone? No problem. Pressing a TrackR device finds the phone for you. The TrackR StickR is tiny plastic device and the TrackR Bravo is a metal device that's small and thin enough to slip into a wallet. The Bravo comes in colors such as rose gold, blue and black.

Price: TrackR StickR $24.95 on Amazon, TrackR Bravo available for pre-order for $29 at TheTrackr.com

Road Warrior Mom

Moms who use a Bluetooth headset in the car will really appreciate the latest feature of the Plantronics Explorer 500. It has a USB charging strap that can be used to attach the headset to your bag when you’re carrying it with you. No more fumbling through your purse to see which pocket you put the headset in.

Of course, the Explorer 500 offers great call quality and voice control, making it easier than ever to make a call and keep your hands on the wheel.

Price: $59.99 at Plantronics

New Mom

Moms might have eyes in the back of their head, but having a wireless camera sure helps keep track of all the coming and going at home (plus an extra set of eyes on the baby). Simplicam’s HD Wi-Fi Home Video Monitoring Camera features face-recognition technology that not only lets you know when someone is home but tells you who that someone is. The camera learns your family members, so it can tell the difference between someone who belongs in the house and someone who doesn’t.

This is a highly sophisticated feature for a $149 camera that also offers live video viewing, text alerts and saved video recording. One popular feature for moms is the ability to edit those videos and share what you might have missed during the day; you’ll never have to miss any of baby’s adorable moments.

Price: $149.99 at Amazon

[Image credits: mother and son via Shutterstock, Fitbit, Asus, Kate Spade, Belkin, Misfit, Roku, Parrot, Moshi, TrackR, Plantronics, ArcSoft