World News: 5 last-minute Father's Day tech gifts, and 2 freebies

with Jefferson Graham

Last minute father's day tech gift ideas

Father's Day is almost here again, and if dad is a gear head, he'd love nothing more than new tech as his Sunday present. I'm part of that cliche, but if you're thinking of buying me something, I probably already have it. I can't wait for holidays.

But I do have several ideas for the father in your life. My father's day list would have to include a nice drone, gimbal, new camera, soundbar or connected speaker.

Then I'll top it off with some freebies. Let's run them down.

GIMBAL:

This is a steadicam for a smartphone that brings cinematic smoothness to anyone's video shot. I bought my first gimbal two years ago for $550 from DJI, the company that makes drones. The latest edition, the Osmo Mobile 2, costs $125. It's smaller, easier to use and tote and works with iOS or Android phones. Dad's videos will look way cooler. He'll be really happy with this one.

DRONE:

Speaking of drones, DJI's latest edition, the Mavic Air , is a lighter, smaller and cheaper flying camera at $800 than the previous edition, the Mavic Pro, which sold for over $1000. It works like a charm, and I never met a dad, or a kid of any size, who didn't light up at the idea of sending a drone into the sky to act as a personal aerial photographer. If you've got the extra bucks, pick up the DJI accessory "Fly More Combo," which throws in 3 extra batteries. The batteries only last for 15 minutes or so, so if you take the drone somewhere fun, you'll need the extra flying time.

CAMERA:

My favorite, all-around travel camera is the Sony RX10IV, which is more versatile than any camera I've ever used, but also pricey, at $1,700. More affordable, and equally light and a joy to tote around is the new Canon M50 mirrorless camera. The M50 doesn't have as many features or the lens of the RX10, but it's way sharper than a smartphone, and dad will love it. And dad is a vlogger, he'll love this--the M50 has a flip-out video screen, which allow him to compose his shot while talking to the camera. The RX10 and too many other cameras don't have this feature.

SOUNDBARS:

TVs have gotten thinner and lighter, and in the process, the video looks better, while the audio is atrocious. A simple solution is a soundbar, a unit that plugs into the HDMI port, fits under the TV and offers generally three or four speakers. You can now pick up many models on Amazon for $100 or so from brands like Vizio and Samsung that would dramatically improve your sound. I've got my eyes set on the new one from Sonos, the Beam, which won't be out until July. It's pricier, at $399, but beyond TV, it can also play streaming music, and answer to Amazon's Alexa.

CONNECTED SPEAKER

Is Dad a do-it-yourselfer who might get a kick out having a home automation system that answers to Alexa or Google? You can get an Amazon Echo Plus speaker for $150, and then if you've got some more money lying around, pick up the ring video doorbell, the August Home lock and some Philips Hue lights. All turn on and off with voice Alexa commands. Maybe you could help dad put the system together too.

Finally, in the free category, my two favorites:

Talk to Dad

Use your smartphone and interview dad about his life. Or have him interview you about yours. If you don't have a tripod, lean the phone against a stack of backs to line up your shot, turn on video mode and capture the greatest gift of them all--your family story. For more detail on this, hit me up on Twitter, @jeffersongraham.

Photos

Take a nice selfie of the two of you, a new family photo, or show up to Father's Day celebration with a framed father and son, father and daughter or extended family shot. Nothing can put a smile on his face like this.

OK, that one wasn't free, but so what--memories are priceless, and worth whatever it costs.

Happy Father's day everyone.

And in other tech news this week:

—The unlimited wireless plan wars only lasted a week. Sprint threw down the gauntlet with a too-good-to be-true offer —just $15 a month for one line of service, with unlimited talk, text and high-speed data. So many people signed up, Sprint yanked the promotion Friday night. Now here's what you'll pay for at least 1 line of unlimited talk, text and data: $60 for Sprint, $65 for AT&T, $70 for T-Mobile and $75 for Verizon. The four-line family plans from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are $160 monthly, while Sprint charges $100. Cheapskates, we suggest you check last week's newsletter for tips on Sprint alternatives. Here's the link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2018/06/09/what-15-20-get-you-monthly-wireless-sprint-and-others/685653002/

—Apple + Oprah. The legendary TV icon cut a deal with Apple's TV unit to produce programs for viewing via streaming. The former talk show host, mogul (the OWN Network) and actress joins a growing group of huge names (actresses Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Kristen Wig, producer Steve Spielberg, La La Land director Damien Chazelle) working on projects for Apple. The iPhone maker hasn't said in what form these shows will be seen, but the company is expected to launch a new entertainment subscription service to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

—You'll be paying more for video, and subscribing to more services, in the wake of the AT&T/Time Warner merger, which has closed. Mike Snider lays out the land.

—Office updates. Microsoft announced new tools for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook that will roll out gradually over the next few months. The changes include a collapsed "ribbon" to newly drawn icons, which Edward C. Baig says may help modernize a venerable but aging franchise.

This week's Talking Tech podcasts

Meet the man in yellow. Chris Raney travels the world in a yellow t-shirt, video camera in hand, exploring for his YouTube Yellow Productions channel. He talks about the life of a video nomad on Talking Tech.

Father's Day gift ideas: While we run down the gimbal, drone and soundbars on our wish lists, there's nothing we'd rather have than a father's day portrait, and that's free.

Ready to watch more TV on Facebook? The social network has ambitious plans for getting people to watch TV stars in the News Feed.

Tile horror stories: USA TODAY's Bryan Alexander swore by his Tile bluetooth tracker—until it couldn't find his car key. He tells the story on Talking Tech.

Facebook Memories: If you like being reminded about how many years you've been friends with people, or what posts you composed on this day, you'll love Facebook's ramped up Memories feature. If you're like the host of Talking Tech, who finds them annoying, you'll enjoy this podcast episode.

Follow USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham (@jeffersongraham) on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.