This slideshow of Linux-based gift ideas beyond Android reveals that Linux can be found in a wide variety of consumer electronics devices, for under $500. Embedded Linux dominates the still thriving grayscale e-reader and network-attached storage (NAS) markets, and it’s a major player in streaming media players and other segments. Linux can be found in devices ranging from smart energy monitors to Internet radios to mini PCs, as well as other categories not listed here, including surveillance cameras, WiFi routers and hotspots, laptops and even robots.
Despite the recent focus on Android tablets from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, their Linux-based, grayscale e-readers remain hot sellers, offering advantages like greater readability, longer battery life, lower prices, and for many, fewer distractions. With price cuts by the two retail kings, there are fewer vendor choices than in years past, with most of the competitors having gone out of business or switched to Android tablets. The major vendors offer more model and pricing choices, however, as well as new features like touchscreens and backlighting.