The great thing about personal technology is that new stuff keeps coming out week after week, with no rest for the weary who've spent the last three months trying to come up with holiday gift ideas (feel free, of course, to visit the Cool Yule Tools holiday guide).

That said, we're still in the holiday gift-giving mood, so here are some brand-new devices that don't yet officially have the official "Cool Tools" seal of approval (we haven't tested any of these), but still sound cool nonetheless.

For the football fan: Ambient Devices last week announced its ScoreCast device ($125), a display gadget that provides instant access to professional football scores, standings and schedule, at a glance throughout the season. The 8.15- by 4.9- by 1.1-inch device doesn't require an Internet connection or a computer; it is able to access information over-the-air to provide the information and updates. Scores are updated quarter-by-quarter on game days, and can even indicate if a game is in overtime. The device includes standings for every team, and users can choose what team and division to display. It runs on four AA batteries, and includes a kickstand to display on a desk or table.

For the executive road warrior: Verizon Wireless announced availability of the XV6800 ($450 after rebates and two-year agreement), its latest smart phone that runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional. Features of the device include a 2.0 megapixel digital camera, support for Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents (and PDFs), with access to e-mail, calendar, contacts and the Internet. The XV6800 includes built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth, with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for easy text input. The phone has a 2.8-inch color touch-screen, and supports as much as 4GB of storage space via its microSD card. With a BroadbandAccess Connect data plan, users can take the XV6800 and use it as a modem for their notebook.

For the family member who has to open lots of holiday packages: The $10.99 Open It! tool will end your frustration over opening packaged toys, electronics and other boxes. Designed by a group of women who were annoyed at the amount of packaging obstacles faced in today's anti-shoplifting world (ties, hard plastics and so on), the Open It! tool includes angular jaws that let you cut through hard plastic, as well as a mini-screwdriver and a box-cutter blade. The tool should be available at Walgreens, Home Depot or  online.

Want even more gift ideas? Check out last week's chat transcript with Keith Shaw, where he gave even more holiday tech gift advice, at www.networkworld.com/chat. He can be reached at kshaw@nww.com.