Is that the Human Torch? The Silver Surfer?

No, it’s a surf board with flares…How gnarley, man!

Click on the image for the video. (And more proof that some people just have way too much time on their hands… But we wouldn’t have cool things if people were always busy…!)

See more progress on: get the latest gadgets whether they are practical or not

ViewSonic gTablet... Meh

I bought the ViewSonic gTablet for my mom for a Mother's Day present earlier this year.  At $299, it seemed to be a good deal. At first, she liked it, but then inexplicable force closes occurred. She said she didn't want it anymore, but later in the year, when I visited her, I was able to reinstall the apps and it's generally working again.

I bought it for her so she could have an easy way to surf the Internet, check her e-mail, etc, such as doing it from the sofa while watching TV.

It was probably a good purchase at the time, but now, if I had to do it all over again, I would opt for a different tablet. Below are the pros and cons of the tablet based on the standard software.

 Pretty good screen when viewing from front

 Price
 USB host - although I have not tried it yet
 I actually like the Tap UI for my mom

 1.0 GHz Tegra 2 dual core processor, but dual core is not enabled

 Not difficult to root to load Android Market

 1.8 pounds is actually rather heavy for a tablet

 Poor viewing angles

 High quality YouTube videos stutter (not always though)

 Bluetooth HID profile not supported

 Android 2.2

 Tap UI dock bar has only support for fixed number of apps

 Dashboard does not support widgets

 Dashboard photo app does not support access to private Picasa Web albums

 Loading additional soft keyboards require root access

I'm going to be generous and give it a 3* (out of 5). However, even at $250, I would not recommend this tablet. Half of the negative points I list above could be addressed through a software upgrade. Thus, it seems to really take advantage of this tablet, you'd need to load a custom ROM.

New digital camera??

Wow! My wife has agreed it's time to replace our broken digital camera!

Here's a list of criteria for my digital camera:

• GPS & compass
• Wifi
• 5+ megapixel
• 5x+ optical zoom (only 4x on the DSC-TX100V)
• 3D (sort of?)
• HD video recording, 30 fps
• Super slow-motion
• 3D video
• 3D screen (sort of?)
• Image stabilization
• Face detection
• Lightweight and thin
• Affordable price

Unfortunately, they don't make such a camera yet. However, the Sony DSC-TX100V comes close. It has the above items in bold.

However, since my wife used to have a Canon EOS, I know she's interested in photography. Therefore, she might be tempted by a Micro 4/3's. But I am still interested in the above items, including 3D and video quality. She says she's not interested in those things, only pictures!  What???? Obviously to be continued...

For my mom, I am getting the Casio Tryx. Not that my mom is necessarily interested in cameras, but she is interested in golf. The Casio Tryx supports slow motion or, errr, high speed 240fps at 430 x 320 resolution. Also, with its unique design, it's easy to have the screen facing you will you tape your golf swing. Some drawbacks, too. In summary:

Casio Tryx

 Slow motion, err, high speed 240fps at 430 x 320 resolution

 LCD can be directed to golfer or person taking video

 Unique design is in itself its own tripod

 Does not support standard tripod mount

 No flash (LED light instead)

Will document my impressions after we get a chance to try out the camera.