I'm doing a couple appearances on The Daily Habit on Fuel TV. The network covers the world of action sports like BMX, snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing among others.  The show, The Daily Habit, includes interviews with athletes, music videos, and a periodic gadget and games segment.  It airs daily at 6 PM and 9 PM pacific time, then reruns the next day at noon and 3 PM.  My first segment airs on December 16th and the next one is on December 21st.  What am I showing?

On December 16th, I'll be showing:

Microsoft Xbox 360 - The most sought after gift for the avid gamer is probably the Xbox 360 (in the United States, anyway). The exclusive titles are limited to only three at launch and most of the 18 games are ports from existing consoles and game play isn’t revolutionary (yet), but graphically the Xbox 360 is awesome. Of course, you'll need an HDTV to truly enjoy the features. Good luck finding one at the retail price! And get the premium version if you can...the core version won't let you play any Xbox games. With the premium you can at least play 200+ of the most popular titles.

Project Gotham Racing 3 (PGR 3) – One of the exclusive launch titles for the Xbox 360, PGR 3 is arguably the most visually impressive title on the new console. I'm not a huge fan of racing games, but I enjoyed PGR 3 mostly because the cars were drivable with the controller unlike many other racing simulations.

Samsung Sports Camcorder - The Sports Camcorder records video onto 512MB of internal memory (SD expandable). Video quality isn't the best compared to miniDV camcorders, but the Sports Camcorders compact size and included lipstick camera with head or arm strap make it ideal for action sport enthusiasts. Any video is better than no video.

T-Mobile Sidekick II Limited Edition – Juicy Couture and Mister Cartoon designed limited edition Sidekick's in pink and black, respectively. I've looked at the Sidekick II on several occasions for weeks at a time and I'm always surprised how addictive it becomes. Yes, it's a phone and PDA plus it keeps everything automatically synched with an online information manager. But it's the messaging capabilities (AIM and Yahoo! Messenger) that really make it great. It's still the most comfortable keyboard design on the market. Only 15,000 of the limited edition version are available, so get one before they're gone!

Apple iPod - The video iPod may not have the best battery life or the biggest display compared to other portable media devices on the market. But, the new iPod has elegance, a simplicity that remains unmatched. I've tried a variety of media players and nothing beats the iPod and the integration with iTunes. Portable video players thus far lacked downloadable content to utilize the devices capabilities and only tech enthusiasts would enjoy the codec nightmare that comes with converting video for a portable format. With iTunes, at least the downloadable side is somewhat covered.

On December 21st, I'll be showing:

Gran Turismo 4 (GT4) - Yes, GT4 is pushing its one year anniversary since it debuted, but remains one of the best racing games for the PlayStation 2 (PS2). With over 700 cars from more than 80 manufacturers, almost 100 tracks, and the ability to tune your ride, GT4 is packed with features. I found GT4 difficult to master with a PS2 controller where the analog stick isn't tactile enough to gently steer into corners. Mind you, I've never tried taking a Mitsubishi Evo VIII around a hairpin at 60 mph in real life either. Maybe the physics engine is so realistic that I should be hitting the wall?

Altec Lansing inMotion IM7 - This speaker system for the iPod offers one of the flexible designs and cranks out the tunes too. Most iPod speakers either sound good, but require AC power or are portable, but crumble under the hint of bass. The IM7 supports both AC and 8 D batteries making it perfect for around the house or picnic in the park. It does distort at high volume and there isn't a USB port to provide double duty as a synching dock. Overall, it's still one of the most flexible speaker systems for iPods with dock connectors.

Motorola RAZR V3 (Magenta) – The limited edition 'pink' version adds more flair to the already stylish, exceptionally thin, RAZR. I wasn't a huge fan of the RAZR because the user interface just isn't up to par with other phones on the market. And my first generation RAZR dropped calls like crazy. But everybody I know that's bought one since has only good things to say about call stability. There's no arguing that the 'pink' RAZR is a head turner and the ultra thin design makes it a pocket friendly phone as well. With a phone like this, portability outweighs any limitations in the user interface.

Canon PowerShot SD30 - The 5.0 megapixel SD30 is my favorite camera of 2005. Image quality is good, but more importantly its small size makes it a perfect take everywhere camera. When you look at all the things your carry with you for an evening out with friends (cell phone, wallet, keys, etc.), even small cameras like Canon's SD450 doesn't fit comfortably in a pocket. It may not be the most feature rich and the flash has limited range, but it's the fact that I have a camera with me that outweighed any other consideration. There's no point having a camera that's too bulky to carry.

Apple iPod Nano - The iPod Nano is even more remarkable in person with its diminutive size and rich features. It's essentially the iPod Photo with less storage and a much smaller size. While there have been highly publicized reports of durability issues, the unit that I have has stood up to significant punishment. It's taken tumbles on a treadmill numerous times without noticeable signs of abuse. Available in 2 and 4 GB versions, the Nano doesn't have significant storage like the iPod, but it gets high marks on portability and that makes it a winner.

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