Nokia 6760 slide
Review by Mike Portes

Despite its compact dimensions, the Nokia 6760 slide houses a full QWERTY keyboard that's well-spaced, well-sized, and comfortable to type on. Whether you're texting, emailing, tweeting or instant messaging your contacts, this phone's slide-out keyboard will make the experience an enjoyable one.

The 6760 slide gives users quick access to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter as well Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger instant messaging apps. The phone also has an automated email setup for Ovi Mail, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Windows Live Hotmail.

Despite its emphasis on messaging and answering your communication needs, the 6760 slide lacks one important connectivity feature: Wi-Fi. It does, however, have 3G network compatibility with HSDPA to get you online. It also comes with Bluetooth, built-in GPS, and the latest version of Nokia Maps.

The front face of the phone houses a relatively small 2.4-inch display, which doesn't take full advantage of the available space. Below this is a cramped navigation panel (call and end keys, two soft keys, and a D-pad). On the left are three shortcut keys for menu, messaging, and browser.

At the back of the device is a 3.2-megapixel camera with no flash. The interface is basic and there are very few settings and options available. It can also shoot QVGA videos at 15 frames per second. Image quality is passable but video quality is poor.

Snapshots, videos, and other files and applications can be stored in its 120MB onboard memory or in the 2GB microSD card that's included in the package. You can listen to your audio _les or the radio using the included earphones that you can connect to the 2.5mm socket (instead of a standard 3.5mm).


GRINS

• well-spaced QWERTY keyboard
• 3G, GPS, Nokia Maps
• good suite of messaging tools

GRIMACES

• no Wi-Fi
• 2.5mm headphone jack
• cramped navigation panel

THE LOWDOWN

The lack of Wi-Fi connectivity spoils an otherwise excellent, compact messaging device.

Image V200
Review by Jenna Dizon

Aside from their compact sizes, mini camcorders are easy to use and are usually inexpensive. While there are digital point-and-shoot cameras that can shoot better videos than some pocket camcorders, manufacturers continue to churn out new models hoping that the simplicity and affordability of these devices will lure consumers into buying them.

The Image V200 is one such device. It's compact and lightweight, measuring 114 x 62 x 30mm and weighing just 126g. It has a 2.7-inch TFT screen that swivels up to 270 degrees to aid you in shooting your most amusing, embarrassing, and engaging moments with ease. The .MOV videos are recorded onto an SD/SDHC card (there is no internal memory).

Unfortunately, the 1280p videos leave much to be desired. Playing them back on your TV set or LCD monitor only highlights the poor quality and lack of sharpness and resolution of the clips you shot. The accompanying audio isn't very clear either.

Tinkering with the camcorder's functions can also be quite confusing, with the "Record" and "Select" and the "Previous" and "Flash" functions sharing the same buttons.

Although equipped with flash, photos (3200 x 2400 pixels) still come out darker than those taken using a point-and-shoot camera. Battery life lasts around 1 ? to 2 hours.

GRINS

• ultra-compact
• swivelling 2.7-inch screen
• support for SDHC cards

GRIMACES

• so-so video and stills quality
• short battery life
• no internal memory

THE LOWDOWN

If you're after recording random for-YouTube/Facebook-clips, then the V200 will get the job done. But if you're fussy about video quality, you're better off adding a few thousand bucks to your P4,990 and getting a proper pocket camcorder.

Apple iPod classic 160GB
Review by Edmund G. Belt?jar

Apple's legendary hard drive-based music player now comes with a whopping 160GB of storage-large enough to hold 40,000 songs, 200 hours of video, or 25,000 photos.

The 3rd-generation 160GB classic retains the cosmetic improvements of the previous-generation model: a brushed anodized aluminum finish in silver or black and a slimmer and lighter body. Like its predecessor, it features a Genius playlist (so smart it groups together similar songs in your collection into a 25-song playlist) as well as an animated menu and interface via Cover Flow.

Turned off by the tedious task of converting videos for your iPod? Well, aside from H.264, the classic can playback MPEG-4 video in MOV, MP4, or M4V formats on its 2.5-inch LED-backlit display. It also recognizes and skips between the chapter markers embedded in QuickTime files and automatically resumes video playback at the point at which you last left off. Closed captioned subtitles can also be switched on and off.

The classic has also made some less obvious changes. You can easily engage and disengage the shuffle function on the fly with just a few clicks of the center button; randomize songs until you find an artist you like (a lazy listener's dream come true); and manually add and delete music and video files without the hassles of playlist syncing. As expected, sound quality is clean. Too bad you can't customize the equalizer to your liking.

I'm still waiting for Apple to respond to my wish list: FM radio, line-input recording, custom EQ, and native support for WMA.