Portable video's best mate

From PSPs to iPods to mobiles, a growing array of portable devices now play video. Except getting stuff to watch onto them is far harder than it should be. Enter the SanDisk V-Mate, essentially a memory-card reader with some video-digitising hardware built in. Feed it a TV/DVD signal and voila! The video is recorded straight onto the memory card.

Read the full SanDisk V-Mate review in today's paper.

In games, World Snooker Championship 2007 (X360, PSP) brings the excitement, er, thrill, um, well, sport to new platforms. And while it never looks great, the authenticity can't be doubted (even the commentary's boring). Rocky Balboa's appearance only on PSP doesn't bode well for a big movie licence but it's a decent stab at arcade-style boxing. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (X360) asks you to pay €70 for creepy voyeurism masquerading as soft porn. There's plenty better of both on the net.

3G ain't just for mobiles

Anyone frustrated by the capricious availability of landline broadband - maybe your neighbour can get it but, inexplicably, you can't - will be interested to learn of another option, from an unlikely source.

Vodafone has decided that seeing as most people can't be bothered with this 3G stuff on their mobiles - the ingrates! - why not sell it to us at home? Surprisingly, it makes sense. Voda offers a small USB modem which connects any Mac or PC to its 3G network (currently about 70pc population coverage) and gives you sub-broadband speeds (anywhere between 400Kbps and 1Mbps, in my experience). But if you can't get broadband any other way, it's easy to overlook its compromises.

If you sign up before February 28 the service costs €40 a month for the foreseeable future. But wait until March and it goes up to €50 a month. Read the full Vodafone 3G broadband review in today's paper.

In games, Splinter Cell: Double Agent comes to the Wii with a few tricks of its own but the stealth-em-up/shooter is less at home here than on 360. Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank (X360) brings us back to a simpler time, 1982 to be specific. Available only through Xbox Live Arcade, it's a clone of coin-op classic Moon Patrol but with 2007 bling.

Buzz Junior: Jungle Party (PS2) uses the buzzers from the quiz game to capably entertain the nippers with simple mini-games. Finally, Brothers in Arms: D-Day shoehorns the PC tactical squad shooter into the PSP, with predictably unsatisfactory results.

Not pretty but clever

Nokia's E range of handsets are aimed unashamedly at the business community but that's no excuse for the new E60's complete squareness, from its blocky shape to its lack of camera or radio, etc. But for all its ugliness it has its virtues ... read the full Nokia E60 review in today's paper.

In games, third-person shooter Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (x360) fails to live up to its huge potential but its entertaining riff on the schlock of Starship Troopers still has much to offer. Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (Wii) feels more like snowboarding a la SSX than skateboarding a la TH but the motion-sensing controls are more help than hindrance.

Star Wars: Lethal Alliance foolishly attempts 3D shooting on the DS and the links with SW are tenuous. Finally, Football Manager Handheld 07 (PSP) doesn't look much different than the 06 version but tighter controls and slight tweaks make it better than ever,

Elements of power

Maybe you got a new digital camera or camcorder for Christmas and have been snapping away like crazy, only to realise you've got tons of pictures/footage and don't have the appetite to whittle them down. Let Adobe's Elements bundle be your friend.

The combination of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements has everything you need to fix wonky photos, sift the duds from the gems or trim your hours of dull tapes into slickly produced, entertaining DVDs. Read the full review in today's paper.

In games, Rainbow Six: Vegas (Xbox 360) escapes the spiralling descent of the squad shooter series and revitalises the franchise with a fluent blend of first-person and third-person action. Mercury Meltdown Remix transports the blob-rolling fun from PSP to PS2, with mixed results. While it's easier to control, it doesn't feel it completely belongs on the big console.

Wii Play attempts to sweeten the blow of having to buy another Wii controller (the console itself comes with only one) by including a few mini-games for a fiver extra. But unlike Wii Sports, none of the games are much cop.

NeoGeo Battle Coliseum looks like it's from another era, or part of a retro collection of beat-em-ups. But it's actually a new game, with PS1-style graphics, riffing on the SNK fighters of old. Strangely addictive and quite cheap.

Gear of the year

Get the paper today for a quick recap of Log On's gear of the year, an item which is no way related to a desire to spend time with family and friends rather than researching and writing a whole new article.

In games, Yoshi's Island DS has much in common with New Super Mario Brothers - a sideways-scrolling platformer of old skilfully adapted for the DS. While it may not touch the heights of NSMB, the irrepressible Yoshi is hard to put down.

Still on the DS, 42 All-Times Classics miniaturises scads of card/board/pub games into one addictive package designed to appeal to anyone who bought Brain Training.

WWE: Smackdown vs Raw 2007 (X360) takes wrestling into the next-generation graphically but shows little sign of innovation elsewhere. Still good fun though.

Flushed Away (PS2) is a stain on the Aardman name, a tie-in with the movie that mines all the cliches of kids' games while under-achieving on a technical level.